Haryana urges Centre to have international airport in Hisar

Chandigarh: Haryana government on Tuesday urged National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) to take up the matter with Union ministry of civil aviation for granting in-principle approval to set up an alternate international airport at Hisar. The site can provide much-needed facility of maintenance and repair operations (MRO) for aircrafts in northern India.
10/06/15 Times of India

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Rain delays PM's aircraft and 12 others; diverts one

Chennai: Heavy rains lashing the state capital today resulted in the delay of 12 flights, including the Prime Minister's special aircraft, airport sources said.
The departure and arrival of 12 flights to and from various cities were delayed due to the heavy rains, they said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's special aircraft, which landed here, was delayed for about 40 minutes, they said.
29/06/14 PTI

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AI passengers spend anxious moments

Vijayawada: About 60 passengers of Air India flight faced tensed moments when the flight could not land and made a few trips over Gannavaram airport on the city fringes here on Sunday evening. The pilot could not land the aircraft due to poor visibility coupled with bad weather and drizzle, Gannavaram airport authorities said.

The Vijayawada-bound Delhi Air India (544) aircraft was scheduled to land at 4.35 p.m. but due to bad weather, the pilot could not land the aircraft and made five trips over the airport for about 30 minutes.
30/06/14 The Hindu

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Kochi Airport will continue to be on red alert

Kochi: The Kochi International airport, where security had been tightened following receipt of calls threatening attack by terrorists, would continue to be on red alert, but restrictions on the entry of visitors would be lifted by 6 AM tomorrow, airport officials said.

The special security at the airport will continue, but visitors would be allowed entry to the terminal from six am tomorrow, it was decided at a review meeting held today presided by Airport Director A K C Nair to evaluate the security measurer's, airport authorities said in a release.

The meeting decided that the security measures were satisfactory. Visitors were not being allowed soon after the threat calls were received.
30/06/14 ZeeNews

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After Deepika Padukone, its Ranbir Kapoor’s luggage troubles

In the past we have told you about actors getting detained at airports for a variety of reasons. Shah Rukh Khan is a regular when it comes to airport detentions. Even Anushka Sharma was detained once for carrying undeclared expensive jewelry. Deepika Padukone has a knack for losing her luggage at airports. But there is a latest addition to the list.

Ranbir Kapoor who recently came back to Mumbai from South Africa, after shopping for knick-knacks for his new house with Katrina Kaif faced a problem with airport authorities. The actor was inconvenienced at the airport as the authority held his luggage back and didn’t release it for several hours.
30/06/14 Srishti Dixit/Bollywood Life

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Passenger with Rupees 20 lakh gold arrested at Hyderabad airport

Hyderabad: Customs officials of the Rajiv Gandhi Airport, Hyderabad, intercepted a passenger from Muscat trying to smuggle 700 gm gold on Sunday. The accused, Quazi Eajaz Ahmed, a native of north Karnataka, had concealed 6 gold biscuits in secret pockets fixed on his belt. Customs officials arrested him since the worth of gold is more than Rs 20 lakh.

Officials said that the accused arrived at Hyderabad by Oman Airways jet (WY0235) early on Sunday. “His belt had cloth pockets. The biscuits were inside those pockets. and the belt was wrapped around his hip,” said a customs official.
30/06/14 Deccan Chronicle

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Powdered gold mixed in honey seized at Karipur airport

Kozhikode: Smugglers of gold are getting innovative by the day. A passenger at Karipur (Calicut) airport was caught on Sunday June 29 trying to smuggle in gold worth Rs 20.5 lac concealed in jars of honey.The customs officials at the airport intercepted a passenger identified as Abdul Samad Mohammed Ali (21), a resident of Ichlangode, who arrived from Sharjah at the airport on Sunday.
The customs officials grew suspicious on noticing Abdul's gait and questioned him, besides checking his luggage. The officials found jars of honey in the bag, and on further examination, found powdered gold mixed with the honey.
Stephan Kayyar/Daijiworld

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Gold Hidden in Microwave Oven Seized

Thiruvananthapuram: The Air Customs officials of the international airport here on Sunday foiled an attempt to smuggle gold bars weighing over one kilogram concealed in a microwave oven.

Officials said Mohammed Rizvan, a 21-year-old youth hailing from Kozhikode, was arrested in connection with the incident. He had arrived on an Air India flight from Sharjah. The three gold bars were hidden between the components of the microwave oven. “Two bars weighed around 500 gm each and the other 100 gm. They were kept as to look like the instrument’s components,” the officials said. The seizure followed a tip-off and the Customs team was led by assistant commissioner Sanjay Bangartale effected the s'eizure.
30/06/14 New Indian Express

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Cops clueless after man hides gun at airport, flies to UK

Mumbai: The police are grappling with a mystery involving a disappeared man and a weapon that he abandoned at the Mumbai international airport. All trails to search for 78-year-old Vinod Gulati - in India and abroad - have run cold.

The drama began to unfold on April 12, when a sweeper found a country-made revolver in one of the plastic pots kept outside Gate 7 of the departure section of T2 terminal. The sweeper, while cleaning the pot, noticed a shiny metallic object inside and, on examining it closer, recognized a gun. He then raised an alarm.

After the gun was retrieved, CISF personnel and a dog squad began combing the entire airport but found nothing amiss and no more weapons.

The CISF then scanned CCTV footage from cameras across the entire terminal and zeroed in on images of an elderly man approaching Gate 7 from the road just outside the terminal. The man halted just before the footpath and then crossed back, returning to the other side of the road. He then appears to take out a gun and hide it on his person. He again crosses the road, reaches the footpath outside Gate 7 and pushes the gun into the soil of one of the plastic pots there. Surprisingly, no CISF personnel noticed him do all this. The man then enters the airport through Gate 7 after showing his identification.
28/06/14 Nazia Sayed/Mumbai Mirror

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Gulbarga airport: RAHI’s bank guarantee to be forfeited

Gulbarga: The State government has decided to forfeit the bank guarantee of Rs 9.69 crore provided by joint venture company Regional Airport Holdings International (RAHI) for its failure to complete construction of the Gulbarga airport and operate it as agreed upon.

Information Minister R. Roshan Baig, who also holds Infrastructure Development portfolio, in a written reply to an unstarred question by Congress MLC Allamprabhu Patil in the Legislative Council, said the decision was taken in a meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary on June 6 in Bangalore.

The meeting also decided to work on alternative ways to complete the airport project at the earliest, he said. The work on the airport ran into trouble owing to differences between the joint venture partners about investment, and several interventions by the government to narrow down the differences and get the work resumed failed, the Minister said.
28/06/14 The Hindu

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Executives fly undetected from Mumbai to Indore on wrong tickets

Mumbai: When Minaz Bagasrawala and Vinit Sawant, two private company executives, boarded an Air India flight from Mumbai to Indore on Thursday, airport procedures around the world were much the same.

Only, at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, things were slightly different. The two arrived at the airport, unaware that they had forgotten one of the most basic travel etiquettes.

Upon arrival at airport, their e-tickets were checked by the CISF personnel manning the gates. They then proceeded to the Air India counter where the tickets were re-checked and boarding passes issued.

AI-635 left Mumbai at 6:30 am. What Bagasrawala (32) and Sawant (28) forgot to do was to check the travel dates. Both were flying on tickets booked for the next day (Friday, June 27).

The CISF men who first checked the tickets at the entrance and the Air India staffers at the counter, too, missed the date, and the two had a smooth journey to Indore.

Bagasrawala later told dna what had happened. “I had sent an email to my administrative department to book tickets from Mumbai to Indore on June 26 and two return tickets the same day. Instead of June 26, I inadvertently mentioned June 27,” he said.

Accordingly, the administrative staff booked two tickets for Friday, June 27. “I received my e-ticket, and without verifying the details, took a print-out and reached the airport on Thursday morning,” Bagasrawala said.

“Me and my colleague went to the airport entrance. The CISF personnel checked our e-tickets and allowed us in. Then, we went to the AI boarding counter. There also, AI officials checked our e-tickets and issued boarding passes,” Bagasrawala said.
28/06/14 Daily News & Analysis

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‘Revisit Chakan site for Pune international airport’

Pune: The state government has gone on the backfoot regarding compensation for project-affected people (PAP) for the proposed Pune international airport at Khed Special Economic Zone. In a meeting convened by the Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in Mumbai on Friday, it was said the farmers would be given additional FSI and job opportunities but no ‘money’ as compensation. Officials from Khed SEZ, Maharashtra Airport Development Company and representative of PAP attended the meeting.
With this not going down well with PAP, the stalemate between the PAP and the administration continued, which led to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar directing the Maharashtra Airport Development Company, responsible for the airport development to revisit the old proposed site at Chakan-Rajgurunagar, for a recce again. Pawar said he would put forth the issues before the Chief Minister and have another round of discussion for finalising the site in the coming week.
28/06/14 Nisha Nambiar/Indian Express

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High alert at Kochi airport after hoax calls

Kochi: The Cochin International Airport on Friday evening received four bomb threat calls, sending the security personnel into a tizzy. The caller - a male voice - had claimed that a bomb had been placed on the airport premises. But a detailed search by police and airport security confirmed that the calls were hoax.

Airport officials said they received four calls between 5pm and 6pm at the air traffic control (ATC) tower's landline. Manager - public relations and corporate communications PS Jayan said they could trace one of the four calls to Saudi Arabia. "Each time the caller called, he spoke in different languages - Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and English. The airport was put on red alert from 5pm," he said.
28/06/14 Times of India

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We are trying to get airport UDF reduced: Baig

Bangalore: The State government, according to Minister for Infrastructure Development R. Roshan Baig, will talk to the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) for a reduction in the user development fee (UDF) charged by Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL). The UDF revision cleared by AERA on June 10 is a 47.4 per cent hike for domestic and 27.8 per cent increase for international travellers.

For outbound domestic travellers, the UDF (inclusive of taxes) will go up from Rs. 232 to Rs. 342 from July 1. For outbound international travellers, it will increase from Rs. 1,070 to Rs. 1,368. However, the passenger service fee of Rs. 70, which is being collected now, will be withdrawn. Mr. Roshan Baig , in a statement in the Legislative Council following an appeal by Congress member K. Govindaraju on Friday, said that the airport operator, GVK-led BIAL, had asked for the revision to pay for expansion of terminal one, which is now ready, and also fund the second phase of expansion.
28/06/14 The Hindu

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Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneswar organised a diabetes awareness drive

Bhubaneswar: Airports Authority of India, Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneswar organized “DIABETES AWARENESS DRIVE”, where free health check-up camp was set-up in association with Med Plus, KIDS Multi Speciality Hospital, Rabindra Surgicals Pvt. Ltd., National Research Institute of Ayurvedic Drug Development (CCRAS) and Aditya Care Hospital to sensitize and enlighten the passengers and airport staff towards better health and life style management and raise awareness of the causes, symptoms and treatment of diabetes.    The inaugural lamp was lighted by Sh. P.K. Mahapatra, Principal Secretary, Health & Family Welfare, GOO, Odisha. Sh. Mahapatra congratulated Sh. Sharad Kumar, Airport Director, and his team, on extending their support in spreading awareness and also in providing a platform to various health organizations to come together and work as a team in this fight. Sh. Mahapatra also said that diabetes is caused not only because of un-healthy eating habits but also because of our changed lifestyles.
28/06/14 Odisha Diary

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Belgaum airport upgradation to be completed by Jan or Feb

Belgaum: The ongoing upgradation work at Belgaum airport will be completed by the end of January or February, according to Deputy Commissioner N Jayaram.

The runway with upgradation will be stretched to 1,830 metres and will make way for ATR-72 flights with 78-passenger capacity, he said at an event here.

More flights can be pressed into service from Belgaum after upgradation, he said. Other related infrastructure work would be completed latest by February 2015, he said.
28/06/14 SahilOnline

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Govt moots local train to KIA with Railways

Bangalore: After considering high speed rail link and Metro connectivity, now the state government wants suburban rail connectivity to Kempegowda International Airport (KIA). Govern8ment officials are holding talks with the railways to utilise the current Bangalore-Chikballapur railway line (that chugs along under the trumpet interchange — the labyrinth of flyovers after Yelahanka which takes one to and fro airport) so that commuters can board a train to reach the airport. Confirming this,

Vandita Sharma, principal secretary, Infrastructure Department, said: "The train service to the airport will be a big boon to airport users. We have written to the Railways for the same.

Though the discussion is at an initial stage, it looks positive. Meanwhile, we are also in constant touch with the airport authorities and the departments concerned to take the project forward." Even South-Western Railways Divisional Manager Anil Kumar Agarwal confirmed the development and said talks are going on to check its feasibility.
28/06/14 Suchith Kidiyoor & Sridhar Vivan/Bangalore Mirror

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Expired drugs from India seized at Juba Airport

Juba:The Pharmaceuticals and Foods Control Authority (PFCA) seized a shipment of expired drugs at Juba International Airport on Thursday manufactured by the banned India-based Flamingo Company.

PFCA Director General Peter Aguek told Al Maugif newspaper that the Flamingo Company was banned two years ago from importing medicine to South Sudan because it had brought in fake and expired drugs.

Aguek said they will also sue the Kim Lab Company (KLC) which imported the drugs despite knowing their danger.

He said they will confiscate KLC’s license immediately and shut down the company, and warned other pharmaceutical firms against importing fake or expired drugs.
27/06/14 Radio Tamazuj

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Flights between Kolhapur and Mumbai from August 15

Kolhapur: The city's airport will become functional from August 15, with private airline Supreme Aviation showing an interest in starting flights from Kolhapur to Mumbai. The airline has received assurance from industrialists in the city that four seats would be booked daily on the flight to Mumbai.

The airline's chief executive officer (CEO) and president, Captain Sumeet K Agarwal, met member of parliament Dhananjay Mahadik and industrialists from the city on Friday to assure them of the service between the two cities.

The company's 12-seater plane will take off at 8am from Kolhapur and will land at Juhu airport at 9.15am. The return flight from Juhu to Kolhapur will be at 4pm. The plane will be parked at Kolhapur at night.

Dhananjay Mahadik said, "The company needs at least 45 days to obtain clearances from various agencies at the national level. They have agreed to start the first flight from Kolhapur on August 15."
29/06/14 Times of India

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Airport staffer among 3 held for smuggling gold bars

The Mumbai Airport Customs seized nine gold bars and iridium powder used to increase the weight of gold, in separate incidents, on Friday. The total value of the seized items was over Rs1.17 crore and two passengers and an airport staffer were arrested in this regard.

In the first incident, the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) team of Mumbai customs seized five gold bars of 100 grams each. A passenger, Mohsin Naseem Khan, had concealed the bars in a concealed pocket in his pants. He landed at the airport by a Singapore Airlines flight at 9.30 pm.

In the second instance, a person dumped four gold bars, valued at Rs 99 lakh, in a dustbin of the T2 arrivals hall. A Livewel Aviation Services employee, Sudeep S P, picked it up and was on his way out of the airport when he was caught. "As per their plan, Sudeep was to hand the gold over to the same person outside the airport for a commission in return," an AIU official said.
28/06/14 Aditya Anand/Mumbai Mirror 

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Can't rollback hike in user development fee at Kempegowda International Airport : Karnataka govt

Bangalore: Defending the recent hike in the user development fee (UDF) at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), the state government said on Friday that the UDF cannot be reduced as funds were required for the airport's expansion and construction of the second terminal.

Replying to a question raised by K Govindaraj (Congress) in the legislative council, infrastructure minister R Roshan Baig said the expansion plans were the reasons for increasing the UDF.

Currently, a domestic passenger departing from KIA pays Rs 260 per head as UDF, while an international passenger is charged Rs 1,070. This is the ad hoc fee that that BIAL has been charging since the airport began operations in May 2008.
28/06/14 Times of India

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No AC on jet, passengers stage dharna

New Delhi: Air India's 1990-era Airbus A-320s with faulty airconditioning and non-functional auxiliary power units (APU), which are meant to run cabin ACs on ground, are causing severe heartburn to flyers in this searing heat.

On Friday, things came to such a pass that 150-odd passengers of a Srinagar-Delhi flight staged an impromptu dharna at the tarmac of Jammu airport - near the wheels of the plane - as the aircraft remained on ground in the temple town for over 1.5 hours with a non-functional APU that led to no cooling in the aircraft.

Despite very strict security at sensitive Jammu, all passengers alighted from the plane where the temperature had climbed over 40 degrees celsius. Even after the plane was prepared to take off for Delhi, the passengers kept sitting on the tarmac, demanding answers from AI for not having AC in the aircraft in this climate.
28/06/14 Times of India

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'KIA geared to tackle fire challenges'

Bangalore: The Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) has a contingent of 13,000 fire-fighting personnel for emergency and regular training sessions, said Hari K Marar, president (Airport Operations), KIA.

Speaking on the sidelines of the two-day Airforce Rescue and Fire Fighters Services (ARFF)-VISI conference here on Thursday, Marar said that with these systems in place, the KIA was prepared to meet the growth challenges over the next five to eight years.

Marar said Bangalore had the potential to be known not just as the ‘Silicon Valley’ but also the ‘Aviation Capital’ of the country in the near future.

“Over the last decade, the country has seen tremendous development in the aviation field. It is just that for the last two years many were not able to deliver due to the economic slowdown,” he said, attributing the slow down in the aviation sector to the collapse of one of the largest carriers in India.
27/06/14 Deccan Herald

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Kerala airports no more safe for unlocked baggage

Kozhikode: The passengers who do not lock  their check-in baggage may lose  their valuables as theft from baggage has been continuing at  airports in the state. The airline security, which is responsible for monitoring the baggage clearance, has not arrested anyone  so far.

Airport sources told DC that theft from checked-in baggage had become very common at  airports and most of the cases go unreported as the passengers will only get to know of it after reaching their homes.

“Airport Authority hires people on contract for baggage handling. These staff have free access to every area in the airport, even to the tarmac. We hear several such cases at airports but no action is being taken. We had arrested some ground handling staff after they were involved in smuggling activities. These contract employees do connive with smugglers and help them get the smuggled goods through the staff gate at the airport,” a senior customs official told DC.
28/06/14 K Praveen Kumar/Deccan Chronicle

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Man with bullet held at Rajiv Gandhi International airport

Hyderabad: Security officials at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport found an MBA student carrying a bullet in his bag. The passenger, Md Abrar, a native of Karnataka’s Bellary district, was going to Singapore for education purposes.

RGI police, who took the passenger into custody, said that the live round of a .22 revolver belonged to his uncle who had a firearm licence.

“The student told us that he was carrying his uncle’s suitcase, which contained a bullet. His uncle has produced an arms license, which we are verifying now,” said Inspector T. Sudhakar.
29/06/14 Deccan Chronicle

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HAL Airport authorities criticised for shooting birds

Bird-watchers in the city are upset with the HAL Airport authorities for shooting birds that pose a threat to the safety of aircraft. On an average 25 flights (30 to 40 on some days), including test flights and chartered flights, take off and land at the airport.
Sources at HAL Airport claim that authorities have got the permission from the Forest Department to shoot birds. First they try to scare away the birds so that they do not pose a threat to flights. But birds are shot when they are sighted when a plane is landing.Some birders think that the airport, by shooting birds, is setting a precedent which other airports may follow. Wing Commander Mahesh Kumar, who works in a company that studies bird behaviour to manage them, said storm water drains near the Golf Course ensure that birds get enough food.
29/06/14 Renuka Phadnis/The Hindu

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Woman held with drugs at Bagdogra airport

Siliguri: A 28-year-old woman was arrested Friday from West Bengal's Bagdogra airport for allegedly trying to smuggle drugs, officials said.
Darjeeling resident Lalita Rai, passenger of a Bangkok-bound Druk Air flight, was arrested after six kg of a white powder concealed in her suitcase was found by customs officials.
27/06/14 Business Standard

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High Security at Airport for PM's City Stopover

Chennai: Security cover at the city airport will be expanded two days prior to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s  visit on Sunday afternoon. Though he will not be entering the city, but using it as a transit stop during his 20-hour visit to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, all security agencies will convene to provide expansive cover both outside and inside the airport.

 Modi is scheduled to arrive at Chennai on June 29 at 3.55 pm and leave by helicopter to Sriharikota at 4 pm. After witnessing the launch of ISRO’s latest PSLV at SHAR, he will return at 11.35 am on June 30 and leave for Delhi by a special flight almost immediately.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials said that a multi-agency meeting to decide on security protocols would be held immediately after Operation Hamla wraps up on Thursday evening. “From the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security to the police to CISF security, all the agencies will be briefed on the checks and arrangements for the PM’s visit,” said a top official.
27/06/14 New Indian Express

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GVK exploring stake sale in airport business, Australian mining JV Hancock

Hyderabad-based GVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd said it is in preliminary talks with investors to sell stake in two businesses to reduce debt, according to a stock market disclosure.
The firm said it is looking at raising equity at the airport holding company, to retire the debt raised for the airport acquisition and is in discussion with a few investors for the same.
GVK’s airport holding company GVK Airport Holdings is part owner and operator of two airports in the country—Mumbai and Bangalore airports. It had previously acquired stake held by some other partners in the separate projects and had taken debt to hike its holdings.
Separately, the airport holding company also has two under-construction airports in Indonesia.
It added that it is also exploring a possibility to bring in equity investor(s) into Hancock Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, which is a holding company, for the rail and port projects in Australia. GVK Hancock is developing the Alpha and Kevin's Corner projects in the Galilee Basin in Australia's Queensland state.
27/06/14 VC Circle

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To prevent Karachi-like attack, police to deploy snipers near IGI airport

New Delhi: Almost two weeks after the Karachi airport attack left 29 dead in a 13-hour-long siege, the Delhi airport police, along with the South and South-west district police, have sent a proposal for deploying snipers in the funnel area of the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) at Vasant Kunj and Dwarka. The proposal comes after an internal meeting between officials of various agencies, including the IB, RAW and the Delhi Police, was held to discuss the security arrangements in place at IGIA.
Sources told Newsline that the meeting was held to create a comprehensive security plan for the airport, specifically identifying the areas where aircraft are visible from areas facing the runway. Officials of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) were also present at the meeting and it was concluded that the two funnel areas — Vasant Kunj and Dwarka — are within a direct threat from a terror attack.
The proposal has been sent to the Delhi Police Headquarters, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
27/06/14 Financial Express

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Flights to take off from Navi Mumbai airport in 2018: CIDCO

If City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) is to be believed, the Navi Mumbai international airport will be ready by the end of 2018. Authorities said the first flight would take off from the airport in December 2018.
CIDCO said they would make the remaining two villages, which are refusing to give land for the airport, understand the details of the compensation packageCIDCO said they would make the remaining two villages, which are refusing to give land for the airport, understand the details of the compensation package
The town planning body announced yesterday that most of the villages, which had earlier opposed the proposed airport and the rehabilitation package offered, have agreed to the state’s terms and conditions.
Earlier, out of 10 villages, six had objected to the land acquisition process. Now, the number has come down to two eight villages have agreed to the government’s 22.5 per cent land rehabilitation programme, where the displaced families will get developed land at an FSI of 2.
Sanjay Bhatia, vice-chairman and managing director of CIDCO, said, “We have started the survey in villages and over 90 per cent of it is complete. Villagers who earlier opposed the project have now agreed, and the project is gaining momentum. We are confident that the first flight will take off in December 2018.”
27/06/14 Mid Day

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Airport: CIDCO to hold first draw for land allotment on Aug 15

Mumbai: In a step towards the rehabilitation of those affected by the Navi Mumbai International Airport, CIDCO on Thursday said the first lottery for compensatory land allotment will be held on August 15.

CIDCO Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Sanjay Bhatia said, "So far, 70 villagers whose lands would be acquired had given consent letters."

The project affected persons (PAPs) have to submit consent letters for the rehabilitation package by July 23, so that they can take part in the lottery.
27/06/14 Mumbai Mirror

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‘Villagers will gain over airport land deal’

Navi Mumbai:  The new government resolution (GR), outlining the new compensation model, and the positive response of the villagers lately, has given a fillip to the City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) land transfer process for the Rs 15,000-crore international airport project.

Cidco MD Sanjay Bhatia told the media on Thursday that almost all villages are keen about the land acquisition process. Koli village, though, is yet to give consent. "We will be able to convince them," Bhatia said.

Several villagers from Varsheovale on Thursday also agreed on a joint survey of their houses for the relief and rehabilitation package.
27/06/14 Sanjay Banerjee/Times of India

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Cochin International Airport net up 12% at 124 cr in 2013-14 fiscal

Kochi: Cochin International Airport Ltd has posted a 11.68 per cent growth in net profit at ?124.42 crore in the 2013-14 fiscal. The board of directors has recommended a dividend of 18 per cent.
The company has also increased its total revenue margin by 17.9 per cent during the period to touch ?361.39 crore.
A press statement issued here said diversification into other sectors has helped garner more business, with 45 per cent of revenue being generated from the non-traffic sector. The airport has shown consistent growth in both passenger traffic and cargo movement.
27/06/14 Business Line

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Now, signage glass panel falls at airport

Chennai: A signage glass panel fell off at the domestic terminal at Chennai airport on Thursday morning.
Nobody was injured. According to airport sources, the panel near boarding gate number 2, located in the security hold area, fell off around 8 a.m.
At that time, there was no movement of passengers, and nobody was injured.
27/06/14 The Hindu

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Zen-like calm at Puducherry Airport

Pudhucherry: An airport may be the last place on earth to find a spot of peace.
But, with its litter-free walkways, well-manicured lawns and an almost ashram-like calm, you could open a meditation room at the Puducherry airport and it would still blend in nicely with the setting these days.
It is five months since the only carrier that volunteered to operate Bangalore-Puducherry flights, SpiceJet, wound up its services citing losses.
For tourists, both international and domestic, weekend revellers and officials, the deal was good while it lasted.
Launching its service on January 17, 2013, SpiceJet flew passengers on 70-seater Q 400 Bombardier aircraft between here and Bangalore in 50 minutes.
27/06/14 The Hindu

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Mock security drill held at Hyderabad airport

Hyderabad:  With regular intelligence alerts of a possible terror attack, a mock drill was conducted to check preparedness of security agencies at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) on Thursday.
RGI Airport officials said personnel from the Cyberabad police, fire services department, CISF and other wings were involved in the drill to check coordination between various agencies during a crisis.
Thursday's drill, which was conducted near Haj Terminal, was on a small scale without involvement of any passengers. "Observers from Intelligence Bureau, CISF, police, BCAS and airlines monitored the exercise. Overall security measures at RGIA were found to be satisfactory.
27/06/14 Times of India

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‘KIA Firefighting Ability Meets Global Norms’

Bangalore: The Kempegowda International Airport is well equipped to deal with fire incidents within the crucial 136- second window, said Head of Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF), Ajith Kumar P S.

He was speaking at the inaugural session of the first (Two-day) ARFF conference in India to be held by the International Aviation Fire Protection Association and the Indian Aviation Fire Safety Specialist Group.

Hari Marar, president, KIAL,  said there were a lot of challenges ahead for aviation safety as the Centre’s decision to allow foreign direct investment in the sector would bring in more players.
27/06/14 New Indian Express

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Nitin Fire bags Rs 250 crore order from Abu Dhabi airport; stock surges over 5%

Mumbai: Shares of Nitin Fire Protection surged over 5 per cent in trade after the company bagged Rs 250 crore order from Abu Dhabi Airport.
According to Nitin Shah, CMD, Nitin Fire Protection Industries, the order will be completed in next two-and-a-half years time.
The current orderbook of the company stands at Rs 450 crore.
27/06/14 Economic Times

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A Real Life Surprise By Sunfeast At Bengaluru Airport

What is the most boring thing about travelling in flights? I think we would all agree that it is waiting at the conveyor belt for our checked in luggage to arrive. But if you were present at the Bengaluru airport when Sunfeast turned it into a virtual farm, it would have changed your perception forever.
ITC Foods launched its new product Sunfeast Farmlite in a very novel way. Farmlite did an activity at the Bengaluru airport that stressed on fitness and the goodness of eating 'farm fresh' foods.
This video shows us how surprised the passengers were when the conveyor belt stopped working and a message flashed on the screen that it would have to be repaired manually. A green arrow pointed to the direction of a number of gym cycles kept among virtual trees and it said 'Need Your Help'. Slowly, the travellers were bored of waiting and moved towards the cycles. As they started pedalling, the luggage belt started working again.
26/06/14 Anwesha/boldsky

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Two held at airport while trying to smuggle foreign currency

Mangalore: The customs officials at Mangalore International Airport on Thursday June 26 arrested two persons and seized from them foreign currency notes of different countries which they were allegedly trying to smuggle out of the country.
Mohammedaly Abdullah Rahiman from Pallikere, Periya in Kasargod had 18,000 dirhams worth Rs 2.95 lac with him while Abdullah Kundor from the same place was carrying 19,000 Saudi rials worth Rs 3.05 lac.
Muhammedaly was to leave for Sharjah by Jet Airways flight on June 25, while Kundor was scheduled to board Sharjah flight of Air India Express on June 26.
On June 25, Nassir Kappil Abdullah, Abdullah Kunhi, Abdul Gabbar and Khalid Hasainar from Uduma and Hidyatnagar in the district were arrested, and 10,000 US dollars worth Rs 6.01 lac, 1,950 Oman rials worth Rs 3.05 lac, and 1,450 Kuwaiti dinars worth Rs 3.10 lac were confiscated. These four were about to board Air India Express flight to Sharjah on Wednesday.
27/06/14 Daijiworld

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AAI readies plan for low-cost airports

New Delhi: There's good news for all flyers fed up with paying prohibitively steep airport charges for using terminals at places like Delhi and Mumbai. State-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) has prepared a blueprint of low-cost or no-frills terminals that will allow airports to come up across India and improve connectivity.

Aviation secretary Ashok Lavasa disclosed this at an industry-government interface organized by Economic Times along with the American Chamber of Commerce here on Wednesday. "The design of airports built in past few years have been rather ambitious. There is a lot of scope for cutting costs and conserving energy. The roadmap for no-frills airport is ready and that should help up achieve the objective of enhancing regional connectivity," Lavasa, an energy conservationist, said.

"India has as many as 464 airstrips, out of which less than 25% are controlled by AAI. Of this number with AAI, not all are operational. No frills and energy efficient airports will help us lower the cost of infrastructure. This way, we can optimally utilize our existing infrastructure (referring to hundreds of unutilized airstrips that can become functional airports by having a no frills terminal). Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked us to ensure maximum utilization of available infrastructure," the secretary said.
26/06/14 Times of India

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Kannur airport to be ready for trials by Dec 2015

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kannur International Airport in Kerala will be ready for trials by December next year. Commercial operations are expected to begin five months later in May, 2016.

Minister for Excise, Ports and Civil Aviation K Babu told mediapersons here that the passenger terminal building facility at the integrated terminal will run into 75,000 sq ft.

The domestic and international terminals will be able to handle up to 2,000 passengers during peak hours. The terminal will feature 48 check-in counters; 32 emigration counters; and 16 escalators.

Other passenger facilities include duty-free shops, pedestrian bridges, and a road linking the terminal building with the car park.
25/06/14 Business Line

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Odisha to sign MoU with Airport Authority of India for state's 2nd airport

In a bid to connect the state's industrially developed western region, the Odisha government is set to sign an MoU with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to develop an airport at Jharsuguda.
In a bid to connect the state's industrially developed western region, the Odisha government is set to sign an MoU with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to develop an airport at Jharsuguda.

The AAI has agreed to develop the airport to serve as a regional air traffic hub catering to the industrial and mining demands of these areas, Chief Secretary J K Mohapatra said after the state cabinet approved a proposal in this regard.

For Phase-I of the proposed airport, the project cost was likely to be Rs 210 crore, Mohapatra said adding that the state government would take a burden of Rs 75 crore.
26/06/14 Daily News & Analysis

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A cure worse than the disease

Visakhapatnam: The talk of developing a Greenfield International Airport near Tuni, some 120 km away from the city, and the possible shifting of the existing Visakhapatnam international airport is drawing flak from various sections.

Augmenting the existing infrastructure and removing the bottlenecks in the smooth operation of the airport would be a better idea rather than forcing the people of the city to travel the distance to reach the new airport.

Those connected with the airline industry wonder as to the need for one more airport when the existing one can meet the requirements from the region for the next 10 to 15 years. They feel that the move was aimed at promoting private developers.

The Visakhapatnam airport is used by air travellers from Vizianagaram and Srikakulam and also to some extent by those from Odisha and Chattisgarh to travel by the Silk Air flight from Vizag to Singapore. There is talk that the Navy is planning to take over the airport for its fighter pilot training base. The talk in political circles that the Navy is a hindrance for further expansion of the airport has fuelled apprehensions that the airport would be shifted.
24/06/14 B Madhu Gopal/The Hindu

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Chandrababu Naidu tells Centre to rename Hyderabad airport after NTR

New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday expressed hope that Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi international airport will be renamed after TDP founder N T Rama Rao.
Naidu said the airport was originally named after former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N T Rama Rao but once its location was shifted from Begumpet to Shamshabad, the then Congress government at the Centre renamed it after former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
"The Central government has to do it. This has been our demand," he said after a meeting with Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who belongs to TDP, had recently said that Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi international airport will be renamed after the TDP founder.
26/06/14 IBN Live

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Karipur airport terminal work to be retendered again

Kozhikode: The Airport Authority of India (AAI) is forced to retender the contract for the new international arrival terminal at the Karipur airport as the contractor who had bagged the works of the around Rs 100 crore project has failed to turn up to undertake the work.

The Karipur airport authorities have written to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) headquarters to cancel the contract and retender the long-delayed work, which is likely to result in further delays. Also the cost of the project is likely to shoot up by another Rs 10 crore due to the delay.

The AAI had awarded the contract for the international arrival terminal spread over an area of 17,000 sq metres to a Hyderabad-based company in January. But despite repeated notices by the airport authorities, the company has failed to commence the works.
26/06/14 Times of India

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Loaders Falls off 20 Foot Ladder while Shoving Bags into Spicejet Flight

Chennai: A loader who was working extremely fast to get all the passengers luggage into the cargo hold of a Spicejet plane, lost his balance and fell off the 20 feet high ladder. Hearing his screams, ground handling staff rushed him to the Apollo clinic at the airport, where they found he had fractured his wrist and patched him up. Luckily for Durai Raj (45), he did not land headfirst on the reinforced concrete tarmac, as the injury could have been a lot worse.
The incident occurred at 4.55 am in bay no 51, where the Airbus A320 was stationed. passengers had been asked to board flight SG 302 to Pune, which was scheduled to depart at 5.15 am. "Normally the check-in luggage is loaded 45 minutes in advance, as soon as the check-in counter is closed. He was just beginning at 4.45 am, so he must have been stressed to finish fast," said an airport source. However, others said that the man had been sickly and appeared tired when he reported for duty two hours prior.
25/06/14 New Indian Express

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Proposed Greenfield airport in Arunachal Pradesh faces hurdles

Itanagar: The proposed Greenfield Airport at Hollongi, near here, is facing hurdle with an Itanagar-based organization opposing the move of the state government to appoint a nodal officer for the project.

The Greenfield Airport Land Affected Peoples Forum of Hollongi ( GALAPFH), in a memorandum submitted to the Chief Minister Nabam Tuki yesterday, has opposed the decision of the government to appoint a circle officer as nodal officer-cum-executive magistrate of the project.

"Such appointment of officer above the department of Civil Aviation, Land Management and District Administration will unnecessarily create misunderstanding among the stakeholder departments of the state who are looking after the much awaited project," the forum has said.

It pointed out that civil aviation was handling the entire correspondence between union Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airport Authority of India (AAI) and Papum Pare district administration and land management department was looking after the land acquisition process on the ground smoothly.
24/06/14 Economic Times

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Overhaul at Chennai airport soon?

Chennai: Come July, Chennai airport will take extra care of disabled persons, senior citizens and pregnant women.
This is thanks to a circular issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), New Delhi, which mandates operation of free buggies to transport people from one level to the other, provision of small trolleys beyond security check to carry the hand baggage up to the boarding gate, displaying details of nodal officers to register complaints about airlines.
According to Airports Authority of India (AAI) in Chennai, the circular issued by DGCA on May 26 comes in to effect from July 1, this year.
A senior AAI official said work has begun to implement the various instructions given in the circular. To begin with, two buggies each in the domestic and international terminals will be provided for transporting passengers from the ground level to the mezzanine floor, and vice versa.
Providing small trolleys will only take a couple of months, said the official. The AAI headquarters in New Delhi has to distribute them.
However, another official said the headquarters has advised the airport directors concerned to make arrangements for procuring the trolleys locally. Already, AAI has called for a meeting with airlines on Monday to discuss the DGCA circular, said the official.
25/06/14 P. Oppili/Sunitha Sekar/The Hindu

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Hoardings near airport threaten to ground Mumbai's only non-stop flight to US

New Delhi: Mumbai may lose its only non-stop connection to the US for the silliest reason: billboards near the airport. Air India has complained to aviation and Maharashtra authorities that it is forced to carry only 260 passengers in the 340-seater Boeing 777 deployed on the Mumbai-Newark sector. The reason: billboards near the airport come in the path of the aircraft, forcing it to fly light to allow it take off in a way that it can steer clear of this hurdle.

TOI had reported this issue on May 1 but things have come to such a pass now that AI is threatening to cancel this flight — the only non-stop US connection from Mumbai — unless these hurdles go. "There used to be five billboards. Four were removed after we complained as but there is reportedly a court case involving the fifth one. Now, two billboards have reappeared, putting such a severe load penalty (restriction on how heavy a plane can be when it takes off) that we are forced to carry 80 seats empty," said a top AI official.
26/06/14 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Nine fliers yet to discharge 'smuggled' gold from belly

Trichy: Gold smugglers are getting smarter and ingenious in their bid to smuggle in gold. Couriers melt gold to conceal it inside baggage handles or wheels. A popular method which has come to light at Trichy airport frequently is concealing the metal in one's rectum. Some even consume gold as was the case with nine passengers who were caught by the customs officials at the Trichy airport on Monday night. Officials administered 'banana treatment' to recover 2.70 kg of gold they had consumed.
The nine-member group arrived from Malaysia in a flight of Malindo Air. Airport intelligence staff grew suspicious after one passenger in the group became nervous. He was picked up for interrogation which revealed the group's attempt to smuggle gold. All of them had consumed gold pieces weighing totally 2.70 kg. The value of the gold in their bellies is estimated to be about Rs 70 lakh.
The passengers are Mohammed Riyal (25), Kalanthiri (21), Ubaisulkarunai (30), Sheik Abdullah (23), Aamir Muhammed (26), Akbar Sali ( 31), Rafique Muhammed (25), MuhhammedRafique (36) and R Rafique (39). They are undergoing treatment at the government hospital where they were made to eat bananas which act as laxative. However, the effort to initiate bowel movement didn't yield the desired result. Doctors said even consumption of dozens of bananas failed to work on them. We are trying to administer other medicines, they said, while adding that such cases have never been brought to the hospital.
25/06/14 Times of India

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10,000 US dollars, rials, dinars seized from four at airport

Mangalore: In yet another catch, the officers of customs at Mangalore International Airport on Wednesday June 25 seized foreign currencies from four passengers.

The currencies, in US dollars, Oman rials and Kuwait dinars were seized from passengers identified as Nasir Kappil Abdulla, Abdulla Kunhi, Abdul Jabbar, and Khalid Hassainer, residents of Uduma and Hidayatnagar, Kasargod.

They were interceptd at the time of their departure to Sharjah by Air India Express flight IX823 on June 25.

The officials seized foreign currencies amounting to 10,000 US dollars, 1,950 Oman rials, and 1,450 Kuwait dinars from the accused. The currencies were concealed inside their hang baggages.

Superintendent of customs Marcus Pereira said that as per RBI guidelines, an Indian passenger while going abroad can carry foreign exchange without any limit, provided the same is procured from authorised money exchangers.
26/06/14 daijiworld

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Indian Expat Held For Money-Laundering

Kuwait City: An Indian expatriate has been arrested at Kuwait International Airport in possession of KD 12,000, says Al-Seyassah. According to sources, a female customs officer discovered undeclared amount of KD 12,000 in the luggage of an Indian passenger who had arrived at the airport from India. According to the Kuwait law, passengers are not allowed to carry more than KD 3,000 cash. Based on instructions given by the Airport Customs Supervisor Lt General Sulaiman Al-Fahad to be strict with passengers who arrive in the country, the Indian expatriate was arrested for money laundering charges and referred to the concerned authorities for further investigations.
25/06/14 Arab Times

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Tamil Nadu airports see big jump in gold smuggling cases

Chennai/Trichy/Coimbatore: It was a last minute decision by customs officials to weigh the batteries of an LED emergency lamp that led to the seizure of eight gold bars at Coimbatore airport on June 13. The bars were found flattened and concealed inside the batteries. A man from Kerala who arrived from Sharjah was arrested. In a 2011 case, a passenger had brought in 1.6kg gold after converting into rim and spokes of a bicycle wheel. From belt buckles to lining of suitcases, people are finding innovative ways to bring in gold.

And why not? The huge increase in the duty on gold may have managed to put a squeeze on imports, but the resulting shortage in the market is fuelling smuggling of the yellow metal. While the central agencies are trying hard to bust gold smuggling cartels, the rush to illegally bring gold continues with Tamil Nadu seeing an increase in seizures.

Not just Chennai, even cities like Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy are also witnessing a spurt in gold smuggling cases, show reports from customs and revenue agencies. According to sources at Trichy airport, 17 cases were recorded last year, with a total recovery of 60kg of gold worth about Rs 17 crore. Coimbatore has seen 10 cases of seizure of gold since November 2013.
25/06/14 Times of India

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Rs 40 lakh seized from 2 men at airport

Chennai: Two people who tried to smuggle Rs 40 lakh to Kuala Lumpur were nabbed at the airport on Tuesday. Officials of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence said the men were smuggling the money to pay salaries of Indian workers.

A DRI official said the seizure was based on a tip they received on Monday evening. "The money was concealed in the check-in baggage. We are searching for one more person," he said. The seized notes were in the denominations of 500 and 1,000. "The men were intercepted at the departure terminal while they were waiting to board a flight to Kuala Lumpur," said the official.

Officials said the money was being smuggled for distribution among job agents who employed Indian workers. "Many who work as electricians, plumbers and maids are paid in Indian currency as the value difference between rupee and ringgit benefits job agents," said an official.
25/06/14 Arun Janardhanan/Times of India

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Experts call for complete AAI revamp

Aviation experts and industry analysts have called on the government to revamp Airports Authority of India (AAI), following civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju's report to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, in which he said accumulated losses of Rs 49,000 crore have put the aviation sector on the verge of collapse.

The core function of AAI, which was carved out of the civil aviation ministry in 1995, was to improve quality and service in airports across the country. Officials decided that of AAI's two principal responsibilities, operations and engi

neering, operations would be the first priority as it involved safety and quality of terminal management as well as airside operations.
However, several projects and extensive construction work over the past few years has changed the character of AAI, with the authority hiring fewer airport management and operation experts and more engineers. Experts say

the replacement of experts in airport management, safety, commercial and customer relationship with engineers has had severe impact on service, quality and safety at Indian airports.
23/06/14 Arun Janardhanan/Times of India

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Bird hits plane in Coimbatore soon after take-off

Coimbatore: Seventy-four passengers and six crew members of a Mumbai-Coimbatore-Chennai JetLite flight went through some anxious moments after the aircraft suffered a bird hit soon after it took off from the airport here and was forced to return on Sunday night. The incident took place a few minutes after 10pm and the pilots immediately alerted the air traffic control.

Officials said the bird hit the cockpit windscreen, forcing the pilot to turn back and return to the airport for inspection. The passengers were later flown to Chennai on another flight on Monday morning while the aircraft was grounded for maintenance work until Monday afternoon.

"The pilot came to know that a panel in the cockpit was not working due to the bird-hit. So, he landed the flight at the airport and reported the problem to the airport authorities and Directorate General of Civil Aviation," said P Paul Manickam, airport director.
24/06/14 Times of India

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Waste near Coimbatore airport ups bird-hit risk

Coimbatore: The city airport authorities claim that the indiscriminate dumping of waste along the periphery of the airport has been a long-standing problem that has been endangering the safety of air passengers. They say that the garbage dumped by several poultry and meat stalls near the airport is a major attraction for scavenger birds like kites.

"It is the corporation's responsibility to ensure proper waste disposal to keep birds away from the airport. The issue of open garbage dumping near the airport is taken up every year at the annual meeting convened by the district collector and airport officials," said D Paul Manickam, director, Coimbatore International Airport.

The airport environment management committee headed by the district collector convenes the meeting every year. One issue that has been raised in the last two years is the cleaning up of the open canal that flows near the airport. The airport officials have been submitting photographs of the clogged canals.
24/06/14 Binoy Valsan/Times of India

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GMR Group to list energy, airport units

New Delhi: GMR Infrastructure Ltd is ready to list its energy and airport units with the market sentiment improving and in view of the recent reforms announced by SEBI for retail investors.

The company is also looking to review its overall business strategy from being asset light to a more balanced growth oriented plan.

Speaking to BusinessLine, GM Rao, Founder Chairman, GMR Group, said, “We are ready to list GMR Airports and GMR Energy but we are looking for right time. The market sentiments have picked up and the recent reforms announced by SEBI are welcome. Bankers have been appointed and we are looking to divest 10-20 per cent depending on market.”

The Group, which has diversified interests in airport, road and energy, had taken a decision few years ago to exit non-core areas and had termed it as ‘asset-light, asset-right’ strategy. The move was aimed at riding the downturn and cutting the debt burden.
23/06/14 The Hindu

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Airlines protest BIAL discount to AirAsia

New Delhi: After the unsuccessful bid to block the entry of AirAsia India, competitors have now opened a fresh front against the new player by protesting against Bangalore airport’s decision to give discounts to airline, which uses the airport as their base.

AirAsia India has started using Bangalore as its operational hub since it started its initial flights from there and the rivals allege that the Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) decision is aimed at benefiting AirAsia India.

Rivals like IndiGo and SpiceJet, who have come under a common platform of Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), feel that the discounts give an unfair advantage to AirAsia India as no other airport offers such incentives. However, they refused to comment when approached.

AirAsia India is the only carrier in India that uses Bangalore as its base.  Sources said AirAsia’s rivals are taking up the issue with the authorities.
23/06/14 Deccan Herald

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Upgrade for Mangalore air traffic control

Mangalore: The Mangalore International Airport which came under flak for being unsafe after an aircraft crashed while landing in 2010, killing 158 people, will now be commissioned with an advanced and modern air traffic control (ATC) tower.

According to airport director J. T. Radhakrishna, "The new ATC which offers a 360 degree view of the entire old and new runways section, approaches to the runways and parking ways, has come into being and is awaiting the permission of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGTCA) for its commissioning. The trial run has already begun."

The work had begun in April 2012 after a court of inquiry by Air Marshal (retd) B. N. Gokhale, which probed the crash, recommended the construction of a new ATC tower for a better view of the airport.

Until the new ATC facility is commissioned, it will act as a shadow unit for the existing ATC. The new ATC, standing at a height of 24 metres, would scan the air traffic up to 60 nautical miles from the airport for the flights landing at the airport and taking off from it.
24/06/14 Aftab H Kola/Times of Oman

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Mall & hotel on Bhubaneswar airport radar

Bhubaneswar: The Biju Patnaik Airport, which has got an international tag, is all set to have an eight-storey shopping complex-cum-budget hotel on a four-acre plot near the parking lot.
Airport director Sharad Kumar said the project would be executed on build-own-transfer (BOT) basis with the developing agency building and operating the twin facilities for a certain period. Later, the AAI would take it over.
However, the AAI is yet to select a company for executing the project.
Sources said that the selection process might take six months. They said there was no problem in making an eight-storeyed structure because it fell outside the flight path of the aircraft coming in or going out of the airport.
The airport authorities, meanwhile, have floated the tender for a cloakroom of 100sqft near the parking lot.
“People can keep their luggage in the cloakroom and visit nearby places after landing in Bhubaneswar. This will be of great help for travellers who wish to see places such as Puri without staying there as they have a flight to catch again,” said an AAI official.
24/06/14 Bibhuti Barik/The Telegraph

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Non-clearance derails Imphal-Mandalay flight service once again

Imphal: Contrary to the repeated assurances given for better connectivity between Manipur and the rest of South East Asian region in the backdrop of India's Look East Policy, the proposed starting of international chartered flight between Imphal in India and Mandalay in Myanmar has been postponed indefinitely as the authorities concerned have not given the required clearance.
The development has come like throwing cold water over the whole efforts made by a private travel operator in the State for starting the flight services all these years.
Issuing a press statement in this regard today, KB Enterprises announced that the flight service which was slated to begin from June 27 has to be postponed as there have been no clearances from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, the Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi.
Moreover, Airport Authority of India is yet to complete the installation of certain units for the starting of international flight, it added.
23/06/14 E-Pao

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Talks to extend Juhu runway into sea revived

Mumbai: The old proposal to extend Juhu airport's main runway into the sea was resurrected during a meet between civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Airports Authority of India on Monday.
"The plan was to extend the runway's length into the sea to enable aircraft like ATRs to be diverted here to decongest Mumbai airport,'' said a source.
24/06/14 Times of India

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Grab a rum ball at Flurys airport outlet

Kolkata: Flurys, the city's heritage confectionary brand, made its maiden entry into travel hubs with an outlet at Kolkata airport. Though the counter became functional only at 1pm on Monday, passengers streamed in since the signage was installed early morning, keen to pick up goodies before taking off in their respective flights.
Maneeta Sahaney, who works in an embassy in Delhi, was lucky to walk in when the store had opened and purchased several packs of chocolates. "I had some time at hand and was walking about the terminal when I was pleasantly surprised to spot the Flurys store. It's a name that I am familiar with since childhood. While visiting Kolkata, I would be taken to the store in Park Street and loved it. Unfortunately, when I visit the city on work, there isn't enough time to drop by at the store. Having a Flurys at the airport makes it so convenient," she pointed out.
24/06/14 Times of India

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Aerobridge facility to start from July 20 at Bhopal airport

Bhopal: Passengers flying from Bhopal will no longer be required to walk down from terminal building to aircraft and vice-versa for boarding and disembarking the plane as two aerobridges will be operational at Raja Bhoj airport from July 20.
Aerobridges are being constructed by an Indonesian company.
According to in charge of electrical department at airport, Ramjee Awasthi, "First floor of airport terminal will also be operational once construction of aerobridges is complete." He added, aerobridge facility would be available only for bigger aircrafts. "They cannot be used for ATR aircrafts," he said. Presently, Air India and Jet Airways operates eight domestic flights daily from Bhopal airport.
24/06/14 Times of India

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Trolley trouble at Chennai airport

Chennai: With less than half the required number of luggage trolleys for an airport its size, Chennai airport is suffering from an extreme shortage that leaves passengers with the choice of either waiting it out or lugging their heavy bags themselves.
The shortage of luggage trolleys has affected both the international and domestic terminals at Chennai airport. Most passengers who arrive have to wait for a considerable time for the trolleys.
The problem has remained unsolved for the past six months, said a senior official of Airports Authority of India (AAI). Nearly 2,500 trolleys are now available, but they are used at both the domestic and international terminals.
A majority of them are defective due to lack of maintenance.
Explaining the condition of the trolleys, another official said the actual requirement of trolleys at Chennai airport is 5,000. They also need to be checked periodically for defects.
The maintenance of trolleys at Chennai airport was earlier given to a private firm. The trolleys carried advertisements, which earned revenue, which was shared between AAI and the private firm.
23/06/14 P. Oppili/The Hindu

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Imphal-Mandalay flight postponed

Imphal: The much awaited Imphal-Mandalay round trip flight which was scheduled to take off from here on June 27, has been postponed in view of the non-completion of certain ground works at the Tulihal airport in Imphal, according to KB Enterprises, a private tour operator here.
“We have to wait clearance from Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi. Moreover, the Airport Authority of India has to complete installation of certain works”, the operator said in a press release explaining the postponement. The release added, “Rescheduled date will be announced when the concerned authorities issue respective clearances.”
23/04/16 Assam Tribune

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2 Crude Gold Chains Seized at Kochi airport

Kochi: The Air Intelligence Unit of the customs department at the CIAL on Monday seized two crude gold chains totally weighing  618.900  grams  having a market value of `17,68,817. The gold was seized from a passenger, a native of Kottayam, who came from Dubai by Emirates flight EK 532 which landed in Kochi at 3.30 am on Monday. The gold was found concealed in hidden pockets of his trousers. On suspicion that he  was carrying contraband gold, officials questioned him. When the person was thoroughly searched, two crude gold chains of purity of 999.9 were found  in the hidden pocket of his trousers .
24/06/14 New Indian Express

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5 Indians held with 36 gold bars in Bangladesh

Dhaka: Five Indians have been detained in Bangladesh for allegedly trying to smuggle in 36 gold bars concealed inside their rectum into the country believed to be a major conduit to sneak in the yellow metal into India. Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) officials detained them from a bus in Jessore district and seized the gold bars weighing 4.4 kg yesterday, The DailyStar reported.
Bijoy Kumar Chandra, Ruhith Ashok, Komal Otharar and Raj Kumar of Nagpur, and Rakesh of Ahmadabad arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka from Dubai on June 19, the report quoted Col Motiur Rahman, commanding officer of BGB 26 Battalion as saying.
Bangladesh is believed to be a major conduit for smuggling gold into India, where the demand for the yellow metal is high and makes smuggling attractive after import curbs by New Delhi to cut-down foreign exchange outflow.
Yesterday, the five Indians came to Benapole by a bus and completed their immigration process to return to India. But instead of crossing the border, they mysteriously boarded a Jessore-bound bus, said Rahman.
23/06/14 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

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Gold Smuggler's Accomplice Caught in Hotel Near Airport After Midnight Hunt

Chennai: The accomplice of the smuggler who tried to slip 23 gold bars past customs officers on Sunday was nabbed in a late night operation. He had fled the airport without detection and had made his way to a hotel near the airport, from where a team from the Air Intelligence Unit of the Customs department arrested him late Sunday night.
Express had reported that Mumbai-based businessman Om Prakash Trilok Chandwani had arrived in the city on an Air India Express flight (IX 680) from Singapore at 3.30 pm. He had attempted to slip past the immigration and customs lobby by sliding through the green channel with two bags.
“We had been watching him ever since he got off the flight and he appeared very nervous. So we checked his baggage,” said a customs officer. They found that 23 bars of gold, weighing 1 kg each, had been wrapped in double linen cloth. He neither had sales receipts nor any document supporting the origin of the gold. He was taken in and grilled for over six hours before he gave up his accomplice.
24/06/14 New Indian Express

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Make aam admi, not Maharaja, mascot of Indian aviation: Modi

New Delhi: he Maharaja must be replaced by the aam admi as the mascot of Indian aviation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is learnt to have conveyed this to aviation minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju when the latter briefed him about the critical condition of the debt-laden sector on Saturday.
The PM took notes as the minister and secretary Ashok Lavasa described how the sector was facing existential crisis thanks to its Rs 49,000-crore loans. He keenly heard the required policy initiatives and taxation reforms the sector is hoping from the government to come out of this mess. A lower cost regime, stressed the aviation team, will be able to lead to safe and affordable flying that will lead to the common man becoming the face of aviation — a far cry when flying was only for the Maharajas.
23/06/14 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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In 16 days, 5 air misses in Mumbai

Mumbai : In sixteen days during the second and third week of May, five "air miss incidents" took place over Mumbai skies as aircraft came in close proximity of each other, said a source.
 However, the topmost Airports Authority of India (AAI) official (western region) tasked with monitoring aviation safety was kept in the dark about the cases.
 The air traffic control services in the country are provided by the AAI. An increase in near miss incidents over the congested Mumbai skies is primarily the organization’s concern. The authority investigates and finds solutions to remedy such situations, but the job function has not been taking place as mandated.
"AAI officials have been suppressing from me air miss incident reports since last year. They are being aided and abetted by the higher-ups in AAI headquarters," stated a letter sent on April 30 by S Mangala, AAI deputy general manager (aviation safety) of the western region to A K Sharma, regional AAI executive director.
 Mangala being the western region’s top aviation safety official is one of the administrators who should be mandatorily informed about such incidents as soon as they take place. "It is high time that air safety is given more attention, especially in view of the downgrade by aviation regulator in the US last year," the letter mentioned. On May 1, AAI’s vigilance officer made a noting on the letter calling for appropriate action. On May 5, Sharma sought an explanation on the matter. There has been no progress since then.
 23/06/14 Bellevision

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GMR deal is not valid by Maldivian laws, insists Azima

The contract with India's GMR to develop and run the Maldives' main international airport was not valid under Maldivian law, despite a Singaporean arbitration tribunal saying otherwise, former Attorney General Aishath Azima Shakoor said on Saturday.

Azima's comments come days after an arbitration court in Singapore declared that the concession agreement between the Maldives and GMR was prematurely terminated by the Maldivian government unlawfully.

Azima, who played a key role in the termination of the contract as the acting attorney general at the time, told Haveeru that according to the common law, a third party need not bear losses for negligence of two other parties. The arbitration court based its verdict on the fact that GMR need not bear any losses resulting from the Maldivian government's failure to abide by certain conditions set out in the Public Finance Act, she said.

Azima stressed that the government did not fulfill the conditions set out in the Public Finance Act, before signing the agreement. That was the basis of the government's argument at the time, she added.

"Even if the agreement is legit under Common Law, it does not necessarily concur that the agreement had also been made according to Maldivian laws. Nobody sitting as AG in Maldives can still pronounce the deal to have been done as per the Public Finance Act. No one can. That's why I spoke against it even then," she said.
22/06/14 Azuhaar Abdul Azeez/Haveeru Online

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IGI infrastructure faces summer test

New Delhi: With all trains booked two months in advance , many travellers during the summer vacation are usually not left with any option but to fly to their destinations. This summer, IGI's domestic terminal has already witnessed a 1.5-2-fold rise in footfall compared to the offpeak period. The rush that began in May is likely to continue till August.

According to airport sources, the extra rush at the domestic terminal—25 ,000-30 ,000 people are stepping in daily while off-peak footfall was 15,000-20 ,000—is putting resources to test. The most intense periods are during Friday and Saturday evenings with the numbers peaking around 6pm when a lot of local passengers arrive for their weekend getaways. The time between 6am and 8am on Monday morning is another mad scramble when these travellers presumably return.

The airport operator, Delhi International Airport Ltd, says resources at the airport have already been augmented to match the increase in number of flyers and further expansion is being considered.
23/06/14 Suhas Munshi/Times of India

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Less queues to declare dutiable goods at Delhi airport

New Delhi: Flyers bringing in dutiable goods including televisions and electronic gadgets will not have to   stand in long queues to get them cleared from now. Customs authorities have introduced an electronic system to calculate duty on any goods and material, other then free   allowances, being brought by them to India at Indira Gandhi   International Airport (IGIA) here, official sources said. Earlier, the calculation of duty on goods was being done  manually at the airport.The system-Systematic Keeper of Receipts will keep a   record of items being brought by a passenger into the country  without any human intervention. The time in calculation of   duty on goods by the new system installed at red channel will be one-tenth as compared to the old practice, they said.
A passenger had to spend on an average at least 20 minutes for getting duty calculated on the goods brought by   him. This was in addition to time spent in standing in queues. During rush hour, passengers had to stand in queues for   hours. According to rules, a passenger is supposed to declare  dutiable goods at red channel at the airport. Those not having   any dutiable goods are supposed to hand over the mandatory   customs declaration form by an international passenger at the  green channel. The new system is pre-fed with duties leviable on items  brought by the passengers and has ended any scope of   discretion by any officers.
22/06/14 PTI/Deccan Chronicle

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3 passengers held with gold worth Rs 75 lakh

Kochi: Three passengers from Dubai were detained here for trying to smuggle 21 gold biscuits worth Rs 75 lakh into the country on Saturday.
Officials of the air customs at the international airport here said the men hid the gold in their rectum.
The trio, who arrived on a Spice Jet flight at 1.35 am, was caught while they were trying to pass through the green channel.
22/06/14 Times of India

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CBI unravels customs corruption at IGI Airport, arrests Anil Yadav

Superintendent of Customs Anil Yadav, posted as Jewellery Appraiser in the office of Additional Commissioner, Customs at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for demanding and accepting bribe of Rs. 18,000 from a synthetic diamond importer from Surat, Gujarat.
The complainant had alleged that Anil Yadav, seemingly in a well-rehearsed routine, demanded a bribe at the rate of Rs 2 per carat for clearing a consignment of rough synthetic diamonds that were being imported from China. He filed a case against Yadav under Prevention of Corruption Act.
Acting on his complaint, CBI laid a trap and when Yadav demanded and then, accepted the bribe, he was arrested red-handed.
21/06/14 Ruchi Shirmali/PrepSure

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Small airports can develop Telangana, Andhra Pradesh: experts

Hyderabad: Aviation experts say that developing large number of airports will spur development, though it might not be feasible to have more than two or three international airports in one state.

The new AP government had gone overboard promising a slew of airports every 100 or 150 kilometres, but experts say that only a small airport every few hundred kilometres is possible. The NDA government’s mandate aimed at improving connectivity is expected to help development, investment, as well as tourism.

International airports require a minimum of 9,000 metres of runway. Most states across the country have one or two international airports, only a few have three international airports. “Currently, there are almost 16 airstrips in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, some of which are dysfunctional.

In the AP Reorganization Act the Centre had promised three international airports to Andhra Pradesh in Vishakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati.

While Vijayawada already has international facilities, it is not yet a full-fledged one. The NDA manifesto stressed on improving connectivity, with low cost airports every few 100 kilometres, but the exact number of airports planned in AP is unclear as AP has not yet submitted its  proposal,” said an official from the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
21/06/14 Deccan Chronicle

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International flights run into air force barrier

Chandigarh: The approval of the Indian Air Force (IAF) was the main prerequisite for the final launch of international flights from the city airport, a hurdle that has never been crossed and one which highlights the futility of the Punjab government boasting about the clearance for Dubai and Bangkok flights.

On Thursday, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal met union civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati and announced that Indigo, Spice Jet and UAE Airlines have been given permission to operate international flights from Chandigarh to Dubai and Bangkok. However, Indigo and Spice Jet had already obtained permission from the director general civil aviation in September 2013 for launching flights from Chandigarh to Dubai and Bangkok. But refusal of the IAF authorities, which controls the local runway and the air traffic control (ATC), slammed brakes on their plans.
21/06/14 Times of India

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Solar plant to power Chennai airport

Chennai:  Solar power could soon drive Chennai airport. Airports Authority of India is planning a solar plant that will meet the airport's requirements and the surplus power supplied to the grid.

The move is part of a plan to install solar power plants at 30 airports across the country and an MoU was signed between AAI and Solar Energy Corporation of India in May. The project is expected to generate a total of 50MW in the first phase. This will save on power bills and also reduce carbon emissions.

The new terminals at Chennai airport eliminate the need for lights during the day but the quantity of power required of air conditioning and lighting at night is huge because the terminals are bigger than the old structures.

AAI wants to install solar panels on the buildings or in the space between the runways at the airport that is spread over more than 3,000acres. The airport now spends a lot of money to keep the land clear of grass and bushes and it is felt this is a better way to use the land.
21/06/14 Times of India

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Only 2 villages now oppose Navi Mumbai airport package

The Navi Mumbai International Airport project is all set to take off with the number of villages opposing the rehabilitation package offered by the state coming down two, Cidco officials claimed. The two villages are Pargaon and Owala.

Earlier, of the 10 villages whose land was to be acquired, 6 had opposed the package announced last November.

Cidco managing director Sanjay Bhatia confirmed that of the six, four were now willing to accept the govt offer.

Officials also exuded confidence about bringing these two on board. "We do not want to impose anything on anyone. The best we can do is to explain how good the package is."

Meanwhile, in a related development, farmers from these two villages have pinned hopes on the Narendra Modi govt to meet their demands. "We have never been against the airport project. However, we oppose the rehabilitation package. We want the state to compensate us as per our demands," said Mahendra Patil, who leads Navi Mumbai Antarrashtriya Prakalpagrast Sangharsh Samiti.
21/06/14 Rahul M Tawade/Daily News & Analysis

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IAF sets up publicity pavilion at Hyderabad airport

New Delhi: To attract more youths to join its ranks, the Air Force will inaugurate a publicity pavilion at the Hyderabad airport on Sunday.

"The inauguration of Facilitation cum Publicity Cell (FCP) Pavilion will be held tomorrow at Hyderabad Airport by Air Force Academy Commandant Air Marshal RG Burli," an IAF release said.

Amongst initiatives taken by the IAF for induction publicity, a major step was to enhance its presence at major airports.

The IAF pavilion at Terminal-3 IGI airport in Delhi, set up in October 2012, proved to be a success and it receives a considerable number of visitors on daily basis.
21/06/14 PTI/Zee News

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Bhubaneshwar airport bid to curb bird-hit cases

Bhubaneswar: In view of onset of monsoon, when bird menace is reported at Biju Patnaik International Airport quite frequently, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and airport officials on Friday jointly chalked out an action plan to curb the problem.

The airport authorities have urged the BMC to cut at least 1,360 trees, located near the airport. BMC had cut 120 of 1,480 trees identified jointly by BMC and airport officials in February 2013.

"The remaining trees have to be cut to stop birds from nesting. During monsoon, birds flock to the trees and they keep fluttering over the airport, which can pose a threat to aircraft," said airport director Sharad Kumar. In last four years, 31 bird-hit cases were eported at the airport, he added.

In January last year, airport authorities had complained of bird being sighted at the operational area (northern as well southern side runway). Following this, BMC had demolished 30 shops, which were selling fish and meat at Pokhariput, 500 metre from west-side boundary of the airport.
21/06/14 Times of India

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BEST offers relief for fliers harrowed by rogue auto, taxi drivers

Taking cognisance of the myriad complaints made by fliers alighting at the international airport, about having difficulty in finding auto rickshaws or taxis that would ply them to their desired destination without getting fleeced, the BEST has proposed to start ring route services to and from T2 to places like Borivli (W), Cadbury Junction in Thane and CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai.
“We have proposed the three routes and have forwarded the proposal to the BEST Committee for approval. These are new air-conditioned buses,” said BEST general manager O P Gupta. There will be 18 trips, starting to and for T2 airport from the eastern, western and central suburbs. “Nine AC buses will complete these 18 trips,” said another BEST official. These buses will operate between 6.30 pm and 2.35 am. While the minimum fares will be kept at Rs 55, the maximum will be Rs 180. The travelling time would depend on the route, wherein it would take at least 120 minutes to travel up to CBD Belapur, 100 minutes for Borivali (W) and 80 minutes till Cadbury Junction.
21/06/14 Shashank Rao/Mid Day

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CBI Arrests Customs Officials From IGI Airport in Graft Case

New Delhi:  The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested a Superintendent of Customs from Indira Gandhi International Airport for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 18,000 from a synthetic diamond importer.

Superintendent Anil Yadav, working as Jewellery Appraiser in the office of Additional Commissioner, Customs, IGI Airport, was arrested by CBI on the charge of accepting a bribe at the rate of  Rs 2 per carat for clearing the consignment of Rough Synthetic Diamonds imported from China, CBI said.

A CBI spokesperson said a case was registered against a Superintendent, Customs, under Prevention of Corruption Act on the complaint of demanding a bribe.
20/06/14 NDTV

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Dumped gold biscuits worth R 26 crore found in airport's dustbin

Chennai: The gold biscuits worth Rs. 26 crore were found in a dustbin at Tamil Nadu airport.

The gold was seized by the custom and the CISF officers on Saturday.

The house keeping staff noticed the 7.5 Kg heavy plastic bag while cleaning up. When the plastic bag was opened up, the gold biscuits were found inside it.
21/06/14 Dailybhaskar

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Peak season trouble: Patna, Jammu, Leh face flight crunch to Delhi

New Delhi: With summer break set to be over in exactly a fortnight, there is a mad scramble to fly back to Delhi from three cities with critically short runway airports — Leh, Patna and Jammu. The directorate general of civil aviation's (DGCA) directive to IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir to fly their planes 15% to 20% empty out of these short runways in this grueling heat for safety reasons has meant a spate of cancellations.

Neither Air India nor Jet Airways are in a position to absorb the cancellations of the three airlines. As a result, there are no seats on certain sectors or fares have shot through the roof. "When cancellations like this happen, flyers have to be adjusted in flights on subsequent days. This leads to blocking of seats on flights for several days and so there are no seats available on some sectors for a few days," said a source.

For instance, getting just one Leh-Delhi seat before the summer break gets over means shelling out anywhere upto Rs 31,000 — for a one-way ticket. And the only options are to fly to Delhi via Jammu as all direct flights to Delhi are sold out. Similarly, Jammu-Delhi and Patna-Delhi one-way fares are about 15%-20% higher at about Rs 7,000 each.
20/06/14 Times of India

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'HAL airport must open up for short-haul flights'

Bangalore: The talk of re-opening the HAL airport in Bangalore for short-haul passenger flights has gained momentum with the defence PSU stepping up pressure on the new regime.

The HAL and other stakeholders, however, seem to think that a solution is possible only if they involve the private airport operator - the GVK Group-led consortium - in any sort of deal.

Former civil aviation secretary KNShrivastava believes that the only possible way to resume operations at HAL is to get the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), HAL and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) into a tripartite agreement on revenue sharing.

"It is clear from the traffic trends that civil aviation has lost substantial short-haul traffic from Bangalore to rail and road sectors. The only way to win it back is by re-opening the HAL airport for short-haul passenger traffic," said Shrivastava, who is currently a member of the Prime Minister chaired National Disaster Management Authority.
20/06/14 KR Balasubramanyam/Economic Times

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New airport plans grounded, as Baba Kalyani slices land offer by over 50%

Pune: With Pune Inc. lobbying strongly for the greenfield international airport in the fringes of the city, it was felt that the long wait of 12 years, since it was announced, had finally come to an end with a new location being identified in November last year at Khed, where most of the land had already been acquired for a corporate joint-venture — the special economic zone (SEZ) and Khed Economic Infrastructure Pvt Ltd (KEIPL).

However, last week, even as local farmers' resistance to the project has been building up, Baba Kalyani, a key player in this plan, almost shut the door on the project offering to part with less than half the land requisitioned from KEIPL.

On June 11, Kalyani, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Forge, the company with critical 24 per cent stake in KEIPL, made a presentation to Dr P S Meena, the State's additional chief secretary (civil aviation).

Here, he revisited the blueprint for the airport to contend that it could be built on much less land than what has been requisitioned. While KEIPL was required to part with 850 hectares, of its total 4,500 hectares, for the airport project, Kalyani argued that a facility on the lines of Heathrow airport could well be built on just 350 hectares. Giving anymore than this would also work against the interest of the SEZ.
20/06/14 Kaumudi Gurjar/Pune Mirror

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Couple suffers cardiac arrest on flight, both die

New Delhi: Tragedy struck an elderly couple travelling on a SpiceJet flight from New Delhi to Guwahati on Thursday afternoon when both of them suffered suspected cardiac arrest and died soon after.
According to sources, a 75-year-old man, identified by airline sources as Shantilal Jain, suffered the cardiac arrest onboard initially. Due to the medical emergency, the aircraft turned back towards Delhi. About the time the aircraft was landing, his 65-year-old wife Premlata also fell unconscious on board after she too suffered a suspected cardiac arrest. SpiceJet sources said Premlata Jain had a history of brain-tumour and was a wheelchair passenger. The elderly couple were rushed to hospital from Delhi airport in ambulances after the flight landed but were declared dead.
20/06/14 Asian Age

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Officers' body worried over malfunctioning radars, writes to AAI

An officers' association has written to Airports Authority of India (AAI) top bosses over the poor functioning of radars at many airports in the country, highlighting the risk this poses to people's safety.

Radars are important tools of aircraft navigation system and any failure or error on their part at any busy airport can have a cascading effect the world over.

Falling of radar antenna at Delhi airport just by a moderate wind of less than 50 knots on June 13 prompted the association to write to AAI.

The association, identifying itself as Airport Authority Officer's Association (AAOA), said officials at Delhi airport had brought the incident to the notice of radar manufacturer ELDIS, about the malfunctioning of antenna in hardware as well as software. "At a point of time, it (the radar) stopped rotating but the machine (erroneously) logged its rotation. As a result, on display, it appeared normal," said YP Gautam, AAOA general secretary. ELDIS officials were unavailable for comment. Also, GS Bawa, AAI spokesperson, did not respond to dna's calls.
20/06/14 Shahkar Abidi/Daily News & Analysis

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RTI query nails Haryana's claims about airports at Karnal, Hisar

Chandigarh:  While Haryana may have claimed to build civil airports in Karnal and Hisar, it has emerged that the state government never approached ministry of civil aviation to speed up process of feasibility survey and other formalities required before setting up airports after making an announcement on July 31, 2013. Haryana government claimed to have obtained in-principle approval from the director general of civil aviation (DGCA) for setting up two airports at the existing airfields of Karnal and Hisar, information received through RTI Act query reveals to the contrary.

Information sourced through RTI Act that no such letter was written by the state government to the Union civil aviation ministry and the development of airports at Hisar and Karnal was not under consideration of the Centre. Karnal-based advocate and RTI activist Rajesh Sharma had sought information about Haryana government's efforts to set up the airports from the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

It was, however, clarified by AAI in response to the query that there was a proposal of the state government to set up green field cargo airport near Rohtak, hometown of Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, for which the local MO and CM's son Deepender Hooda had approached it through the ministry of civil aviation.
20/06/14 Ajay Sura/Times of India

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Pallisabha on Extension of Air Strip

Jharsuguda:  A special Pallisabha was conducted to acquire 9.6 acre of forest land for extension of Jharsuguda air strip at Talmal village under Dur langa panchayat of Jharsuguda block on Tuesday.

Jharsuguda BDO TR Majhi conducted the Pallisabha while Ward member Fakir Mohan Kishan presided. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) wants the additional land for the runways and construction of another terminal building to cater to the increase in number of passengers. Hundreds of villagers, who attended the Pallisabha, voluntarily favoured transfer of the land for the proposed extension of the air strip. On the other hand, they demanded appointment of the villagers in AAI as per their qualifications and payment of compensation to the occupants of the Government land.
20/06/14 New Indian Express

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Hijack alarm turns out to be mock drill

Ludhiana: Less than a fortnight after the Taliban attacked Karachi airport, panic gripped Sahnewal airport after rumours of a plane hijack spread. Later, it turned out to be a mock drill. Airport officials said the mock drill, which involved the police, fire brigade and medical teams, was conducted to check the response time of emergency services. They said airport authorities sent a request for emergency services to the police, fire brigade and medical team around 10.30 am on Thursday, airport authorities sent a message to police, fire brigade and medical team.

Airport manager VP Jain said the mock drill was planned in advance and information about it was concealed from departments concerned. He also said airport authorities were satisfied with emergency services teams, which reached the airport in the shortest possible time.
20/06/14 Times of India

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Gold seized at CIAL again, Kannur native held

Kochi: The Air Intelligence Unit of the Customs Department at the Cochin International  Airport here arrested a person carrying 699.5 grams of gold on Thursday. The intercepted person, a native of Kannur, arrived on a flight from Sharjah at 6 am, and was caught while trying to hurriedly get through the ‘Green Channel’ at the airport. On searching, the gold was found concealed in two umbrellas, the  second instance of gold seizure this week.
20/04/14 New Indian Express

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GMR says Maldives govt, aviation agency liable to pay damages

Hyderabad: The GMR Group, which had to exit the Male airport project, today said a tribunal has declared the Maldivian government and the nation's airport agency "jointly and severally liable in damages" to the company for loss caused by the wrongful repudiation of the agreement.

GMR Male International Airport Ltd (GMIAL), a unit of GMR Infrastructure, had entered into a concession agreement with the government of Maldives and Maldives Airport Co for modernisation and operation of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport in 2010.

The contract was unilaterally terminated by the Maldives government, which initiated arbitration proceedings on November 29, 2012, seeking a declaration that the concession agreement was void ab initio, GMR said in a statement today.

"Government of Maldives and Maldives Airport Co. Ltd are jointly and severely liable in damages to GMIAL for loss caused by wrongful repudiation of the agreement as per the concession agreement," GMR Infrastructure said in the filing, citing the arbitration awarded by Rt Hon Lord Hoffman's Tribunal.
19/06/14 PTI/Business Standard

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GMR Said to Weigh IPOs of Airport, Energy Units to Cut Debt

GMR Infrastructure Ltd. (GMRI), the operator of India’s biggest airport, is considering listing its airport and power generation units and selling shares to institutional investors as it seeks to reduce debt, people with knowledge of the matter said.

In a first step, GMR plans to raise as much as $200 million through a qualified institutional placement, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the deliberations are confidential. The company would then sell the airports and power units in initial public offerings, they said.

GMR has been selling assets as it tries to cut debt that almost doubled in the four years through March. It joins companies including Reliance Communications Ltd. in seeking to raise money as stocks surge following Narendra Modi’s election victory last month.
19/06/14 George Smith Alexander/Business Week

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Lift Conks off at Chennai Airport's International Terminal, Traps Singapore Flyer

Chennai: In a bizarre incident, a passenger who had arrived early for his flight to Singapore, had to be pulled out through a hatch of an elevator at the international airport terminal, after it suddenly stopped between floors. Airport sources said it took over 45 minutes and a series of frantic calls before Raman (name changed), was pulled out of the lift.

Raman, who works with a multinational firm, had arrived early to board the 11.15 pm Singapore Airlines flight SQ 529 and had decided to unwind at the Port Lounge. “He had stepped into the lift and was heading from the upper level of the new international terminal to the ground level, when the lift suddenly stopped and went dead,” said an Airports Authority of India official.
The man panicked and pressed the emergency button but to no avail. After shouting himself hoarse, he pulled out his mobile phone and woke his wife up and told her that he was stuck in a lift in the new airport.

His wife immediately awoke her father, a retired official with All India Radio, who immediately called the airline’s help centre. “Within about 20 minutes, the airline had sent a team to our office and they had located the stuck lift. They found that the emergency generator had malfunctioned and there was no way to pry open the doors,” another source added.
The team removed the hatch on the roof of the elevator and pulled the man out. He had to be bodily lifted out of the elevator channel.
19/06/14 Daniel Thimmayya/New Indian Express

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