AAI waits on govt for Malda airport land

Kolkata: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is yet to receive the 400 acres of land promised by the West Bengal government for the renovation of the Malda airport. According to Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, the AAI had approached the state government in this regard about a year back.
“An MOU along with a plan identifying 400 acres of additional land was sent to the state government on June 5, 2006,” said Patel in a letter addressed to the Information And Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi.
"We are still waiting for a response from the state government,” he said in the letter to Das Munshi, in response to a query by him over the renovation of the airport and resumption of service from Malda. The airport has been nonoperational for several years now ever since Vayudoot, the subsidiary of Indian Airlines, became defunct.
An AAI team, which was deputed to examine the airport infrastructure, had submitted a report to Patel stating that it required 400 acres of additional land for the development of the Malda airport and for constructing a new runway.
27/05/07 Kolkata Newsline

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Survey to clear airport slums, plan rehab gains speed

Mumbai: Waking up finally to the painfully slow progress on clearing the country’s busiest airport of 80,000 shanties squatting on 276 acres of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport’s (CSIA) land, Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on Friday told the state government that inaction would no longer be acceptable.
Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh ordered the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to complete the survey and draw up two lists of eligible shanty-owners, separate ones for slums existing pre-1995 and pre-2000.
The stringent deadline now means that the MMRDA, the nodal agency appointed by MIAL for the resettlement and rehabilitation, will have to conclude the baseline socio-economic survey and plane table survey in record time — it was supposed tobe over in December 2006. Currently, of the 31 slum pockets dotting the airport periphery, surveys have been concluded in less than 20.
Officials said that Patel pointed out that while the Delhi and Bangalore airports had been modernised, a lot was left to be desired regarding the Mumbai airport.
30/03/07 Expressindia.com

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Cooch Behar airport to miss April deadline

Cooch Behar: Union civil aviation minister, Mr Praful Patel, had informed the Rajya Sabha on 14 March last year that “the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has taken initiatives for the resumption of air services in Cooch Behar, Pant Nagar, Akola, Gondia, Surat and Mysore. Work for strengthening and extension of runway and allied works have already been taken up at the Cooch Behar Airport ~ the probable date of completion is December 2006”.
On 1 February this year, chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had said that the Cooch Behar-Kolkata air service might start by April this year.
But nothing has been done so far.
Re-introduction of air service between Kolkata and Cooch Behar is not likely this April too.
The runway of the defunct Cooch Behar airport was renovated and the boundary wall constructed. A large number of trees were uprooted in the surrounding areas for safe landing of aircrafts. Senior AAI officials had made several visits to this airport and supervised the progress of work. But the situation is still unchanged.
30/03/07 Debashis Bhaumik/The Statesman

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De-flooding work begins at Visakhapatnam airport

VIisakhapatnam: Work on preventing flooding of the Visakhapatnam airport has begun following the award of contract. The work is scheduled for completion in 18 months.
The de-flooding project had been on the anvil ever since the airport got flooded for two successive monsoons following torrential rain throwing flight schedules out of gear, heavily disrupting connectivity impacting upon its image as a favoured investment destination. The engineer-in-chief, Irrigation, had appointed Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS) as consultants to suggest measures for preventing the flooding after the Chief Minister held a meeting. After technical survey and deliberations with officials of the Airports Authority of India, the district administration and user agencies, WAPCOS made its recommendations leading to finalising the project.
According to sources, the tender was finalised in the middle of the month at a contract value of Rs. 51.19 crores, 21.2 per cent less than the estimated contract value of Rs. 65.3 crores.
30/03/07 G.V. Prasada Sarma/The Hindu

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AAI signs performance related MoU with Government

Airports Authority of India (AAI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Civil Aviation. This Memorandum spells the targets to be achieved by Airports Authority of India on key performance areas for the year 2007-08.
During 2007-08, AAI targets to achieve Gross Margin of Rs. 1850 crores against Rs. 1400 crores in the 2006-07. Amongst other thrust areas spelled out in MOU are Customer Satisfaction (77%), ISO Certification of Airports of 11 Airports.
To improve the efficiency of Cargo Processing, AAI targets to process 96% of International Cargo (Export) in 2 days and 98% of International Cargo (Import) in 24 hrs. Safety related targets include - bird strike rate to be limited below 0.50 per ten thousand aircraft movements & airprox incidents below 1.80 per one lakh aircraft movements. There are 12 highly priority projects identified to be completed during the year 2007-08.
30/03/07 Press Information Bureau (press release)

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Flying Eye Hospital lands in city, to conduct surgeries

Mumbai: A hospital that flies across the world to train doctors and conduct difficult eye surgeries has come to Mumbai for the first time for a two week stay.
The ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital (FEH)—part of the global sight saving organisatio—on its 16th India trip will be here till April 10 when they will conduct 45 surgeries in the specially modified aircraft. The inaugural session was held at the Leela on Thursday at the hands of actress Hema Malini.
The DC-10 flying hospital has been operating for over 25 years, earlier through a DC-8 aircraft, was in Delhi in 2004. The aircraft has been modified to have a lecture room, an operation theatre and a recovery room handled by 23 crew members including doctors, nurses and staff. FedEx and Lotus Eye hospital are the other partners of the stay in Mumbai. The FedEx pilots volunteer to fly the aircraft and also offer logistical support.
29/03/07 Mumbai Newsline

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Airports to roll out red carpet to global business execs

New Delhi:The government is planning to develop ground infrastructure at major airports ‘exclusively’ for non-tourists charters and private jets carrying top business executives and CEOs.
The infrastructure may be created in the form of a separate airstrip in airports coupled with small terminals to cater to the charter flights, the official said.
Even movement of private planes of global executives may be allowed, the official said. The government is likely to create such facilities at all the major airports.
With the modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports and 35 non-metro airports underway, the government may equip these airports to handle flights of executives travelling to India. Even the greenfield airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad and the upcoming one in Navi Mumbai could have such facilities.
30/03/07 Sunny Verma/Economic Times

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Damas allowed 51% in FDSPL venture

New Delhi: The government has cleared a proposal from Dubai-based Damas for investing 51% in a joint venture with Flemingo International’s Indian arm to set up duty-free jewellery outlets at Indian airports.
Damas Jewellery LLC has set up a JV firm with the Flemingo Duty Free Shop Pvt Ltd (FDSPL) to set up duty-free shops at airports for selling jewellery products and luxury watches. The new JV company, which has been registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1956, is called Flemingo Jewellery India Pvt Ltd.
The Foreign Investment Proposal Board (FIPB) has cleared the Damas-Flemingo joint ventrue, according to official sources. Damas will be selling its gold jewellery brands like harmony and legacy and its diamond brands at major airports. Damas has already been allowed to set up shops at Chennai, Trivandrum and Jaipur international airports. Operations at these airports are expected to begin within a month.
30/03/07 Economic Times

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Mallya desperate to break into UK via Stansted

Stansted Airport is edging closer to unveiling new services to India and China and is aggressively targeting a huge surge in European services that will see it achieve blanket coverage across every major commercial centre.
The airport already serves just over 160 European destinations – in itself stunning penetration of the continent.
Business Weekly understands that dialogue is progressing encouragingly with Indian carriers, including Kingfisher Airlines whose chairman and MD Vijay Mallya is desperate to break into the UK via Stansted.
He is currently fighting antiquated Indian legislation that prohibits start-up airlines flying such distances within five years of birth. He is lobbying for the law to be overturned.
Nick Barton, business development and planning director for the airport, refused to comment on individual airlines but said: “We are very encouraged by progress in our advanced talks with Chinese and Indian airlines. These things don’t convert overnight but we are well aware of demand in these tiger economies and are moving as fast as we can.
“We are aware that we have slots we can fill for incoming aircraft from Asia and the Far East in quiet times and can therefore comfortably accommodate flights from India, China, Malaysia and Dubai among other areas.
“Four major carriers from Asia are talking to us but they have to get their fleets right. The important thing for local business leaders is to know that we are on the case.”
28/03/07 Tony Quested/Business Weekly, UK

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Plane's wheel emits smoke, panic at Kolkata airport

Kolkata: There was panic at the N S C Bose international airport here today when the rear wheel of a Jet Airways' plane emitted smoke during a landing.
All 123 passengers and three crew members on the flight were safe, sources in the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said.
Sources said the incident occurred when the pilot applied the brake, causing strong friction in the rear wheel that emitted smoke.
There was no fire and it was only smoke which was doused by fire fighters.
The plane was on a flight from Imphal to Kolkata via Guwahati.
The passengers were offloaded and there was no danger, the AAI sources said.
28/03/07 PTI/The Hindu

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Fly Kangra to Delhi every day

Kangra: Air Deccan has started operating daily flights from New Delhi to the scenic valley of Kangra situated on the foothills of the Dhauladhar range of mountains in Himachal Pradesh from today.
Earlier, Jagson Airlines has been operating only three flights a week to Kangra valley from Delhi via Pathankot.
The inaugural flight of Air Deccan carrying the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of the Buddhists, senior authorities of the Airports Authority of India, officials of Air Deccan and media persons from Delhi landed here this morning.
The towns of Dharamsala and McLeodganj are within 15 km radius from the airport and were one of the most sought after destinations by high-end tourists, especially foreigners.
The flight was inaugurated by union minister for civil aviation Praful Patel.
The Kangra airport had recently been upgraded and its runway was increased from 3,900 feet to 4,500 feet to enable 50-seater planes to land here. Air Deccan has deployed a 48-seater ATR-42 aircraft to serve this route.
28/03/07 UNI/Kulwinder Sandhu/The Tribune

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All airports to get night landing, navigation facilities

New Delhi: Civil aviation minister Praful Patel on Wednesday said night landing and navigation facilities would be available at all operational airports in the country within a year’s time. At present, there are 75 operational airports, of the total 124 civil airstrips in the country.
Emphasising further improvement of air-connectivity in the country, Patel said although 60 airports —of the total 75 —are making losses, it was important for any region to have an airport.
Currently, around 40 airports have night-landing facilities. Patel said VHF omni-directional range equipments and distance measuring equipments would also be installed at smaller airports. The minister also said that a new policy on regional airlines was ready and would be announced in April this year. He said airlines, which operate within a region, would be given special concessions for reduced landing, parking and navigation charges.
28/03/07 Financial Express

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Airport ground watch gadget lying unused

Mumbai: AT the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, a ground surveillance aid—the airport surface detection equipment (ASDE)—has been lying unutilised for the last three years.
Part of the $100 million modernisation programme of air traffic control services by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in 1999, the ASDE is a high resolution system which provides a clear and accurate presentation of the airport’s ground operational areas and detects all stationary or moving aircraft or vehicles in real time.
This means that an air traffic controller has a bird’s-eye view of the entire airfield and all movement—from aircraft and passenger coaches to ground handling equipment like stepladders, catering vehicles etc. Particularly effective during periods of reduced visibility, the ASDE is also able to warn of potential runway and taxiway conflicts i.e. it can determine whether or not a runway is clear for the next departure or arrival.
28/03/07 Lekha Agarwal/Mumbai Newsline

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Mumbai airport authorities face a daunting task

At least 80,000 families. That’s the number of slum dwellers the Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) will have to rehabilitate, as their plan to modernise Chhatrapati Shivaji Domestic and International Airport at Sahar and Santacruz gets underway.
With political pressure mounting on one side and roughly three-years on hand to complete the rehabilitation, MIAL is straddled with concerns to find about 200 acres of land and tenements. If successful, this would be the largest slum rehabilitation scheme ever undertaken in the world.
The issue came to fore when at a meeting with Chief Secretary D K Sankaran, MIAL officials requested the state government to allot them revenue lands in the city. Stating that it will be improper to allot public land, the government asked MIAL to bid for these plots, when auctioned.
The MIAL is worried as the onus to procure land and tenements lies on them. MIAL has paid an advance fee of Rs25 crore, of the total agreement of Rs 160 crore it has signed with MMRDA.
28/03/07 Manisha Singhal & Rajshri Mehta/Daily News & Analysis

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GMR DIAL awarded license for Duty Free shops to Alpha - Pantaloon consortium

GMR Infrastructure Ltd has announced that the passengers arriving today at Indira Gandhi International Airport's International Terminal (Terminal 2) were in for a pleasant surprise with the opening of a brand new chain of duty free stores. Alpha Future welcomed customers to its first duty free shops in India offering an unparalleled collection of duty free items. Bigger than ever before - the duty free shops at IGI Airport present passengers with an exciting new duty free shopping experience.
Some of the world's most famous brands have now arrived at the Delhi airport. Earlier, Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd (DIAL) had awarded the Duty Free Shopping Contract for Indira Gandhi International Airport to 'Alpha-Pantaloon Consortium'. The consortium comprises the UK based Alpha Airports Group Plc and Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd, a Future Group venture. The value of the contract for DIAL is at least Rs 500 crore. The term of the contract is 3.25 years.
28/03/07 Equity Bulls

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Kingfisher, Jet Airways not to withdraw congestion surcharge

New Delhi: A day after Air Deccan announced withdrawal of the controversial congestion surcharge by putting the cess of Rs 150 in basic fare, other big players like Jet and Kingfisher made it clear they would not do any such jugglery. Kingfisher CMD Vijay Mallya on Tuesday said airlines will remove the surcharge only when the situation improves. A Jet Airways spokesperson just said the "cess stays for now".
Mallya, on the other hand, lashed out at infrastructural bottlenecks plaguing the country. "When we do costing, we assume a Delhi-Mumbai flight would take upto two hours. But due to congestion and delays at both these places, it takes about an hour more and the additional cost element has to be recovered. To highlight this problem, we levied this cess and all followed," he said, adding, "It makes no sense to be a hypocrite and remove the cess only to put it in basic fare."
Like other players, Kingfisher has joined the chorus of demand for more than one airport in Metros.
28/03/07 Times of India

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Airlines to explain congestion charge stand to HC

New Delhi: Private airlines will explain before the Delhi High Court the reasons for imposing a Rs 150 per head surcharge to meet additional fuel expenses while aircraft hover over major airports due to air traffic congestion.
This comes in the wake of the High Court asking the Civil Aviation Ministry to explain how the airlines have decided to impose the congestion surcharge. State-owned Indian is the only carrier that has not imposed it.
"Majority of the airlines have written to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that they are unable to withdraw the surcharge.
As we have explained to the ministry, we will implead ourselves and explain to the court why the surcharge was imposed," Kingfisher Airlines chief Vijay Mallya told reporters on the sidelines of the Airport and Airline Expo here.
Following the High Court directive, the airlines had been asked by DGCA to give their point of view on the surcharge by March 24.
27/03/07 Press Trust of India/Business Standard

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Airlines regulator to be in soon

If all goes well, an independent regulatory authority to look into the setting up of tariff regimes for aviation industry will soon be up and running. Following a cabinet nod, the bill for the appointment of Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) is to be tabled in the ongoing budget session of the Parliament. If passed, which is most likely, the new AERA will first impact two major airports — Mumbai and Delhi.
The frame of reference as also the regulatory regime is still not spelt out very clearly, but according to the civil aviation ministry spokesperson, “All airports with traffic of over 10 million passengers per annum (read Delhi and Mumbai) would be under the purview of the regulator. The concerned administrative ministry being the ministry of civil aviation to whom it would submit the annual reports.”
Clearly with airports being privatised and tariff regulation of late becoming a major issue with both the airlines and the private airport operators, an independent regulator is only a natural progression for a more mature aviation sector.
27/03/07 Manisha Singhal/Daily News & Analysis

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Mumbai airport gets a thumbs up from frequent fliers

Mumabi: Air travellers in a survey conducted by the Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) have voted the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) as the best airport in the country. The Delhi airport was a very close second. Better passenger amenities and conveniences at the airport clinched it in favour of the CSIA.
The awards were announced at a ceremony on Monday in Delhi. The APAI is a 17-year-old national, non-profit organisation which works to ensure the welfare of the air travellers. The survey however is the first-ever conducted by APAI. The main parameters considered were service efficiency and improvement in passenger facilities. The survey was conducted among APAI members, aviation correspondents from across India and frequent flyers from various industry bodies. Responses were sought via emails and later collated by an independent firm. The process was completed in 10 days.
27/03/07 Manisha Singhal/Megha Chaturvedi/Daily News & Analysis

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Now, a morning flight from Chandigarh to Delhi

Chandigarh: Come April, the city is all set to turn into a bustling tourism hub. New airlines coming to the city are firming up their plans of offering discounts on hotel stay to travellers. MDLR Airlines, set to attract business travellers from tricity to Delhi with its inaugural flight in the first week of April, is in talks with hotels like Taj and Picaddily. Another airline, Indus is considering proposals from city hoteliers to provide discounts to its passengers from other cities.
As per the MDLR Airline schedule, approved by the Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA), the flight will leave Chandigarh at 7.30 am and reach Delhi at 8.10 am. In the evening, it will depart from Delhi at 6.30 and reach Chandigarh at 7.10. According to company sources, two 70-seater Avro regional jets have been taken on lease from BAe (British Aerospace) Systems. While one would be deployed on the Chandigarh-Delhi route, the other will be used later for the company’s flights to destinations like Amritsar, Mumbai, Surat and Bhavnagar.
With five airlines – Indian Airlines, Jet Airways, Air Deccan, Indus Airways and Jagson Airlines – already operating on the Chandigarh-Delhi route during afternoon hours, a slot for a morning flight was required for long by the regular travellers.
28/03/07 Amit Agnihotri/Times of India

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Sri Lankan Airlines reschedules flights; Flights diverted to Chennai

Colombo: Sri Lanka's national carrier yesterday urged travellers to check on rescheduled flights before heading to the island's only international airport after a rebel air raid forced it to shut down briefly.
Sri Lankan Airlines said that many incoming and outbound flights had been rescheduled following the Tamil Tiger raid on a military airbase adjacent to the civilian facility, which left three airmen dead and 16 others wounded.
"The Colombo BIA Airport re-opened to all traffic at 3:30 am (2200 GMT). All Sri Lankan Airlines aircraft and passengers and staff remain unharmed," the flag carrier said in a statement.
Officials said at least four inbound flights were diverted to neighbouring India's southern city of Chennai.
Sri Lanka's foreign ministry spokesman Ravinatha Aryasinha said operations at the airport were not affected by the Tiger raid.
"There is no damage to the international airport or the runway," Aryasinha said. "Flights were suspended only as a precautionary measure."
27/03/07 Peninsula On-line, Qatar

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Close call for Jet plane at Mumbai

Mumbai: The Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) is investigating how and why a vehicle crossed the main runway at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport barely a minute before a Jet Airways plane landed on Saturday. The incident is being treated as a “runway incursion”.
According to sources, it was an MIAL vehicle, which breached runway 09-27 at the intersection of the airport’s cross-runways.
“The tower controller had asked the jeep to hold short of runway 27. But the vehicle crossed the runway when the Jet Airways flight was on the final approach path, about two nautical miles away. This means the aircraft would have taken a minute to touch down,” a source said.
Sources also said this is extremely dangerous and could have been disastrous since a ‘live runway’ has to be absolutely clear when there is any aircraft movement, and when Air Traffic Control has cleared the aircraft to land or take off.
26/03/07 Lekha Agarwal/Indian Express

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Govt proposes fourth site for Vizag airport

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Government has proposed a fourth site for locating the international airport near the port city of Visakhapatnam in addition to the three already suggested to the Airport Authority of India (AAI).
The site suggested now is in Bhogapuram mandal in Vizianagaram district spread on an area of 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) and is 2 km wide and 5 km long. It lies between the Bay of Bengal coast and National Highway No 5.The site is 55 km from the city of Visakhapatnam and located near Chapala Kancheru and Mukkam villages close to the sea shore. The land cost is said to be around Rs 6 lakh per acre.
The AAI has already decided to conduct techno economic feasibility study for the three sites suggested earlier - Sabbavaram, Achyutapuram and Koruprolu - in Visakhapatnam district.Though another site (fifth) near Nakkapally in the district was also considered initially, it was rejected as there is a railway line on one side and the required unobstructed 6 km East West funnel was not available.
26/03/07 Andhra Cafe

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Govt mulls moving general aviation activities to Juhu

New Delhi: In an effort to decongest Mumbai airport, the Government is considering a proposal to move all general aviation related activities to Juhu airport.
"An international consultant appointed by the Government has suggested that general aviation activities in Mumbai be shifted to Juhu airport. The proposal is being examined by the Government but no firm decision has yet been taken," the Chairman, Airports Authority of India, Mr K. Ramalingam, said on Monday.
A company each from India and Sweden have been appointed as the global technical advisors for the project, sources said.
The implementation of the proposal would mean that private aircraft, helicopters, charters and small cargo aircraft would operate to and from Juhu instead of the existing Mumbai airport.
"Small aircraft take time to clear the airfield and therefore hold up the movement of larger aircraft. The implementation of the project will help ease the congestion," officials said.
26/03/07 Hindu Business Line

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Air Deccan withdraws congestion surcharge

New Delhi: Air Deccan has decided to withdraw the controversial congestion surcharge of Rs 150, which is levied on each ticket from Wednesday. But this won't have any impact on ticket prices as this amount would flow back to basic fares. While other private airlines are yet to make their stand public, sources point out they would also go the Deccan way.
"The idea of putting Rs 150 as surcharge was to draw the government's attention to the problem of congestion in places like Delhi and Mumbai. Each minute's hovering costs Rs 2,000 as fuel burn in a small plane like A-320. That's why we had earlier moved Rs 150 from basic fare and listed it under the separate head of congestion surcharge. Now we will remove this term and fares won't drop because of this move," said Captain G R Gopinath, Air Deccan's MD.
He added that fares would be decided by competition alone.
This issue had become a hot potato for the aviation ministry after the Delhi High Court recently issued a notice to it, asking why common passengers should be made to pay for choked skies.
27/03/07 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Airport shops oppose one handbag rule

Bangalore: It’s not just the passengers who are complaining about the rule allowing only one piece of hand baggage in an aircraft. The rule, enforced since a plot to blow up an aircraft was foiled in London in August 2006, has the owners of shops at airports up in arms as well.
With passengers shopping for as less as possible because of this rule, shopkeepers complain that it is resulting in losses for them even as authorities maintain that security is their chief concern. In fact, shop owners are keenly awaiting the verdict on a petition filed by Syed Siraj.
Siraj, who owns two stationery shops at the transit lounge in the Chennai airport, has filed a writ petition saying that the rule has affected his business and asked that the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) be ordered to allow passengers to carry an additional hand baggage. Alternatively, he demanded a remission or exemption of the rent charged by the AAI for the shop. He claimed that he had lost Rs four lakh of business sine the implementation of the rule. The AAI and CISF have been given notices to file their counter statements.
27/03/07 Bhargavi Kerur/Daily News & Analysis

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No flight of fantasy this

Kolkata: A 20-year-old woman who left home to marry the man of her choice was detained by police at NSC Bose Airport under unclear circumstances this morning.
Miss Rohini Singh (20) arrived at the airport via an Indian flight from Port Blair accompanied by a friend of one Sheikh Omrah (23) with whom she intended to tie the knot after her father, Mr RG Singh, did not approve of the match. She was booked on the basis of a police complaint by him stating that she had “fled home with Rs 1 lakh.”
The Port Blair police sent a message to West Bengal police which acted on the complaint. Later Miss Singh’s mother arrived with a relative to collect her from the police station.
Miss Singh declares that the charge does not hold good as she is an adult and is free to leave home. She has also denied the “theft” charge.
26/03/07 The Statesman

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SPC for Navi Mumbai airport

Mumbai: The City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd (CIDCO), responsible for planning and development of the satellite township of Navi Mumbai, will soon set up a special purpose company (SPC) to build and operate the proposed greenfield airport at Panvel in Navi Mumbai. The SPC will be formed by April this year once the Union Cabinet approves the construction of the airport, which will be Mumbai’s second international airport.
“Airport Authority of India (AAI) and CIDCO will hold 13% stake each in the SPC, while private developers will hold 74%,” says a CIDCO official. He added that CIDCO was already in possession of 50-60% of the required land for the project and the remaining would be acquired soon.
26/03/07 Shaheen Mansuri/Financial Express

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Airlines map new flight path for congestion surcharge

New Delhi: Airlines have sought more time from the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) for taking a decision on scrapping congestion surcharge. Only three airlines, Paramount Airways, IndiGo and GoAir, have so far replied to the DGCA’s request to withdraw the congestion cess.
With most airlines missing the March 24 deadline of replying to the DGCA’s request, the regulator may give carriers an extra week, a government official said.
While Air Deccan and Paramount Airways have decided to scrap the Rs 150 per passenger congestion cess, other airlines are still to make up their mind. IndiGo and GoAir, in their reply to the DGCA, have not clearly stated whether they are withdrawing the cess.
However, senior airline executives indicated that most carriers are likely to either remove the surcharge and adjust it in their basic fare or have it under a different nomenclature from April 1.
26/03/07 Sudipto Dey & Sunny Verma/Economic Times

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Govt rejects visa on arrival proposal

New Delhi: Saying that the ''security situation in the country is not conducive for it'', the Union Home Ministry has rejected the Tourism Ministry's proposal to give 'visa on arrival' to foreign tourists, Union Tourism Secretary A K Misra said on Sunday.
The Tourism Ministry had proposed that the country could initially give 'visa on arrival' to the tourists of about 15 countries and at two entry points of Mumbai and Delhi International Airports, said Misra while giving the valedictory address to the Kerala Health Tourism 2007 (KHT2007) meet at Kochi.
''The Home Ministry has not agreed to our proposal. But, we will still persevere,'' as quoted by UNI, Misra said.
25/03/07 CNN-IBN

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A380s wanna fly here - are the airports ready?

Along with Lufthansa, atleast three airline companies are attempting to bring the A380 planes to India. But these companies are still waiting for the infrastructure to be built, and only then will they be able to finalise their plans in India and in the route proving issue.
The A380 plane painted in the Lufthansa colours will only be available to customers/ flyers after 2009 but the preparations to bring this plane to India are in full swing. German airlines have ordered 15 of these huge birds and are planning to bring them to India.
Orders for over 150 such palatial planes have been placed, by companies like Virgin and Emirates who like Lufthansa, have expressed their intent to bring these planes to India. Now the wait begins - for Mumbai and Delhi's international airports to beef up infrastructure so they can operate these double decker planes. These planes can carry a minimum of 500 passengers at once, but if all seats were to be made only economy class, that number could go upto 800 passengers.
26/03/07 Shishir Sinha/ Moneycontrol.com

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Duty-free, ad sales set to take off in Delhi airport

New Delhi: The GMR-led consortium that bagged the Delhi airport modernisation project hopes to generate Rs 470 crore from non-aeronautical sources of business, including duty-free shops, advertisements, foods & beverages, car rentals, ground-handling and cargo in the first full year of operations, 2007-08. This is a 56% jump from what Airports Authority of India (AAI) collected from such sources in 2005-06.
Delhi International Airport Ltd, the company that is executing the project, hopes to extract maximum value duty-free shopping, car park and advertising. These three businesses are expected to grow 250%, 90% and 215%, respectively in 2007-08.
DIAL had awarded the duty free shopping contract to a consortium of US-based Alpha Airports Group Plc and Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd, a Future Group venture. The venture is projected to generate sales of Rs 500 crore for DIAL in the next three years.
Analysts said Asia accounts for over a third or 35% of the global duty free sales.
26/03/07 Atreyee Dev Roy/Financial Express

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Summons to Air France

Chennai: The Customs and Immigration Department has sent summons to officials of Air France for allegedly allowing two Indian passengers to board the plane without obtaining due immigration check at Chennai airport.
It is also said the two had reportedly boarded the flight to Paris via London yesterday using the fake immigration seal from here. The flight departed before they could be asked to disembark.
However, sources said Immigration officials had informed the airlines. The two passengers would be deported to Chennai soon and would be handed over either to the Customs or Immigration officials.
It is learnt that the two were travelling in the names of Ahmed Mahrof Amin and Kiran Kumar who were holders of original passports.
Meanwhile summons had been sent to Air France manager, pilot and air hostess who were on duty during the incident.
24/03/07 News Today

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Indian maid not to be sent to the Gulf

Mumbai: An Indian working as a housemaid in Riyadh, who had flown to Mumbai for treatment, was arrested by the immigration authorities earlier this week for travelling on a fake passport. And in a bizarre turn of events, the immigration officials here wanted to deport her to Riyadh.
She was made to spend two nights at the airport transit area after which she was placed in the custody of the Sahar police. Human rights activists argued that she had returned to the country in a traumatised condition for medical treatment and the authorities had no right to deport her.
Airport authorities told TOI that the housemaid was found to be carrying a passport with a false name-Kalayathil Haseena. Immigration authorities in Mumbai had sent a deportation notice to Air India, asking for her to be sent back to Riyadh, as her nationality had not been ascertained yet.
However, documents produced by her relatives in Mumbai showed she was from Nilambur in Kerala and her real name was Shobha Balakrishna. Since she is an Indian national, the immigration authorities have decided not to deport her for the moment and she will be tried in India instead.
25/03/07 Times of India

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Non-metros prop up 46% air traffic growth

New Delhi: Domestic air traffic grew at an impressive 46% in 2006. While passenger traffic in metros grew by an average of 31%, smaller stations like Port Blair, Nagpur and Raipur registered traffic growth of 141.8%, 94.8% and 70.3%, respectively.
According to Airports Authority of India data, of the top 45 airports, nine airports registered 50% growth in passenger traffic. These include Hyderabad, Pune, Coimbatore, Mangalore, Nagpur, Port Blair, Raipur, Ranchi and Jaipur. Surprisingly, two of the most popular tourism destinations—Udaipur and Jodhpur—recorded only 9.6% and 2.9% growth, respectively.
The figures are more impressive for December 2006 over December 2005. Growth registered in Port Blair, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangalore and Nagpur for the period was 251.6%, 198.6%, 72.9% and 70.9%.
Among the four metros, Kolkata registered the highest growth of 39.5%, followed by Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai at 35%, 27.1% and 22.4%.
The total aircraft movements in the country increased to 779 from 620 in April to December 2006 over the corresponding period of 2005, a growth of almost 30%. Total passenger movement in the country increased 33%, with domestic traffic accounting for 41% of the growth and international traffic contributing only 15%.
24/03/07 Atreyee Dev Roy/Financial Express

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Only Deccan, Paramount scrap congestion charge

New Delhi: Two airlines, Air Deccan and Paramount Airways, have decided to withdraw the Rs 150 per passenger congestion surcharge following a communication from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). But two others, IndiGo and GoAir, have refrained from clearly stating their stance in their response to the DGCA, while many other airlines are still debating whether they might continue levying the amount without actually naming it a “congestion surcharge”. The airlines were asked to respond by March 24.
“Since domestic air fares are not regulated by the government, airlines are free to decide on air fares. Many airlines are contemplating whether to drop the surcharge and, instead, charge the same amount by adding it to the base fare,” an airlines source said. Representatives of at least two airlines confirmed, on condition of anonymity, that such a move was being actively considered by their companies.
Air Deccan MD Captain G R Gopinath was categorical, “No, we are just dropping it.” Civil Aviation ministry officials admitted that it is the nomenclature used for levying the surcharge that has upset the government.
23/03/07 Raghvendra Rao/Indian Express

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A flight never to be taken

Kolkata: Dinnath Gaikonde, an Indian air passenger who was found unconscious inside a first-floor toilet of the Domestic Terminal of NSC Bose Airport this afternoon, later died in a city nursing home.
The man, in his 60s, was bound for Pune ~ his hometown ~ by a Jet Airways flight. Around 3.50 p.m., he was found lying unconscious by two co-passengers who informed CISF personnel of the incident. The CISF personnel immediately told Airports Authority of India officials about the incident. Doctors of AAI and Jet Airways attended him with AAI officials providing oxygen.
The doctors immediately examined him and adminstered preliminary treatment.
But finding the patient in a critical condition, they shifted him to a nearby nursing home where he was admitted to the intensive coronary care unit. The man died around 4.50 p.m.
23/03/07 The Statesman

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Decongestion plans likely to push up peak hour airfares

New Delhi: The government’s move to decongest air traffic in Mumbai and Delhi airports by putting a freeze on allowing new flights in the summer schedule may push up airfares in the peak hours, especially during May and June. While rationalisation of capacity may lead to improvement in yield per seat, carriers are looking at flying larger aircraft to metros to overcome the crunch in availability of slots for take-offs and landings.
This is likely to impact ATR operations of Air Deccan, Jet and Kingfisher, especially for flights connecting Delhi and Mumbai to smaller metros. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) last week limited the number of flight movements this summer to the winter schedule levels of 30 an hour to decongest air traffic at Mumbai and Delhi airports.
With the government planning to incentivise airlines to fly in the non-peak period, differential fares in the busy and non-peak hours are likely to become a reality in the Summer of ’07.
23/03/07 Sudipto Dey/Economic Times

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Telvent to enhance runway safety at eight airports in India

Madrid: The Global RealTime IT Company, today announced details of three navigational aid systems it is currently deploying to enhance safety at eight airports in India, including the Mumbai and Delhi international airports.
This project, awarded to Telvent by the Indian Meteorological Department and scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2008, is valued at approximately EUR 1.6 million. The systems are part of an extensive upgrading of the meteorological systems used at Indian airports in response to the growth and rapid development the aviation market is experiencing worldwide.
The project consists of the integrated implementation of three fully complementary systems that provide pilots with critical information on runway weather and aeronautical conditions to make take-off and landing operations safer. The first system uses equipment installed in the area to capture data on runway meteorological conditions, such as ground temperature and humidity, wind speed and pressure. These data are processed and transmitted constantly to control centers, allowing decisions to be taken concerning aircraft operations. The second system provides direct information to pilots on meteorological conditions through auditory alerts in the aircraft. The third system provides pilots with information on runway visibility, translating the number of runway lights the pilot can see at the time into meters of visibility. By using critical meteorological data from all three systems, the pilot has greater safety in making take-off and landing decisions.
22/03/07 Primenewswire (press release), US

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DRI reels in star catch at Mumbai airport

Over 1200 exotic ‘baby star tortoises’ were seized by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Thursday morning from the checked-in luggage of two Malaysia-bound passengers Mubarak K, 42, and Mustafa Kamal, 22.
The tortoises are sold in pet markets in South East Asia, the US for exorbitant rates – adult tortoises are being sold for $1000.
Considering the size of the baby tortoises, DRI official believe the worth of each of these would be $500 making the consignment worth nearly Rs3 crore in international market.
A DRI spokesperson said, “The two passengers were booked on a Sri Lankan Airline flight (UL - 144) headed for Malaysia via Colombo. The tortoises were bundled inside bags that were packed in the luggage.
The two accused will be produced before the court on Friday.
22/03/07 Renni Abraham/Daily News & Analysis

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Agra, Ajmer may get airports as states queue up for air power

New Delhi: Setting up greenfield airports seems to be the flavour of the season. The union civil aviation ministry has received proposals to construct over 15 greenfield airports from various states.
Currently, two greenfield airports —at Hyderabad and Bangalore — are under construction, while the work on the Navi Mumbai project is expected to start soon. The government now plans to construct greenfield airports in other cities too, sources said.
The ministry has already given in-principle approval to some of these projects including Mopa in Goa and Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra. Among the proposals are a greenfield airport at Agra and Ajmer.
These airports are expected to be built with private participation. Government is also finalising the modalities of modernisation of Kolkata and Chennai international airports. While Airport Authority of India (AAI) is expected to develop the Kolkata airport, modernisation of Chennai airport is likely to be done with involvement of private companies, along the lines of modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai international airports.
22/03/07 Sunny Verma/Economic Times

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When aircraft operators defied government

Rejecting a government directive to withdraw the contentious "congestion" surcharge imposed on all air tickets by Wednesday, airline companies have said there is no question of a rollback.
However, the carriers are divided on whether to openly defy the government or merely change the classification and adjust the Rs 150 paid per passenger in the basic fare.
Congestion surcharge is a charge passengers pay to airlines to cover the cost of aircraft burning extra fuel ahead of landing and take-off. Hectic negotiations are on to reach a possible consensus.
"Though the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has asked us to review the congestion surcharge, we do not plan to lift it," Vijay Mallya, chairman and CEO of Kingfisher Airlines, told Business Standard.
However, Air Deccan and SpiceJet have decided to load the surcharge on the basic fare.
The Delhi high court recently asked the ministry to look into the issue and respond, following a public interest litigation challenging the imposition of the levy. The congestion surcharge enables carriers to garner revenue of nearly Rs 300 crore.
22/03/]07 P R Sanjai & Surajeet Das Gupta in Mumbai/Business Standard/Rediff

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‘There are explosives under my seat’ he told the flight crew

Kolkata: Panic gripped the NSC Bose International airport today after a Mexican passenger abroad the Delhi-bound Indian Airlines flight from Bangkok threatened that he was carrying a bomb.
Febles Ortiz Eduwardo Antonio, allegedly inebriated, had started with lewd comments to an airhostess, to which a co-passenger had objected.
Antonio promptly beat him up, at which, the cabin crew got involved trying to pacify him. The pilot asked for a medical emergency for both passengers. It was then, that Antonio threatened to blow up the plane, triggering off a security alert.
The pilot declared full emergency and asked the Kolkata air control for permission for emergency landing.The aircraft IC 854-82 landed at 3.20 pm. Passengers were whisked out and a thorough check-up of the hand baggages ensued.There were 82 passengers on board, said airport officials.
The bomb disposal squad of the Central Investigation Department (CID) also rushed to the spot and checked the vacated aircraft.
But no explosive or weapon was found.
Antonio was arrested and handed over to the West Bengal police. He was taken to the airport police station and is scheduled to be produced to court tommorow.
The aircraft left the NSC Bose airport at 6.05 pm for Delhi, after security forces gave a green signal.
21/03/07 Kolkata Newsline

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Slum dwellers protest against Mumbai Airport expansion

Mumbai: Slum dwellers in Mumbai are objecting to the proposed modernisation of the city airport, as it involves the razing of slums.
Over 80,000 illegal hutments located around the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport have to be bulldozed to facilitate the expansion.
The protesters claim that the rehabilitation package is inadequate.
"We are living here since for the past 40 years. Why can't we live? They are sending us to Kari where there is no water, no electricity, no buses or any other civic amenity," claimed Sheila, a slum dweller.
The expansion project is being undertaken by Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd, a joint venture of a consortium of India's GVK Group, Airports Company South Africa Ltd. and Bidvest Group Ltd. with the state-run airports operator.
"This is the biggest land scam done by the GVK Group. The group has bought this from the Government at 52 billion rupees and is now going to earn more than ten percent. We will not tolerate this. We will not allow flight kitchen and hotels to be built on our land," said Nicholas Almeida, a Corporator of Sahar-Mumbai.
21/03/07 ANI/DailyIndia.com, US

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Pvt airlines get time on congestion charge withdrawal

New Delhi: Private airlines have been given time till tomorrow to respond to the government directive to withdraw the congestion surcharge of Rs 150 per passenger imposed by them.
While all private carriers have imposed the surcharge for the past few weeks, state-owned airline Indian has not.
___________________________
Congestion fee goes but
fares stay put
The surcharge is likely to be withdrawn
from April 1, 2007. Industry sources
said though companies will withdraw
the ‘congestion surcharge’, the move
would not reduce fares the surcharge
would add it to the basic fare. Airlines are
free to charge fares as per their judgment
after the government ceded control by
repealing the Air Corporation Act in 1994.
Patel told the Rajya Sabha that private
scheduled airlines were charging air
congestion surcharge on their entire network,
even though the congestion problem was
restricted to the Delhi, Mumbai and
Bangalore airports. But industry sources
said airlines were charging it across their
networks because delays at the three
airports had a ripple effect on schedules
at other airports.
21/03/07 Financial Express
___________________________
The private carriers have been asked to respond by tomorrow to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation`s directive to withdraw the surcharge, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said today during question hour in Rajya Sabha.
Asked whether the private airlines were demanding the surcharge on sectors where there was no air traffic congestion, Patel said these carriers had imposed the surcharge "on their entire network".
20/03/07 Zee News

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Air India-India Airlines jointly bid for ground handling at GHIAL

Indian Airlines and Air India have decided to jointly tender for ground handling at the GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIAL).
As per the terms of the tender requirement of GHIAL, the Indian operator or handling agent was required to join with the international ground handling agency. All the international ground handling agencies short listed by GHIAL were considered by Air India/Indian Airlines.
From amongst them, Singapore air terminal service (SATS) was selected as the JV partner with 49% share holding, while Air India and Indian Airlines both jointly hold the remaining 51%. However, GHIAL is yet to finalize the ground-handling contract for the Hyderabad airport.
20/03/07 Myiris.com

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Indian firm eyeing Changi Airport staff

Headhunters scouting for airport talent are eyeing staff at Singapore's Changi in hopes of luring qualified people to fill key positions in India, media reports said Wednesday.
Infrastructure giant GMR Group, leading the consortia tasked with building and running new airports in New Delhi and Hyderabad, has hired a recruitment firm in the city-state to fill 15 key positions in airport management, operations and ground handling, according to The Straits Times.
Read On >>

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UAE’s ADCB finances India airport expansion

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank has closed a $125 million deal to finance an airport expansion in India and may lend over one billion dirhams this year for infrastructure projects in Asia’s fastest growing economy, the bank’s chairman said on Tuesday.
Saeed Al Hajiri said ADCB underwrote $125 million of $162 million to finance the expansion of the GMR Hyderabad International Airport expansion.
“The transaction is an important step in the continued efforts of the bank to diversify into strategically important markets like India and in the area of infrastructure,” Al Hajiri told Reuters.
“There are huge opportunities for infrastructure financing in the Indian market and we will assess them. We could easily exceed over one billion dirhams in financing such projects this year.”
ADCB was the single largest lender and only foreign bank in the $162 million transaction where two Indian banks also participated, he said.
20/03/07 Reuters/Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates

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DAE to buy American firms for $1.5 billion

Dubai: Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), a $15 billion global aerospace company, is close to clinching a $1.5 billion deal to buy two aviation businesses from US private equity firm Carlyle Group, reports quoting informed sources in the US said.
Sources said DAE is in an advanced stage of discussions to buy Landmark Aviation and Standard Aero Holdings Inc. — both providing repair and overhaul services at airport terminals for small-jet aviation and some military transports — from Carlyle Group, a Washington, D.C.-based firm which has $44.3 billion under management. A few months ago Carlyle opened an office at the Dubai International Financial Centre.
It is learnt that under the deal, DAE would buy and then sell Landmark's 33 business aircraft terminals in the US and Canada, the sources said. DAE will keep the company's aircraft maintenance operations. Standard Aero has no terminals, only repair facilities.
A consortium led by DAE Airports, a division of DAE, is targeting a slice of the $120 billion airport projects expected to be completed by 2014 in Africa, the Middle East, India and China. The consortium, offering a one-stop solution for airport needs, comprises DAE Airports and six other top UAE companies. Its partners are real estate-based Emaar, air services supplier DNATA, aviation industry technology firm Mercator, Emirates National Oil Company, Amlak Finance and Dubai Airports Free Zone Authority.
21/03/07 Khaleej Times/Middle East North Africa Financial Network, Jordan

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John Menzies CEO leaves in restructuring

London: John Menzies PLC is reorganising its management structure to give operational independence to its news distribution and aviation divisions, resulting in the immediate departure of CEO Patrick Macdonald, it said today.
The businesses had contrasting fortunes last year, Menzies said, with substantial growth in aviation more than offset by tough market conditions in distribution. Whereas underlying operating profits in aviation were up 25 pct to 16.6 mln stg, the news and magazine distribution business suffered a 23 pct fall to 23.7 mln stg causing a 3 pct drop in FY pretax profits to 355.6 mln stg.
Operational control will be devolved to the two divisions, and head office functions, such as corporate governance, will come under the remit of finance director Paul Dollman, the company said.
It has secured two 10-year joint venture contracts for cargo handling at the new Hyderabad and Bangalore airports, which are scheduled to commence operations in 2008. 'India is a significant market for us,' Dollman said.
20/03/07 AFX/Forbes, NY

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Night-landing facility for Vizag airport

Hyderabad: Night landing facility for aircraft at the Visakhapatnam airport will become operational by next month.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is deputing its calibration unit to Vizag on March 23 to check the feasibility and it is expected to submit its report by this month-end. While Paramount Airlines, which is operating one flight daily in the morning now, has already sought permission to operate flights in the night to the port city, at least five other airlines companies have also evinced interest in availing themselves of the facility, it is learnt.
This facility is part of the expansion plan of Visakhapatnam airport which is perennially dogged by the problem of cancellation and delay of flights due to bad weather and fog.
21/03/07 W. Chandrakanth/The Hindu

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Damas, Flemingo to set up duty-free shops

New Delhi: Dubai-based jewellery major Damas Jewellery LLC has set up a joint venture company with the Indian arm of Flemingo International to set up duty-free shops at airports for selling jewellery products and luxury watches. Damas will be selling its gold jewellery brands like harmony and legacy and its diamond brands at major airports. Damas has already been allowed to set up shops at Chennai, Trivandrum and Jaipur international airports. Operations at these airports are expected to begin within a month.
While Damas is holding a 51% equity stake in the JV, the remaining stake will be with Flemingo. The new company, which has been registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1956, is called Flemingo Jewellery India Pvt Ltd. This company has already won the contract from state-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) to set shops at three airports. The proposed shops shall use the brand name Damas as long as the Damas Jewellery LLC remains part of the joint venture firm.
21/03/07 Sunny Verma & G Ganapathy Subramaniam/Economic Times

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Carriers oppose ground handling policy

New Delhi: Full service carriers (FSCs) — Jet Airways, Indian, Air Sahara and Kingfisher — have joined hands to oppose the new policy on ground-handling operations which does not allow self-handling by domestic carriers.
The new policy has allowed three entities to carry out ground handling functions at six metro airports — the airport operator or its subsidiary, a subsidiary of Air India and Indian and a ground handler selected through competitive bidding process. However, full service carriers, which have already been doing ground-handling at airports, have been barred from self-handling.
These airlines have urged the government, in a meeting with civil aviation secretary Ashok Chawla on Monday, to allow domestic airlines to carry on self-handling operations at airports. Indian and Kingfisher Airlines have also joined Jet Airways and Air Sahara in opposing government’s decision not to allow self-handling by carriers.
Jet Airways has close to 5,000 employees involved in various ground handling activities while Air Sahara has around 2,000 people on their rolls.
20/03/07 Sunny Verma & Sudipto Dey/Economic Times

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7-month ban on new flights to Delhi, Mumbai airports

New Delhi: There will be no new flights to and from Delhi and Mumbai over the coming seven months. The Government has decided to freeze at the existing levels the number of flights that can be operated by domestic airlines from these two airports during the forthcoming summer season.
Contemplated in the wake of increasing congestion at these two airports, the ban would apply to any new flight that an airline wants to operate during the peak hours.
The decision to freeze the number of flights at the existing levels was taken at a meeting the Secretary, Civil Aviation, Mr Ashok Chawla, had with senior airline officials. Top officials of Air Sahara, SpiceJet and Jet Airways were present at the meeting.
Justifying the decision, senior Government officials said that Delhi and Mumbai airports cannot handle more than 30 flights an hour.
Another measure under consideration to mitigate the congestion problem is to allow Delhi airport to increase to four hours in the morning the time during which simultaneous use of both runways would be permitted.
At Mumbai, the airport operator plans to allow the use of the cross runway soon, that should also help in easing the problems airines face while flying from and to the city.
20/03/07 Business Line

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Cargo-only airports to take off from major cities

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry is framing a policy for development of airports exclusively for cargo operations. The proposal is expected to give a much-needed boost to the air cargo segment, which has lagged behind even as the Indian aviation sector has witnessed double-digit growth.
Official sources told ET the development of such exclusive airports will attract substantial private investment in the cargo segment. The civil aviation ministry has started identifying the requirements of different sectors — ranging from those trading in perishable goods to consumer durables — to help formulate the policy, sources added.
While Nagpur is being developed as a cargo hub, the government now plans to build cargo airports at main locations or business centres. The move is significant since a host of private companies, including Reliance and the Tata group, have recently shown interest in starting dedicated air cargo services. The policy will also encourage foreign participation in the sector, sources added.
19/03/07 Sunny Verma/Economic Times

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Easy ground handling norms for global airlines

New Delhi: The government is likely to relax ground handling norms for international carriers even as it proposes to block domestic carriers including Jet Airways, Air Sahara and Kingfisher Airlines from undertaking ground handling from January 1, 2009 as part of its new policy.
Civil aviation ministry sources said foreign airlines with a minimum of 14 services a week to and from an international airport would be permitted self-handling. At present, there are 12 international airports in India.
The policy will allow big international airlines like British Airways, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and Emirates to undertake self-handling.
According to the policy, there will be three ground handling service providers in all metro airports. One will be the respective airport operator (Airports Authority of India or other operators as the case may be) or its joint venture. The second provider could be the subsidiary companies of Air India or Indian Airlines or their JVs. Third party handling will also be permitted to these on the basis of revenue sharing with the airport operator. The third will be selected on the basis of competitive bidding by the airport operator. At other airports, however, airlines will be permitted self-handling.
19/03/07 Atreyee Dev Roy/Financial Express

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No need for airport devt fee, says Planning Commission

New Delhi: The Planning Commission has opposed the civil aviation ministry’s proposal to impose an ‘airport development fee’ on passengers.
The civil aviation ministry had mooted levy of development fee in the case of airports where annual passenger turnover is over 15 lakh. This fee is supposed to be used for upkeep and development of these airports. However, the Planning Commission has said since PSF is meant for providing facilities at airports, there is no need to impose a separate airport development fee.
While Rs 221 PSF is collected from each passenger for provision of security and other facilities at airports, airline companies are levying Rs 750 fuel surcharge and Rs 150 congestion cess on each ticket. The civil aviation ministry has pitched for levying an additional airport development fee on passengers.
This fee is to be levied in the form of the Airport Development Fee (ADF) and the User Development Fee (UDF).
19/03/07 Sunny Verma/Economic Times

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Second international airport in Mumbai set to take off

Mumbai: Mumbai's second international airport is set to "take-off" with the Union Cabinet likely to approve the long-awaited project next month.
"We are confident of a positive response from the Cabinet next month. We expect to start work by May as our feasibility report has been well accepted by civil aviation authorities, Deepak Kapoor, Joint Managing Director of CIDCO, under whose aegis the project is coming up, said here.
"The project is expected to be complete by 2013," he said, adding "Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh are taking a personal interest...meetings have just been held with CIDCO," Kapoor told PTI.
"The global tenders are in place, the IL&FS PDR has been approved and everything is ready...we are just waiting to begin," a confident Kapoor said.
The Rs 9000-crore, 4F-ICAO code friendly, green-field airport, fourth such in the country, will make Mumbai the only city in India to have two international airports, putting it on an elite global aviation map.
19/03/07 PTI/The Hindu

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Six mini airports for Karnataka

Bangalore: For the first time, the State Government has focussed on construction of greenfield mini airports and helipads. It has also allocated more funds for maintenance and upgrading of roads.
B.S. Yediyurappa, in his second budget, has allocated Rs. 50 crore for six mini airports at Hassan, Shimoga, Belgaum, Bijapur, Gulbarga and Bellary and upgrading of existing airports at Mysore, Hubli and Mangalore. An allocation of Rs. 2 crore has also been made towards construction of helipads at 25 places, including district headquarters and places of tourist importance.
Commenting on the allocation, G.R. Gopinath, Managing Director of the low-cost airline Air Deccan, said it was a good beginning but at least Rs. 16 crore was needed for the construction of a mini airport, excluding the land cost, with basic facilities. With the allocated money, only three airports could be built, he felt.
18/03/07 The Hindu/Mangalorean.com

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The great Nagpur boom

New Delhi: Spurred on by the Multi-modal International Hub Airport at Nagpur, the city is turning hungry for commercial and residential spaces.
The city of Nagpur is literally the centre of India and this strategic location is the reason why the Multi-modal International Hub Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) might be very successful.
Proof of this can already be seen in the interest shown by global aviation major Boeing for setting up its $100 million regional maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility for its aircraft. This is expected to create upto 3,000 highly paid jobs and another 30,000 jobs indirectly.
Ask anyone from the city and they will tell you both MIHAN and the Boeing MRO are fuelling the real estate growth in the city — commercial, retail and residential.
What were open fields around the MIHAN periphery are still open fields but ownership has shifted to local and national developers.
According to estimates, land in a radius of about 20-25 km around MIHAN has been acquired already by various small and big investors. Pankaj Roshan, of Roshan Real Estate, says international real estate funds (British and Indonesian realty funds) too are looking for big land parcels of 150 acres and above, in and around Nagpur city.
According to Knight Frank, two-third of the new supply in the city is concentrated in the south-eastern zone due to large township projects planned in this part, as well as the upcoming cargo hub.
17/03/07 Ravi Teja Sharma/Business Standard

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Air India Express increases flights from Kochi to Gulf

Kochi: In an effort to clear the summer rush, Air India Express is increasing its connectivity from Kochi to the Gulf sector from March 25.
Announcing the summer connectivity at a press meet at nearby Nedumbassery last night, Jude Crasto, Manager, Air India here, said the airlines would operate eight flights a week to Dubai from Kochi while nine flights a week would be operated from Abu Dhabi and seven flights a week from sharjah.
Hitherto, only four flights were being operated to Sharjah.
The airline will also operate four flights a week from Muscat, two flights a week from Salalah, one flight a week from Al Ain, he said. Air India Express is the only airlines to operate services to Salalah.
With this increase in connectivity, the total additional seats generated in the Gulf sector is 1,500.
The Air India Express also will be operating three flights a week to Mumbai.
17/03/07 Press Trust of India/Financial Express

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Doha - Bahrain - Mangalore: No Change in Air India Express Schedule

Doha/Bahrain: The clouds of uncertainty over the earlier announced Doha - Bahrain - Mangalore flight schedule have cleared as Air India Express officials at Mumbai and Bahrain re-confirmed that the first flight will be operating on March 25, 2007.
Earlier, doubts had been expressed if Air India Express will fly on the scheduled date. There were hurdles in flying Air India Express from Bahrain.
But officials in Mumbai were reluctant to fly on March 25.
Yet, even if AI Express was not allowed, its regular flight 'Air India' was getting ready to replace it.
"Tickets will be available within a day or two from today (March 17, 2007)" said Air India chief D Debesh in Bahrain, speaking to daijiworld.com.
17/03/07 Daijiworld.com

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Carriers find new way to pass on congestion levy to fliers

New Delhi: On the face of it, domestic carriers have bowed to the government’s diktat of withdrawing the congestion surcharge of Rs 150 per ticket. But this will provide no joy to the consumer. Here’s why. Jet Airways is replacing the congestion surcharge with another surcharge of Rs 150. Airlines such as Air Deccan are withdrawing the surcharge next week, but adding it to their basic fare. Other carriers, especially the low cost ones, are expected to follow suit next week.
Most carriers will take a final call on the issue after a hurriedly called meeting between Civil Aviation secretary Ashok Chawla and the head-honchos of various carriers on Monday. Earlier this week, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had given the airlines time till March 24 to find a way out out of the impasse. Delhi High Court had recently send legal notices to the government asking them on what grounds were airlines charging Rs 150 as congestion surcharge.
17/03/07 Sudipto Dey/Economic Times

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Passing the buck? That's not fare

It happens only in India! Private airlines are locked in a tussle with the Delhi High Court over the logic of demanding a surcharge of Rs 150 on every ticket issued by them to passengers.
The money, according to the airlines is being asked as a compensation for the fuel burnt while aircrafts hover over congested airports, waiting in the landing queue.
Reacting to a PIL filed in the Delhi HC by lawyer Anup Bagai, the court wondered why passengers shouald be asked to pay when the Civil Aviation ministry is to be blamed for congestion at airports.
"The surcharge is unfair and unnecessary. Also, why is there a surcharge on every ticket when there is congestion only on Mumbai, Delhi and maybe the Bangalore airports?"wonders D Sudhaker Reddy, president, Air Passengers Association of India (APAI), adding that, "We are demanding that passengers be reimbursed for inconveniences."
The airlines on their part profess helplessness till the problem of congestion is sorted out. "A plane hovering in the sky is a cost element for the airlines. So how are we expected to bear the cost?"wonders Siddarth, manager (sales) of a private airline.
16/03/07 Times of India

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SC issues notice to Reliance Industries, AAI and others

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday restrained Airports Authority of India (AAI) from entering into a lease agreement with Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Industries in respect of land earmarked for construction of hangars at the international airport in Mumbai.
A bench comprising justice A R Lakshaman and justice Altamas Kabir, in an interim order, restrained AAI from executing the lease agreement in respect of the land measuring 2,701 sq mt at Chattrapati Shivaji International Airport.
It also asked Reliance Industries, AAI and the Director General of Civil Aviation to file their replies to Anil Ambani group company Reliance Transport and Travel Pvt Ltd (RTTL), which filed a petition seeking to recognise it as an allottee of the land.
16/03/07 Zee News

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Can’t levy ambulift charges: HC tells pvt airlines, AAI

New Delhi: In a step towards making air travel friendly for disabled persons, the Delhi High Court today directed all private airlines using Delhi airports and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to stop levying ambulift charges.
Various private airlines and the AAI were charging disabled persons up to Rs 800 for the use of ambulift services while boarding the aircraft. A Bench comprising Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice Hima Kohli also directed airline companies and AAI to refund charges so far levied from disabled persons within a month. Today’s directions follows a query from the court addressed to AAI during the previous hearing on November 8, last year seeking explanations on why handicapped persons had to shell out Rs 800 for provision of ambulift services.
The poser came after Jet Airways submitted before the court that the amount was actually charged by the AAI, while the airline was merely a “collection agency”.
The court had also contemplated a meeting between the AAI and other private airlines, which are using the airports at Delhi, to evolve a joint funding by taking into consideration their respective market shares and size to provide ambulift services at places where the facility was not available.
16/03/07 Delhi Newsline

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Mumbai airport records 20 mn passengers in 11 months

Mumbai: In the past 11 months, Mumbai airport, the busiest in India, handled over 20 million passengers, registering a 21.28% growth in passenger traffic as compared to the previous year. In the year 2005-06, the figure was 17.6 million passengers.
Mumbai airport surpassed the 20-million mark in passenger traffic for the period April 2006-February 2007, with a total of 13.56 million domestic air passengers and 6.73 million international passengers.
About 1.8 lakh landings and take-offs were handled by the airport during this period.
While February recorded a passenger traffic of 1.91 million and 16,581 air traffic movements, in January the passenger traffic was 2.15 million, with the traffic being 2.14 million in December last year.
According to sources, during 2005-06, about 45,996 international flights were handled by the Mumbai airport. Compared to the year before that, it was an increase of 4377 flights, even as eight airlines launched new operations into the city.
17/03/07 Times of India

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Selex Sistemi Integrati awards two millionaire contracts

Rome: At the end of a contract for tender offered by Indian Airport Authority, Finmeccanica, through its subsidiary Selex Sistemi Integrati, awards two millionaire contracts for the supplying of two air-traffic control (ATC) systems, destined to Hydarabad and Bangalore airports. The deal worth EUR 22 million.
The delivery of these ATC systems is predicted one year after from the signing of the contract.
In 2003, Finmeccanica signed other agreements with Indian Air Force (AIF) as regard the providing of a control center COM/PEV and 12 radar systems.
17/03/07 Avionews, Italy

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'Word congestion not fees worries DGCA'

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation's (DGCA) appeal to remove congestion surcharge has triggered a debate in the aviation sector.
According to industry players, DGCA has no statutory power to get into the pricing. They said the DGCA is more concerned about the withdrawal of the tag 'congestion surcharge' as it brings DGCA's inability to manage air traffic congestion in the public knowledge.
"We have been told to increase the prices (unofficially) but not to mention it as congestion surcharge. This explains that DGCA is not bothered about the high ticket prices which will ultimately be passed on to the customers but to make an impression that the air traffic congestion woes are under control," said an industry player.
However, Director General of DGCA Kanu Gohain denied all the charges. He said, "What we told the airlines was that as far as fare hike is concerned, that's their call. But putting is as congestion surcharge is wrong as the airlines are equally responsible for it."
The airlines also blamed DGCA for doing very little on infrastructure front and therefore causing huge air traffic congestion.
16/03/07 Parul Chhaparia/Times of India

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Lean hour tariff cut on govt radar

New Delhi: Air travel during off-peak hours is likely to become cheaper as the government plans to reduce airport charges during these hours. The plan to double peak period charges has been shelved, preventing a hike in fares. In addition, airlines have been told to scrap congestion surcharge, which is levied across all regions.
Cheaper airport charges during non-peak hours are expected to take effect by the end of this month when airlines shift to their summer schedules. Putting an end to the ongoing debate over hike in airport tariffs, the civil aviation ministry has decided to keep busy period charges unchanged while pruning non-peak charges, the sources said.
The civil aviation ministry has also stopped issuing any fresh slots for new flights during busy hours in order to curtail congestion at airports. Allocation of flight slots, which began on Thursday, is expected to be over by Friday.
Airlines, however, shall continue to enjoy their existing rights to fly during busy hours. Earlier, the civil aviation ministry had proposed doubling of peak-hour charges. However, due to resistance from airlines, the ministry has decided not to change peak-hour tariffs.
16/03/07 Sunny Verma/Economic Times

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New Airport at Ottinene - Blue Print Approved

Kundapur: Ottinene, a place known for its scenic beauty near Shiroor belonging to the jurisdiction of Byndoor legislative assembly has been selected for the construction of airport in the vast expanse of more than 350 acres of land. The blue print of the project has been accepted by the district commissioner and the proposal has been forwarded to the central government in New Delhi.
Responding to the request made by K Sukumar Shetty, former managing trustee of Kollur Temple and ex-chairman of Kollur Administrative Council, noted industrialist R N Shetty has assured his full support to the proposed airport project. As the result of consultation by local elected representatives, especially by former MLA Pratapchandra Shetty with union labour minister Oscar Fernandes, the district administration has taken-up the proposal in right earnest.
In the context of Kollur being marked in the tourist map of India as a pilgrimage centre attracting devotees in thousands both from India and abroad. With this in mind the need for an airport is strongly felt.
15/03/07 Daijiworld.com

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MIAL sends eviction notice to police station

Mumbai: Policemen at the Santacruz airport police station were in for a major shock recently, when they received an eviction notice from the Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL). The notice stated that the police station would have to be demolished as part of MIAL’s redevelopment plans and asked the policemen to vacate their premises by March 18.
The police station, established in 1975, is located outside terminal 1-B of the domestic airport.
“The notice stated that the decomissioning would be effective from March 18, and the police station premises would have to be vacated by then,” Senior Police Inspector D B Sidam said.
“The property on which the police station is built belongs to the Airports Authority of India. It is the AAI’s responsibility to provide the requisite space for the police station, which maintains security right outside the airport terminals as well as in the parking spaces,” explained Joint Commissioner of Police (Administration) Subhash Awate.
When queried on the issue, MIAL admitted that] the notice was, in fact, a major goof-up on its part.
15/03/07 Mumbai Newsline

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Click & fly away!

Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd (MIAL) has launched the official website for Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) www.csia.in. Passengers and visitors can now get all relevant information and updates including real time international and domestic flight schedules, on the newly launched CSIA website.
Areas of particular interest, include real time flight information and flight status for domestic and international flights, terminal-wise operating schedule for all airlines, airport map etc. It also captures the up-gradation undertaken at CSIA to improve passenger convenience.
“In this age of instant connectivity, the airport website is the first point of reference for any passenger or visitor. For the first time, visitors can view live flight schedules on the CSIA website. Along with other useful information, we hope to enhance passenger experience at CSIA right from the first click,” said G V Sajay Reddy, Managing Director, MIAL while launching the website on Tuesday.
15/03/07 Afternoon Dispatch & Courier

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Airlines line up to operate from Trichy

New Delhi: Many airlines are lining up to begin operations from the southern city as the Rs 26 crore extension work at the Tiruchirapalli International Airport have completed.
Air India Express has approached the airport with plans to launch operations on the Tiruchi-Dubai and Tiruchi-Singapore sectors, airport Director S Sreekumar told PTI in Tiruchirapalli.
The airlines, to use the Boeing 737-800 aircraft, would commence operations from March 26, he said.
While Malaysian Airlines had approached AAI last year with plans to operate direct services to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, Kingfisher Airlines has also showed interest to introduce services to Chennai and other destinations.
Oman Airways is also keen to launch services to Gulf countries and Air Arabia had carried out market survey in and around Tiruchirappalli, Sreekumar said.
15/03/07 CNN-IBN

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Don't pass congestion surcharge: DGCA

New Delhi: Following the High court observation, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday asked all private airlines to consider withdrawal of the congestion surcharge of Rs 150 being charged by them per passenger.
This comes in the wake of the Delhi High court asking the Civil Aviation Ministry the reason why private airlines were charging the amount, official sources said.
Claiming that the aircraft had to hover over major metro airports for about 30 minutes to an hour, private airlines had decided to impose the surcharge.
State run Indian Airlines has however not imposed the surcharge.
15/03/07 CNN-IBN

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Silchar, Dibrugarh airports to have night-landing facilities

New Delhi: The Civil Aviation Ministry has decided to introduce night-landing facilities in Dibrugarh and Silchar airports, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel announced here today. In a Rajya Sabha reply to a question by Silvius Condpan, the Minister said that at Mohanbari Airport, night landing facilities like high intensity runway lights, Apron flood lights, Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) and taxiway edge lights are already available.
At Kumbhirgram Airport in Silchar, PAPI at both ends of runway is already available. Airport Authority of India plans to provide runway lights and approach lights at this airport, Patel said.
13/03/07 Assam Tribune

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Steps progressing for expansion of Kozhikode airport

Thiruvananthapuram: Steps are on for the expansion and modernisation of the Kozhikode International Airport, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan told the State Assembly on Wednesday.
The National Airport Authority of India has asked for 162 acres of land adjacent to the existing airport for carrying out various expansion projects including construction of a terminal, a runway and flight maintenance unit, Achuthanandan said while replying to a submission.
The authority wanted the State Government to hand over the land free of cost and the Government has not taken a final decision on the matter, he said.
15/04/07 PTI/The Hindu

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'ADD kiosks' to download film songs at Chennai airport

Chennai: Perhaps for the first time in the country, touch screen "ADD Kiosks" which facilitate complete downloading of thousands of devotional, classical and film songs were thrown open today by a private firm for public use at the domestic air terminal of the Chennai Airport.
To start with four such Kiosks were launched at the domestic airport here by Chennai Airports Authority of India Director Dinesh Kumar.
Besides devotional, classical and film songs, the public could download monophonic and polyphonic midi ringtones into IPODS.
'This is the herald of a glorious era for an easy, global distribution of music and movie software and the begining of the end of all forms of piracy', Director of Giri Trading Agency Private Ltd, T S Ranganathan, told media persons at a formal lauch of the Kiosks.
Soon such kiosks would be launched in Mumbai and Bangalore Airports and later in other parts of the country.
15/03/07 PTI/The HIndu

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Watch out for the new luxury showroom at Capital airport

New Delhi: GMR DIAL is tying up with Sincere watches, a luxury watch retailer based in Singapore, to open an exclusive duty-free watch boutique at the IGI Airport, modeled after the shopping capitals of the world, like Singapore and Dubai. This will be a first for the Delhi airport.
This follows a survey conducted by GMR, which showed that many luxury watch buyers are Indians and a lot of the buying was happening at the Dubai and Singapore airports.
Piaget, Franck Muller, Omega, Tag Heuer, Longines, Rado, Tissot and Chopard amongst others will be featured. The boutique is expected to be functional in three months time.
This will be the third duty-free shop at the International Airport, after Flamingo and Alpha Pantaloons.
Apart from the international segment, the domestic segment will also get better shopping facilities. 14/03/07 Delhi Newsline

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Differential pricing at tarmac, for now

New Delhi: Civil aviation minister Praful Patel on Tuesday said the government had taken no decision regarding implementation of differential pricing for peak and non-peak hour charges. The ministry had constituted an internal committee to look into optimum utilisation of airport infrastructure and it was one of the recommendations of the committee to implement differential pricing, but the government had taken no decision on it, he said. On the congestion surcharge he said the government had never interfered with ticket pricing.
Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya said the Federation of Indian Airlines had asked the minister to revise the peak hour classification —from 7 to 10 in the morning and 6 to 10 in the evening— to 8 to 10 and 5 to 7 in the morning and in the evening.
Air Indian CMD V Thulasidas, Indian Airlines CMD Vishwapati Trivedi, Jet Airways CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, Air Deccan COO Warwick Brady, SpiceJet CEO Siddhanta Sharma, Rahul Bhatia, managing director, InterGlobe Enterprises (representing Indigo Airlines) were also present.
14/03/07 Financial Express

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Non-peak hours: Govt for sops to airlines

New Delhi: In the wake of opposition to the proposal to hike airport and navigation charges during peak hours, the government on Tuesday said it was considering offering incentives during lean period for reducing congestion over major metro airports.
"There is no decision yet on whether to charge more during peak hours. But we have to find ways to optimally use the airport capacity and infrastructure throughout the day, especially during the non-peak hours," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said after a meeting with top officials of all leading airlines here.
An official committee, headed by Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla was asked to recommend steps to de-congest airspace during peak time. He had recommended among other things increasing airport and navigation charges during morning and evening hours over Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore airports.
The airline officials, under the banner of Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), also sought continuation of the exemption of withholding tax for leasing aircraft or aircraft engines from foreign sources.
13/03/07 Times of India

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Seven airlines get nod for 80-seater planes

New Delhi: Seven domestic airlines have received government approval for importing 80-seater aircraft whose operation entails paying lower levies, parliament was informed Tuesday.
The airlines that have got the nod are state-owned Alliance Air and private carriers Jet Airways, Deccan Aviation, Sahara Airlines, Kingfisher Airlines, Paramout Airways and Indus Airways, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
No landing charges are levied by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on aircraft with a maximum certified capacity of less than 80 seats being operated by domestic scheduled operators.
This apart, the budget for fiscal 2007-08 presented in parliament Feb 28 has proposed to amend Section 14 of the Central Sales Tax Act of 1956 by including aviation turbine fuel (ATF) sold to aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of less than 40,000 kg that scheduled airlines operate.
14/03/07 IANS/Mangalorean.com

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Parliamentary panel against giving more teeth to DGCA

New Delhi: The government's push to give more powers to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been shot down by a Parliamentary committee, which said it would result in "overlapping" of powers and compound "confusion".
"The Bill, if enacted, will result in overlapping of powers of both governmental organisations (DGCA and Airports Authority of India)... without amending or repealing the Airports Authority of India Act, 1994, the government simply cannot confer the same powers to another body through a different Act," the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture observed in its report.
It said the Bill is a piecemeal effort of the government as lot of ambiguities existed regarding the role of AAI, its powers and functions. "The government should become more futuristic while bringing any new legislation," the Committee observed.
13/03/07 PTI/Economic Times

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Alpha Airports under lens for security lapses

New Delhi: The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has forwarded complaints against duty-free operator Alpha Airports group to the home ministry and the Directorate General of Export Promotion.
The FIPB’s missives, on March 5 and 6, have sought comments and appropriate action on the alleged security and immigration lapses committed by Alpha.
FIPB has also written to the UK-based Alpha asking how the company, which only has approval to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in India, formed a joint venture and applied for a private bonded warehouse licence.
In January 2007, Alpha moved the FIPB seeking an amendment to its existing approval to become a “100 per cent owned operating and holding company for duty-free shops, flight kitchens and food and beverage outlets at Indian airports”.
The FIPB has acted on the basis of complaints from Member of Parliament and former Union minister Jagdish Tytler, who in mid-February wrote to Finance Secretary Ashok Jha, alleging that Alpha and its Indian joint venture, Alpha Future Airport Retail, have committed “serious violations of norms in policy and practices”.
14/03/07 Nayantara Rai & Siddharth Zarabi/Business Standard

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New Bangalore airport to be inaugurated on 2 April 2008

The opening date of the new International Airport at Bangalore, as fixed by M/s. Bangalore International Ltd., (BIAL), is April 2, 2008. This information was given by Shri Praful Patel, Minister for Civil Aviation in the Parliament today.
The Minister informed the Parliament that the state Government of Karnataka has suggested that the new airport be known as ‘Bangalore International Airport.’ As a matter of general policy, the name of the city is retained for naming the Airport since passengers and visitors in general, and foreign tourists in particular, find it easier to identify the airport when it is named after the city it serves.
The present Airport at Bangalore belongs to the HAL, Ministry of Defence, where Airports Authority of India maintains the Civil Enclave for civil aircraft operations. After commissioning of the New Airport at Devanahalli near Bangalore, the HAL Airport will be closed for commercial civil aviation operations.
13/03/07 Press Information Bureau (press release)

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Girl in jail custody for SMS

Kolkata: M Ahuja, arrested after thorough interrogation by different agencies for creating the hijack scare in a Kolkata-Delhi flight last night through her SMS, was remanded to judicial custody for 14 days by a North 24 Parganas district Court today.
The SMS by Ahuja (25) caused a hijack scare on the Indigo flight (6E-274) that compelled the Airports Authority of India to bring back the plane from Varanasi sky to Kolkata's N S C Bose international airport last night.
She was arrested earlier in the day and interrogated by the police to find out as to what prompted her to send the SMS and later put under arrest.
The girl had sent the message about a hijack scare on board the flight to her father. It compelled the the Air Traffic Control (ATC) to alert the pilot. On receiving the SMS her father contacted the Airports Authority of India that led to the abandoning of the flight and its return to Kolkata with 138 passengers and three crew members.
12/03/07 PTI/The Hindu

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Airport charges to top meet agenda

New Delhi: The domestic airlines, under the umbrella of Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), will meet civil aviation minister Praful Patel on Tuesday with an agenda full of demands for fiscal concessions, apart from scrapping the proposal for differential airport charges mooted by the government.
Airlines are expected to press for an amendment to the Finance Bill so that withholding tax on aircraft lease rentals continues to be exempted.
Airline companies are also hoping the government will not implement its recent proposal to double the peak-hour airport charges. According to government sources, the civil aviation ministry may tone down its plan to decongest busy airports.
The government is also considering non-financial measures to reduce congestion. Currently, airports in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore can handle 35 aircraft movement (landing and takeoff) in an hour. The government plans to increase this to 50 an hour. Another measure could be to slow down clearance for fresh flight slots during busy hours.
13/03/07 Sunny Verma/Economic Times

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