Offloaded Gulf passenger sheds tears on tarmac

Mumbai: If you are not Renuka Chowdhury and if you happen to be boarding a low-cost airline to a ‘labour class' destination like some place in the Middle-East, make sure you reach the departure gate well before time.
A heart-wrenching scene played out on the tarmac of Mumbai airport on Saturday morning, where an offloaded passenger was seen crying with folded hands, pleading in vain to the commander seated in the cockpit, who refused to take him onboard.
The matter pertains to Air India Express Mumbai-Doha-Bahrain flight IX 243 which was to depart at 8.45 am. "Ten minutes before departure, a passenger by the name, P Miranda, who had checked in was not traceable and so the commander was informed about it. But at that very moment the passenger walked in and he was allowed to board the flight. When the commander learnt about it, he told the inflight supervisor to offload the passenger saying he was too late in boarding the flight," said a source.
Since the commander has the last say in his aircraft, the passenger was asked to deplane. What happened next was unexpected.
"The passenger did not throw a tantrum or got violent. Instead he started crying and when he got down the step-ladder, he went to the area below the cockpit and started begging with the commander. As his checked-in bag was being traced and removed from the aircraft belly, he stood there with folded hands, crying looking up towards the cockpit. But Capt Kapoor did not budge. He took off without the passenger," said the source.
" ..it could have to do with the strict service conditions in the Middle-East, wherein he stands to lose his job if he fails to report on a particular day. Or maybe, his visa was to expire. Whatever the reason be, I have never seen someone cry and plead like this," the source added.
31/03/08 Manju V/Times of India

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New policy on aeronautical charges on the cards

The traditional revenue model for airport development may be tweaked for new airports, especially the ones expected to come up in 35 non-metros over the next few years.
Speaking to DNA Money, a senior ministry official indicated that the government may soon come out with a policy on cross-subsidisation of aeronautical charges at non-metro airports.
"We are going to make a policy that at least 30% of non-aeronautical revenues should be ploughed back to the aeronautical side," he said.
Simply put, this allows private developers of non-metro airports to offer some of the unused land for development of hotels, conference halls, shopping malls etc and use the revenue so generated for cross-subsidising aeronautical charges airlines pay at present.
Not only would such a model help the development of more profitable airport ventures, it would also ultimately lower user development fee (UDF) for passengers - an issue new airports at Hyderabad and Bangalore are already grappling with.
The official said that, for the first time, such a model would be implemented in Amritsar and Udaipur.
31/03/08 Sindhu Bhattacharya/ DNA MONEY/Sify

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KLM Says It Knows All About Shamshabad

KLM is refuting a story, carried by news outlets all over the world, including AVweb, last week that said one of the airline’s crews refused to land at a new airport in Hyderabad, India, because they weren’t familiar with it. According to the airline, however, the flight was diverted because weather was below minimums. The MD-11 and its 232 passengers ended up in Mumbai and returned to Hyderabad the next day. “KLM was fully aware of the new airport. Flight 873 departed prepared for the new airport Shamshabad at Hyderabad,” KLM spokesperson Marisca Kensenhuis told AVweb in an e-mail. “In India the weather was below the published limits therefore the crew decided to go to an alternate airport. The passengers and crew stayed in hotels in Mumbai and left the next day for Shamshabad.” Although the newspaper that initiated the report pulled the story from its Web site, it did not publish a correction and KLM has AVweb reader Werner Fischbach’s curious nature to thank for restoring its reputation.
In a letter to AVweb, Fischbach said the reports he read in the German press didn’t ring true to him so he did what hundreds of professional journalists around the world didn’t: He asked KLM.
30/03/08 Russ Niles/ AVweb

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Bangalore airport delay: Carriers` expansion plans hit air pocket

New Delhi: The one-month delay in the opening of the new greenfield airport in Bangalore may affect the expansion plans of over a dozen-odd international as well as domestic and cargo carriers who were planning to introduce additional flights from the city.
While the opening of the new airport has got delayed, the existing airport has refused to allow any additional flights due to capacity constraints.
According to executives at Bengaluru International Airport Ltd (BIAL) the delay will force the carriers to operate new flights after one month of the summer season is over, leading to potential loss of revenue.
The main carriers that are expected to be hit are Air Mauritius, Tiger Airways, Oman Air, Dragon Air, Thai Airways, domestic carriers like Kingfisher and Simplifly Deccan, and cargo carriers QuikJet and Jett8.
According to estimates, nearly 100 additional planned weekly flights (domestic and international) may also be hit.
31/03/08 Anirban Chowdhury/Business Standard

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ATC's e-navigation for safety in sky

New Delhi: Even as a new runway is coming up at the IGI airport to ease traffic congestion, the air traffic control (ATC) is in the process of finalizing a procedure that will reduce risks of accidents in air even further. The performance based navigational system (PBNS) is in the final stages of its draft form and should be in place by June.
The PBNS, being used in south Asia for the first time, will be made operational in Delhi and Mumbai simultaneously.
At present, the procedure that defines the height to be maintained by aircraft at a particular distance from the runway and in relation to other aircraft exists on paper. With the new system in place, this will be available to the pilot in his cockpit through a computer program.
"There are computers in the cockpit and the procedure to be maintained will be fed into that. Depending on which city the aircraft is going to and on which runway it has to land, the pilot can choose the particular option and instructions will be there before him to follow," said a senior official.The process, say officials, will reduce the interface between pilots and air traffic controllers, making the flying system more organized and smooth.
31/03/08 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

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Vizag to have its first night flight on Saturday

Visakhapatnam: On Sunday, Visakhapatnam will have its first night flight flying in and out of the city airport.
The much-awaited historical moment will come true at Visakhapatnam airport, when a flight operated by SpiceJet Airlines will land at 7.20 pm arriving from Hyderabad. The same flight will take off for Hyderabad at 7.50 pm.
Though the airport infrastructure was upgraded with various facilities including night-landing facility about eight months ago, no evening flights were operated till now.
The Navy used the night-landing facility for its flights but the services were not extended to civil flights due to less manpower and lack of other facilities. People?s representatives, officials, businessmen and locals made repeated pleas to operate evening flights which would help them to travel frequently, in and out of the city.
Recently, the Navy agreed to extend its manpower and the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) approved the proposal to start the evening flights.
30/03/08 Newindpress

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Govt plans to develop 6 multi-modal airport hubs

New Delhi: India will soon boast of multi-modal international airport hubs across its landscape, similar to the one proposed in Nagpur. The government is planning to develop multi-modal hubs in six metros that would cater not only to commercial airlines but will also have cargo and MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) facilities.
Top sources in the civil aviation ministry told SundayET that the cities identified for the proposed hubs are Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Thiruvanantapuram, Kolkata and Guwahati. Though the ministry is yet to set a time-frame, under which the proposed hubs will be developed, talks have been initiated for a public-private partnership for developing these hubs.
30/03/08 Raja Awasthi & Dheeraj Tiwari/Economic Times

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Man hit by Air India bus, dies at Mumbai airport

Mumbai: A loader at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport died after being hit by an Air India bus.
The driver of the bus has been arrested.
The victim was loading luggage when the accident happened, the bus rammed into a trolley and the worker was crushed under a container.
The worker was an employee of the Cambata Aviation Company.
After the incident 1500 workers of the company went on a flash strike, but have now resumed work.There have been several cases of rash driving within airport premises in the past few months.
Earlier this week a labourer working on a new runway at the Indira Gandhi International Airport was run over by a bulldozer.
In another incident, a 26-year-old female aeronautical engineer's body was found with bashed up head.
30/03/08 NDTV.com

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Mumbai emerges as best airport

New Delhi: Mumbai has emerged as the best airport among the 6 metro airports polled in an exclusive CNN-IBN and AC Nielsen State of Indian Airports survey.
CNN-IBN and AC Nielsen conducted an exclusive nationwide poll to find how "aero dynamic" are our airports. Terminals across the country competed for the title of "India's best Airport" based on passenger experience and infrastructural efficiency.
Mumbai Airport came out with flying colours and was voted the best overall airport and also the safest. However, it was crash landing for Hyderabad's old airport.
Although Mumbai bagged the honours, only 44 per cent of passengers rate the overall experience in Indian airports as good and the rest term it as "just okay".
With a quarter saying baggage handling and its loss is a problem, another quarter says airports are unclean. 18 per cent felt there was no proper waiting area and 17 per cent said flight information was inadequate.
Three quarter of those surveyed want more than one airport for their city and the other three quarters prefer private airports because they are sure that private airports will provide better service.
29/03/08 Geetika Pokhriyal/CNN-IBN

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New H'bad airport faces teething problems

The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Shamshabad is one of the swankiest airports in India right now. It’s on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
The GMR-led consortium has several loose ends to tie up before it is clear skies for the new airport. Ground handling seems to another issue that is snowballing. The developer - GMR- has violated its contract with ground handling agencies, reports CNBC-TV18’s Sandhya Ravishankar.
Just a few days after take off and there is a hitch at Hyderabad's new airport. The international ground handlers of the airport are accusing the airport developer GMR of breaching the contract. The original agreement between the three parties says that GMR cannot outsource ground-handling services to any other company. However, domestic airlines are using their own staff for ground-handling.
The ground handlers are fuming. It's almost Rs 140 crore down the drain. Each company had invested in Euro 3 compliant equipment and had trained their staff along international standards. And now they are forced to keep off the domestic terminal and service only international carriers.
Bobba Menezes and IA-SATS refused to say anything on record. They fear that any legal action from their side will ruin their business prospects in India. But they are angry. GMR, though, says it has little choice in this.
That is not the only issue. The greenfield airport is supposed to use only Euro 3 compliant and battery-operated equipment. But with the airlines taking care of ground services, farm tractors have made their entry into the airport.
The new airport does not have a fully functional air control tower (ATC). Part of the air traffic control operations is still being done at the old Begumpet Airport.
29/03/08 CNBC-TV18

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New airport disappoints commuters

Hyderabad: Though GMR officials say the problems being faced at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport are similar to the ones faced in any other newly-opened international airports, but passengers point out that nothing can possibly explain why an "incomplete" airport was opened to commercial operations.
On Friday afternoon, Sukhendu Chakrabarti, COO with Gulf Oil Corporation took 45 minutes to reach his car after coming out of the airport arrival. With his car and driver stationed at the parking area, Chakrabarti found no directions or arrows to lead him to the parking area.
The ramp leading to the parking lot was closed and there was no one to guide. He found the elevator packed and chose the escalator to go down.
On Thursday, a group of senior Congress party members ran into rough weather at the airport. K Keshava Rao, Rajya Sabha MP landed at the new airport on at 8 am from Delhi by a Jet flight along with some party members.
Just when they walked out of the aircraft and entered the aerobridge, the main doors of the bridge suddenly closed trapping those inside it.
But what former vice-chairman of the National Knowledge Commission P M Bhargava went through on Friday night makes for a compulsive page-turner. From being rushed to remove his bags from his car when he reached the airport to finding no executive class lounge space, Bhargava shares a litany of incidents, the most glaring being the absence of proper flight announcements.
The absence of an executive lounge has irked Bhargava and even Keshava Rao.
However, a GMR official said these are teething problems.
30/03/08 Times of India

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Headed for BIA? Watch out for snakes

Bangalore: The dog-hit at HAL Airport should serve as a wake-up call for Bangalore International Airport Limited, as the surroundings of Devanahalli, where the new airport is situated, are home to many dangerous animals and reptiles.
An environment assessment report on flora and fauna of Devanahalli, prepared by the Indian Institute of Science in mid-2007, says jackals, pangolins, snakes, monitor lizards, jungle cats, mongooses and a variety of avi-fauna live in and around Devanahalli. The report on reptiles of Devanahalli has recorded 21 snake species in and around the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA).
"Construction labourers who worked at the new airport have identified different species of snakes around BIA. We showed them photos of snakes for identification. The area was also thoroughly surveyed before the report was drafted," reptile conservationist Anees Mohammad, who was in charge of the reptile section of the report, told the Sunday Times of India. The report has identified many points in the BIA where wildlife could sneak in or cross the runway.
30/03/08 Amit S Upadhye/Times of India

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Night-landing from today at Visakhapatnam

Visakhapatnam: For the first time in the six-decade history of the Visakhapatnam airport, night operation of commercial flights will begin from Sunday onwards with the flight of low cost carrier Spice Jet from New Delhi via. Hyderabad, making the first landing at 7.20 p.m. It will leave to Mumbai via. Hyderabad at 7.50 p.m.
Demand for allowing night operation and deployment of instrument landing system (ILS) to help flight navigation in poor visibility is the long pending one of the Vizagites as the night operation would help them to bargain for allowing 24 hours operation in the airport as also flights on international routes in the future.
Though the facilities for night operations were available as early as mid-2007 and in fact navy had been using the system for several months since now, the clearance for allowing commercial aircrafts in the night got delayed with the Defence Ministry due to shortage of naval personnel to man the air traffic control (ATC), which is under the control of the Navy.
30/03/08 J. Balaji/The Hindu

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Coochbehar airport likely to be operational in three months

Kolkata: The Coochbehar airport in North Bengal is likely to be operational in about three months time, trailing behind the schedule by a year.
Though expansion and modernisation of the airport was done by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) long back, the airport could not be made operational for want of additional aircraft by the operators Deccan.
"We expect to begin operation at Coochbehar airport with the availability of an additional ATR aircraft by the middle of this year", Deccan Executive Chairman Capt Gopinath told PTI over phone.
"We are jointly working on route rationalisation plan and business strategies with the Kingfisher Airlines, which had taken over the Deccan, to find out a mechanism to link new destinations in different states", Gopinath said.
Announcing the Deccan's fleet expansion with the induction of four ATRs within two to three months, Gopinath said that one of the four ATRs would be earmarked for Kolkata, having at present seven aircraft.
30/03/08 PTI/Economic Times

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Smooth flying from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi, Mumbai from Sunday

Thiruvananthapuram: Indian airlines is commencing daily services from Thiruvananthapuram to New Delhi via Kochi, while Air-India is increasing the frequency of its Thiruvananthapuram - Mumbai service from two to six a week from Sunday. The new flights are being introduced as part of the summer schedule of the two airlines.
Though Indian and Air-India have officially merged, the flight services are yet to be synchronised. Hence, separate schedules are being introduced.
Indian’s daily service to New Delhi will leave here at 6.15 am and reach the final destination at 10.30 a.m. In the return route, the flight will leave New Delhi at 5.30 pm and reach here at 9.55 pm.
The four new Thiruvananthapuram-Mumbai flights of Air-India will be on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The flights will take-off from here at 8.40 p.m. and reach Mumbai at 10.55 pm.
A statement from Air-India said that these flights would provide connection for flights to New York, Chicago and Riyadh.
29/03/08 Newindpress

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New Hyderabad airport has handled 93,000 passengers

Hyderabad: The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Shamshabad, which began its operations early Sunday, has handled 93,000 passengers in the past five days. The new airport, with world-class facilities, handled around 15,000 international and 78,000 domestic passengers till March 27. “Thus the airport is handling an average of 18,500 passengers per day,” said a statement by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL) here Friday.
The total air traffic movement during the period was around 1,500. The air traffic movement is defined as one-round movement of an aircraft - landing and taking off.
The first greenfield airport in public-private partnership has been built at a cost of Rs.25 billion ($627.8 million) at Shamshabad, about 30 km from the city. The old airport was in the heart of the city.
It claimed that the international pilot community has appreciated the runway and air traffic control systems installed at the new airport.
28/03/08 Thaindian.com, Thailand

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'Pilot had 6 seconds to react’

Bangalore: The pilot of the Kingfisher Airlines Flight IT 2427 probably had a “reaction time of five to six seconds” after he saw a black dog cross his path on the runway, said a senior HAL airport official. The aircraft was “rolling towards take-off, travelling about 2,000-2,500 feet when it hit the dog.” He reckons that at the point of impact, the aircraft was about 500 feet away from take-off, which would have taken about 25 to 30 seconds. The official said the pilot might have tried to slow down or avoid the dog or may have even attempted to abort take-off as the aircraft rolled at a speed of about 120 kmph.
He said the nose undercarriage of the aircraft “buckled down” and has been taken out for repairs. However, he said, the aircraft may not have suffered “serious damage.” He said the aircraft’s sudden change of course while approaching take-off probably caused the damage. “The aircraft sat with its nose on the runway, after travelling 1,000 feet after it hit the dog,” he said.
Referring to the criticism about poor lighting, the official pointed out: “Operationally it is not advisable to have floodlights near a runway.”
29/03/08 The Hindu

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A wake-up call to airports after ‘dog-hit’

Bangalore: The freak instance of a dog crossing a plane at the HAL airport on Thursday night comes as a strong and timely eye-opener to the new airport operator, weeks before Bangalore transits to the Devanahalli airport.
“This incident must be a warning to the new operator, who should start double-checking the necessary safety standards well in time” by the launch date of May 11, one official said.
BIAL, the builder and operator of the new Bengaluru International Airport 40 km away in predominantly rural Devanahalli, said it has put in place stringent security measures at the operational or airside, as per the International Civil Aviation Organisation standards. This was to contain entry of any unauthorised personnel or stray animals on the airside and ensure smooth and safe movement of aircraft at all times, it said in response to a query.
Officials who have served for a couple of decades at the HAL-owned airport concurred that a ‘dog on the runway’ instance had never happened in Bangalore, though the airport has been dogged by the canine menace.
29/03/08 Business Line

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Dogs on runways are here to stay

Bangalore: Thursday afternoon’s incident in Bangalore, in which the Kingfisher flight IT-2427 was obstructed by a dog on runway, breaking its nose wheel, once again raises questions about passenger safety at Indian airports.
“We witness at least one incident of dog straying on runway every month,” says an airport official in Mumbai. “Dogs on runway keep aircraft flying in circles over the airport for at least 30 minutes. The polluted Mithi river nearby and garbage dumps attract these dogs,” he adds.
Recently, a pilot witnessed a dog giving birth to three puppies by the side of runway 27 on a taxiway at Mumbai International Airport.
Mumbai International Airport Limited (Mial) has appointed a contractor to catch dogs and hand them over to the municipal corporation.
“The menace at metro airports is less as steps are taken to keep birds, dogs, cattle and other irritants at bay. But dogs are a real danger at small airports where there are no full-time bird-chasers. There is no way we can permanently prevent obstructions on the airside,” an airport official said.
Bangalore airport authorities have dashed off letters to the Brihat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike regarding the dog menace.
29/03/08 Bhargavi Kerur/Daily News & Analysis

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'Delay in flight not because of Renuka'

New Delhi: Minister of state for women and child development, Renuka Chowdhury, was on Friday greeted by booing from fellow passengers of a delayed JetLite flight that was to leave Delhi at 12.15pm for Goa but got airborne only around 2.20pm. They blamed her "late" boarding for the delay.
On its part, airline's outgoing CEO Garry Kingshott said: "Late arrival from Mumbai meant the plane's departure time was rescheduled. Boarding started at 1.15pm and the minister was among six passengers who boarded last at 1.40pm. Doors were closed at 1.55pm and then there was an additional 15-minute delay. So, the delay was not because of the minister."
Renuka too raised this issue, saying: "Do planes here always leave on time and the charge against me is that I delayed an ontime flight? I am not the aviation minister who can be blamed for delays."
29/03/08 Times of India

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Plane hits dog, skids off runway

Bangalore: Passengers and crew members on board the Hyderabad-bound Kingfisher Airlines aircraft had a miraculous escape on Thursday night when the ATR 72-500 skidded on the runway at the HAL airport here.
While the pilot said the aircraft hit a dog on the runway, airport sources said the aircraft was yet to gain velocity for take-off when the nose wheel broke and it skidded. At least four passengers were injured .The runway was closed for over three hours, causing flight delays and diversions. The incident occurred between 9.37 and 9.45 p.m. when the aircraft with 25 passengers and four crew members aboard was preparing to take off. Captain Mmopi was the main pilot.
According to the commander, a black dog crossed the runway while the aircraft was on its take-off roll and because the runway was dimly lit, the crew did not notice the animal till it was too late to take evasive action.
A Kingfisher release said: “..Two guests stumbled and sustained sprain while all the others are safe. The injured were treated at a nearby hospital and discharged.” The aircraft has been disabled and will have to be jacked up and towed off the runway.
Top officials rushed to the spot to conduct a full investigation of the incident.
28/03/08 The Hindu

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Dogs have field day at HAL Airport

Bangalore: Dogs have been the bane of HAL Airport. Civic authorities have not taken the issue seriously.
Stray dogs enter from the rear wall and roam on the runway. Tall grass covers the point where they enter the airport. Airport authorities have repeatedly written to the civic bodies about the menace and requested action.
Dogs are also seen loitering in the parking area and the airport premises.
Meanwhile, within an hour of Kingfisher flight being grounded on the HAL Airport runway, five domestic flights were diverted to airports in Hyderabad and Kochi.
“The runway was closed since 9.50 pm, and no take-off nor landing was allowed. Soon after the incident, messages were flashed across the country and some international flights which were supposed to land on Thursday night were asked to reschedule,’’ ATC officials said.
28/03/08 Times of India

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Amritsar airport a 'boon' for passengers

Amritsar (Punjab): The Raja Sansi International Airport in Amritsar has seen unprecedented growth touching 54 per cent two years back.
It is also the only airport in the country where international passengers outnumber domestic ones in the ratio five to one.
The road to Raja Sansi International Airport maybe chaotic, yet the ride is bearable for the widely dispersed Punjabi diaspora---pilgrims to the Golden Temple from India and abroad, as well as those wanting to travel abroad for work.
From just a few thousand passengers a decade back, the Amritsar airport now handles more than half a million visitors annually.
The runway was extended this year to allow jumbo jets and Airbus 380s to land.
The terminal building, completed in 2006, is already falling short hence massive infrastructure development works have been planned.
28/03/08 Jyoti Kamal/CNN-IBN

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HC allows TN Govt to acquire land for airport expansion

Chennai : Clearing the way for expansion of the Chennai Airport, the High Court here on Thursday dismissed a batch of petitions challenging the land acquisition for the project.
A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice Prabha Sridevan, passed the order, thus enabling the Tamil Nadu government to go ahead with one of its ambitious projects.
The Bench had stayed all the proceedings relating to acquisition of land for the project, in December last year.Earlier, a set of petitions challenged the acquisition of 1069.99 acres in Manapakkam, Tharapakkam, Gerugambakkam, Kolapakkam and Kovur around the airport.The petitioners had contended that the State Government was acquiring the said land under the Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for Industrial Purposes Act, though the land was not in an "industrial area" declared by the Government nor was it an "industrial estate."
They had also contended that the State Government was not competent to acquire land for the expansion, as the field was occupied by a Central organisation, Airports Authority of India (AAI).
28/03/08 PTI/The Hindu

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Low-cost carriers fly away from Kolkata

Kolkata: It's time for middle-income Kolkatans to bid goodbye to flying. The merged airlines (Kingfisher-Deccan and Jet Airways-JetLite) have withdrawn flights in several sectors, leading to longer queues and the very worrying possibility of a fare hike.
Kolkata stands to lose out on 14 low-cost flights and seven major ones in a week. It has already lost no less than 60 flights in the last two years — and the nosedive is still gathering momentum. Industry sources say tickets may get costlier by at least Rs 700-Rs 1,200.
Deccan is withdrawing its operations to Delhi from next month. Air India's 8.35 am Kolkata-Delhi flight has already been axed. Bhubaneswar, Agartala and Imphal have already been hit. Only 21 flights each operate on the Kolkata-Bhubaneswar and Kolkata-Agartala routes every week — a plunge from 46 and 56 in 2006. Flights on the Kolkata-Imphal sector have dropped to 18 from 35. And if Jet Airways stops operations on this sector — a distinct possibility — the number will plunge to 11.
Flights between Delhi and Kolkata have declined to 93 a week from 116 last year. The merged airline JetLite is likely to reduce its daily flights to make room for Jet Airways' Delhi-Kolkata flights.
28/03/08 Arpit Basu/Times of India

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Centre may allow two airports in 150km radius

Hyderabad: The civil aviation ministry plans to revisit the condition that no additional airport operations would be permitted within 150km radius of an existing airport, said K.N. Srivastava, joint secretary in the ministry.
Taking to reporters on the sidelines of an international infrastructure conference here on Wednesday, he said the Greenfield Airport Policy scheduled to be announced shortly could have scope for two airports within 150 km radius if required.
On greenfield airports, he said the ministry has learnt several lessons from the experiences of the new international airports at Hyderabad and Bangalore, and is considering a proposal to make infrastructure pertaining to airports’ connectivity a part of the airport development project.
The new airport at Hyderabad has commenced operations and the one at Bangalore is all set to begin operations, but both cities are yet to address the issue of connectivity to airports.
Admitting that infrastructure for connectivity involves investments nearly double that of airport development, Srivastava said the Union government is considering a proposal to provide up to 30% of the cost of connectivity infrastructure to the state governments as viability gap funding.
27/03/08 C.R. Sukumar/Livemint

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Airport expansion plan under scanner

Chennai: A verdict is expected from the Madras High Court within a week on the Airport Authority of India’s land acquisition plans, but the debate on the merits of its airport expansion project rages on.
While the AAI maintains that the Rs.2,700-crore project, which will result in the dislocation of 947 houses, is crucial to Chennai’s future as a key aviation hub in India and South Asia, experts have raised questions about the necessity and merits of the plan in light of what they perceive to be inefficiencies in airspace use and the cost of displacement.
When the AAI first conceived the plan to expand the airport four years ago, it had forecast that Chennai would need to handle around 50 aircraft movements an hour by 2015. According to the AAI, the expansion plan will enable Chennai to handle traffic growth until 2016. The AAI expects the greenfield airport — Sriperumbudur is the likely location—to be ready by then.
While the initial plan was to build a parallel runway, the AAI now also plans to extend the cross runway that has been in operation since December. The extension is the main cause for the dislocation of 947 homes — the land for the parallel runway plan is largely poromboke land, which the AAI has received clearance for acquiring .
27/03/08 Ananth Krishnan/The Hindu

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Hyderabad: New int'l airport's ATC not fully functional

Hyderabad's new international airport does not have a fully functional Air Control Tower, also known as an ATC. CNBC-TV18?s Faye D'souza found out that part of the Air Traffic Control operations is still being done at the old Begumpet Airport.
India's tallest ATC became operational on Sunday, March 23, when the old airport in Hyderabad closed down for commercial operations to make way for the new one in Shamshabad. But the transition has not been smooth. Here's the twist - pilots trying to land at the new airport are still being navigated by officials at the old airport!
Officials say this is because the ATC's approach control radar at the new airport is not yet ready for operation. The ATC Towers at the two airports have different technology and are only 30 kms away from each other, which might explain why pilots descending to land at the new airport are having nervous moments minutes before touchdown because they may have received incorrect warnings from their flight computers about terrain. The GMR group that has constructed the Rs 2500 crore rupee airport says the ATC Tower is 100% complete and keeping the old ATC tower in function is part of standard procedures"
27/03/08 CNBC-TV18

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More Hyderabad blues for new airport

Hyderabad: The international ground handlers of the airport - Bobba Menezes and IA-SATS - are now accusing the airport developer GMR of breaching the contract.
According to the original agreement between the three parties, GMR cannot outsource ground handling services to any other company. However, domestic airlines are using their own staff for ground handling.
The ground handlers are fuming as well as it means a loss of Rs 140 crore. Each company had invested in Euro-3 compliant equipment and had trained their staff along international standards.
Now they are being forced to keep off the domestic terminal and service only international carriers.
Menezes and IA-SATS refuse to say anything on record. They fear that any legal action from their side will ruin their business prospects in India.
But they are angry. However, GMR says it has little choice in the matter.
That's not the only issue. A Greenfield airport is supposed to use only Euro-3 compliant and battery operated equipment. But with the airlines taking care of ground services, farm tractors have made their entry into the airport.
26/03/08 Sandhya Ravishankar/CNN-IBN

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'Security checks at Hyd airport will take only 3 mins'

Hyderabad: Hyderbad’s GMR airport's aesthetics are indeed world class.
Spread over 5,500 acres and built at a cost of Rs 2,500 crores, this airport has 130 check-in counters to facilitate a super-fast entry.
In addition to that, instead of waiting until your baggage is screened, all you have to do is check it in. It passes through four levels of checks and if there is a security issue, your baggage will be set aside and your name called to remove the hazardous material. The end result is that there are no queues for check-in or the security check.
"It takes only about three minutes for the entire process to get over. Allow for a bit more and one can easily be at the airport 15 minutes before take-off and still make it comfortably in time,” said GMR’s VP (Corporate Planning and Risk Management) A Viswanath.
27/03/08 Sandhya Ravishankar/CNN-IBN

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Centre has plans for Begumpet airport

Hyderabad: In a new twist to the Begumpet saga, the Union government has now embarked on an exercise to formulate a "business plan" for the airport that was closed down earlier this week.
This was disclosed by none other than joint secretary in the ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) K N Srivastava.
"a variety of options were being evaluated to put Begumpet airport into action. This includes allowing non-scheduled flights and chopper services", Srivastava said.
Establishment of training facilities by Airports Authority of India and Air India are also part of the business plan, the official said.
On the issue of user development fee (UDF) for domestic passengers at the new international airport at Shamshabad, the MoCA official said that "the ministry and GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), have agreed on a differentiated UDF scheme with varying rates for long haul and short haul services. The UDF would be very modest," he said.
27/03/08 Times of India

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Gannavaram airport development plan yet to take off

Vijayawada: Despite the claim of the district administration that greater emphasis is laid on infrastructure development to promote industrial growth in Krishna, the master plan for expansion of Gannavaram airport is yet to take off.
Though the airport authorities submitted a proposal seeking 558 acres for implementation of the master plan, the district administration has shown little interest in acquisition of land.
As part of the master plan, it was proposed to expand the 1,745 metre runway by 663 metres to facilitate landing of big aircraft. According to the airport authorities, the land acquisition is not a big problem for the revenue officials as it is not located in the densely populated areas.
The revenue officials have sought a surveyor from the Airports Authority of India to conduct a survey for acquisition of land for airport expansion. But there is no surveyor in the AAI here.
Airport Controller PN Prem Kumar said it would be developed in two phases at a total cost of Rs 44.27 crore.
27/03/08 PV Krishna Rao/Newindpress

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Ministry, new Bangalore airport body at odds on passenger levy

The operator of the Bengaluru International Airport, Bangalore International Airport Ltd (Bial) has declined a suggestion from the ministry of civil aviation that it waive a controversial fee it plans to levy on passengers when it opens for operations in the second week of May.
Bial, a Siemens AG-led consortium, wants to charge Rs240 from each domestic passenger and Rs520 on each international ticket from 11 May for the first two months and increase these to Rs675 and Rs955, respectively, thereafter.
This proposed charge, called user development fee, or UDF, also planned at the new GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL)-run Rajiv Gandhi International Airport is in addition to a Rs225 passenger service fee that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) levies on all airline tickets and taxes on such charges.
The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Hyderabad, which opened for commercial service on Sunday, has agreed to the civil aviation ministry’s request to keep an all-inclusive UDF of up to Rs1,000 limited to international passengers while sparing domestic commuters for at least the first three months of operations.
Bial, a senior ministry official said, has written to it saying the airport cannot waive fees as the Hyderabad operator has done and has asked for a meeting with civil aviation minister Praful Patel to explain its stance. A Bial spokeswoman said the matter was “currently under discussion” with the government.
The government wants Bial to follow the same structure as Hyderabad as there cannot be two sets of exceptions.
27/03/08 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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AAI begins legal due diligence for non-metro airports

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has began the process of legal due diligence for non-metro airports with the appointment of Legal Advisor for the process.
The AAI has appointed M/s. M.V. Kini & Co., Mumbai as Legal Advisor for providing legal advisory services for the city side development of the four non-metro airports – Amritsar, Udaipur, Trichi and Vizag. The Legal Adviser will be advising the AAI on all legal matters associated with the successful conduct of the bidding process and execution of the Concession Agreement with the select bidder.
The AAI is currently in the process of finalizing the other transaction documents for the projects.
27/03/08 Press Information Bureau (press release)

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Stress takes toll on 55-yr-old airport staffer

Mumbai: The last few minutes before a flight takes off are usually very stressful for airline staff, who have to conduct numerous checks before the departure. It was perhaps this stress that proved fatal for Ganpat Mayekar, a 55-year-old Air India deputy manager who died a sudden death at Mumbai Airport in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Mayekar, who was on night duty, was calling out for a passenger who had failed to report to the departure gate when he suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed. Airport officials said the incident took place around 1.30am when all the passengers except one had boarded the Mumbai-Hyderabad flight AI 126.
Mayekar was taken to a medical room, but did not respond. "He was then taken to a private hospital where he was declared dead," the official added.
27/03/08 Manju V/Times of India

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Time running out to airport codes in .aero domain

Philadelphia: NamesBeyond, the official registrar for .aero and a leader in sponsored and country code top level domain names, today announced that all IATA 3-letter airport codes are now available for registration in the .aero domain name for qualified parties.
"The clock is winding down for airports to secure their 3-letter codes in the .aero domain name," said Uma Murali, President & CEO, NamesBeyond.
"Airports have until November 30 to register their IATA location identifiers at NamesBeyond, after which we will release these unique airport codes to the general public."
In June 2007, the council of aviation associations (Dot Aero Council) decided to allow open registrations of the IATA 3-letter airport codes.
These airport codes are globally recognizable, and several high profile airports including Portland International Airport, Memphis International Airport, Montreal-Trudeau, and Mumbai have already secured their codes (PDX, MEM, YUL, BOM) exclusively with NamesBeyond.
26/03/08 PRNewswire, USA

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Law, aviation ministries discuss hurdles before Noida airport

Two months after it was referred to a group of ministers, the process for approving a second airport at Delhi’s outskirts in Uttar Pradesh’s Jewar is making some headway with the law ministry and civil aviation ministry preparing a framework to overcome the legal complications that could emerge as a consequence of such a permit.
A second airport within 150km of aerial distance from an existing one is not permitted under the old rules, but exceptions such as the Navi Mumbai airport outside Mumbai have been granted in the past over growing traffic.
The Jewar airport, which falls under the Gautam Buddh Nagar district that includes Noida and Greater Noida, lies east of capital Delhi, and will require 1,500ha of land and an investment of Rs3,505 crore (besides the cost of land). It will be developed through a private partner with a 74% stake, with the balance 26% equally split between airport regulator Airports Authority of India and the Uttar Pradesh government-owned Taj Expressway Authority.
26/03/08 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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Move air traffic management to another body: report

New Delhi: A high-power panel Tuesday said two separate entities should run airports and manage air traffic in the country even as it called for expert opinion on how the country’s airspace can be optimally used for civilian and defence purposes. State-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) not only runs airports but also provides navigation services like management of air space and traffic control. A panel headed by former civil aviation secretary Ajay Prasad has opposed this.
“The committee has recommended a clear demarcation of the dual functional responsibilities of AAI as an aerodrome Operator and of an Air Navigation Service provider,” an official statement.
The committee was constituted in March 2007 to formulate a master plan for next generation futuristic air navigation services and submitted its report to Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel here Tuesday.
The committee also suggested more flexible use of airspace as to meet the needs of growing civil aviation industry and the armed forces, notably of the Indian Air Force (IAF), optimally.
“A high-level committee of the government should be constituted for common use of Indian airspace and for working out ways of flexible use of airspace,” the statement said quoting the Ajay Prasad committee report.
25/03/08 IANS/Thaindian.com, Thailand

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IATA against different user fee for global, domestic travellers

New Delhi: The new greenfield airports should not charge different user development fee from domestic and international travelers and such charges should be regulated by a regulatory authority, global airlines body International Air Transport Association said on Tuesday.
"When domestic and international passengers are using the same facility, how can airports justify differential costs for passengers," IATA Corporate Communications Manager (Asia-Pacific) Albert Tjoeng told PTI here.
Also, he stressed that such charges should be monitored and regulated by an airport economic regulator so that the airport operators do not charge in excess.
He also wanted India to hasten the process of establishing the regulatory body. The Airport Economic Regulator Authority Bill is pending before Parliament.
25/03/08 PTI/The Hindu

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Mumbai-Delhi air corridor sixth busiest: Survey

New Delhi: The Mumbai-Delhi air corridor has emerged as one of the busiest in the world. According to Mumbai International Airport (P) Ltd, a survey done last year showed it was the sixth busiest corridor. The list was led by Barcelona-Madrid, Sao Paulo-Rio, Jeju-Seoul, Sydney-Melbourne and Cape Town-Johannesburg sectors.
"This survey was conducted by an international organisation, Official Airlines Guide, in late 2007. There are 53 daily flights between Delhi and Mumbai," said Manish Kalghadgi, spokesperson for GVK Group-developed Mumbai airport.
Interestingly, this fact is now being used to take some pressure off the Mumbai airport as it is already running to capacity and a big question mark hangs over the second much-required one that has to come up five years later.
Airlines already find it hard to get a new slot for a flight to and from Mumbai. MIAL has 'suggested' to the aviation ministry that instead of 53 daily flights of medium-size planes like A-320 or Boeing 737, airlines be asked to operate fewer flights of bigger twin aisle planes like the A-330, A-340, Boeing 777 and even the Jumbo.
Clearly, Mumbai airport is keen to handle more flights as airlines find it hard to get any new slot either to or from the financial capital. But airlines down buy this argument.
26/03/08 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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New Hyderabad airport gives pilots the jitters

New Delhi: Pilots of a number of aircraft descending to land at Hyderabad's new airport at Shamshabad are having nervous moments minutes before touchdown as some airlines are yet to feed the topographical, terrain and procedure into flight-management computers (FMC) of their fleets.
As a result, the FMC 'feels' that the aircraft is descending at an unknown place and starts belting out ground proximity warning, saying: "Terrain, terrain, pull up. Too low".
Most Indian pilots, who are well versed with the region's topography and know that the 15-20 mile radius of Shamshabad is flat land, switch off this "terrain nuisance warning" and continue their descend.
The FMC's "terrain awareness and warning system" keeps a watch on the terrain in the approach path and warns the pilot if its calculations show it could get dangerously close to a hill at the current rate of descend.
Senior ATC officials said a number of aircraft have reported these warnings while landing at the new airport, a figure that was higher on day one on Sunday and reduced on Monday.
Asked about these warnings in Shamshabad, A senior commander also said most experienced Indian pilots know this is a "terrain nuisance warning" but foreign airlines are natural to take note of it. Something that may explain KLM's decision to divert its Ahmedabad-Hyderabad flight first to Delhi and then Mumbai on Sunday.
25/03/08 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Tough time ahead for CIAL

Nedumbaserry: It may be showcased as a model greenfield concept, but the country’s first private- public enterprise is flying into bad weather in the 10th year of operation.
Apart from the long list of projects failing completion, the airport is going to be severely handicapped for seven of the 12 months this year due to runway repair work.
The functioning in the International Departure Terminal area totally collapsed when the rooftop of the drainage system developed leakage, accumulating rain water inside the newly-built terminal area. The communication systems of various airlines and Emigration were damaged.
The Full-Length Parallel Taxi Way which was inaugurated with much fanfare on December 23, could not be completed.
The Cochin International Aviation Services Ltd (CIASL), a fully subsidiary of the CIAL, which was constituted to set up aircraft maintenance hanger and aviation academy, miserably failed to achieve its goals.
A proposal for the construction of an airport in Sri Lanka is likely to be dropped in the midway as a UK-based firm in the fray, allegedly `negotiated’ a deal with the CIAL management.
The installation of Approach Surveillance Radar, Aero bridges, construction of adequate Parking Bays and I T related projects which were announced by the Chief Minister at the AGM were also not yet materialised.
24/03/08 Newindpress

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PILs demand old B'lore airport remain open

New Delhi: The problems surrounding Bangalore's new airport do not end for now many people are demanding that the old HAL airport be permitted to remain open as the city requires two airports.
"Definitely Bangalore city needs two airports because it is there in every place. Mumbai and Delhi already have gone for two airports," said lawyer G R Mohan, who filed a PIL against the closure of the HAL airport.
Mohan pointed out that when the agreement was signed, around 10 to 11 million people were coming in but now there are more than 11.5 million people and for handling such numbers, two airports are required.
"By the end of 2009, we expect the numbers to increase around 15 to 20 million passengers," Mohan said.
He further explained that the non-closure of the HAL would not result in breaking a contract.
25/03/08 Priyanjana Dutta / CNN-IBN

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HAL Airport hearing today

Bangalore: The high court will on Tuesday resume hearing of petitions challenging the closure of HAL Airport once the newly built Bengaluru International Airport commences operations.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice Cyriac Joseph will hear the petitions.
City-based advocate G R Mohan filed an interlocutory application seeking a direction to retain the old HAL airport for short-haul flights for some more time.
25/03/08 Times of India

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Govt to ensure lower user fee at new airports

New Delhi: Wiser from the row over user development fees (UDF) with the developers of GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIAL) and Bengaluru International Airport (BIAL), the government is planning to mandate greenfield airport developers to cross-subsidise aeronautical cost with non-aeronautical revenues. The move is expected to result in reasonable UDF burden on air travellers and increased air traffic growth.
This comes at a time when GHIAL and BIAL are planning to charge high UDF from domestic and international passengers. The government wants to avoid a similar situation in the proposed greenfield projects at Goa, Pune, Visakhapatnam and Kannur. The stipulation would not apply to the new Hyderabad and Bangalore airports.
User charges are directly proportional to the investment made by the airport developer in building aeronautical infrastructure. The operation, management and development agreement (OMDA) for Delhi and Mumbai airports require the operators to cross-subsidise aeronautical cost with non-aero revenue effective 2009.
25/02/08 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

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New airport to improve Hyderabad's brand image

Hyderabad: With the new international airport commencing operations near here, the brand image of Hyderabad is to go up, attracting more investment in IT, biotechnology and other industries.
The swanky Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, which has come up 30 km south of the city, is described as the new icon of this IT hub, home to many software giants.
If Hyderabad IT and Consultancy (Hitec) City at the once sleepy Madhapur village placed Hyderabad on the world IT map in 1990s, the new international airport is expected to transform the city, especially the area off the highway linking Bangalore into a business hub and attract huge investments in various sectors.
Though some air passengers are complaining of the long time they take to reach the new airport (the older airport was in the heart of the city), business leaders feel the state-of-the-art and spacious facility would help Hyderabad become a world-class city.
The Rs 2500 crore airport, on over 5,000 acres of land, became operational Sunday, shifting all the operations from Begumpet airport.
24/03/08 IANS/Sify

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Durgapur airport eyes Buddhist circuit, to lure foreign tourists

Kolkata: The Durgapur Airport, part of the country’s first airport-cum-township project, will aim at foreign travellers who come for India’s Buddhist circuit in its base-level projection of 3-4 lakh passengers a year. The airport is expected to come up by 2010-11.
“The Bodh Gaya tourist traffic is definitely on our radar,” said a senior official of Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd. The company is implementing Rs 10,000 crore project coming up over 2,300 acre.
Coming up in a heavy engineering hub that is also one of the largest affluent regions in India not served by an airport, the airport will serve a population of over 40 lakh within 50km.
Air traffic in the region in expected to grow by over 12% over the next three years and, according to a study by IMRB International, the overall premium travel segment in the region will grow by 5-12% during the period.
25/03/08 Rohit Khanna/Financial Express

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Deccan plans flight to Orissa’s Bhitarkanika

Kendrapada: Simplifly Deccan Monday announced plans to start special flights to Orissa’s Bhitarkanika, widely known as the world’s largest rookery of Olive Ridley sea turtles. Bhitarkanika, also known for having India’s second largest mangrove forest and many species of migratory birds, is located in the coastal district of Kendrapada, some 170 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.
“We will arrange a special package for tourists to visit Bhitarkanika,” Deccan founder and executive chairman Captain Gopinath told reporters during his visit to the park.
Gopinath landed Saturday in a helicopter at a royal palace at Rajkanika near the park.
Accompanied by Shivendu Narayan Bhanjadeo, the scion of an erstwhile royal family, he visited the water bodies and dense mangrove forests of the park by a boat.
“A flight service will help tourists to see Gahiramatha marine sanctuary, the world’s largest rookery of endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles, door-less village of Sialia, the royal palace of Rajkanika, Hukitola island and nearby beaches”, Gopinath said.
24/03/08 IANS/Thaindian.com, Thailand

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Suspect Lankan Tamil couple held at airport

A Sri Lankan Tamil couple was held at the Trichi airport by immigration sleuths on Sunday after it was found that they had fraudulently obtained Indian passports and attempted to fly to Colombo using the document.
S. Muthulingam (60) and his wife M. Maheswari (44) were later handed over to the Airport police. Airport sources said Muthulingam landed in India through Rameswaram in 1984 and settled down in Madurai.
He was running a medical store at Tallakulam in Madurai. In 1989, the couple, whose relatives were all residing in the island nation, managed to obtain Indian passports with which they had travelled to Sri Lanka and back a couple of times.
25/03/08 The Hindu/Daily Mirror, Sri Lanka

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22 kg Heroin sized near Amritsar International Airport

Amritsar: Sleuths of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) have seized 22 kilograms of Heroin worth rupees 220 million in the international market here. The Heroin supply was to be smuggled to Canada from Amritsar International Airport.
Packets of Heroin, each weighing nearly half kilogram, were kept inside the folds of ladies suit pieces and were wrapped in carbon paper to avoid detection by the X ray machines at the airport, said officials.
According to Dheeraj Rastogi, the Joint director with the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, they intercepted a vehicle at Mirankot, about three kilometers from Amritsar International Airport, on late Saturday night heading for Airport from Jalandhar.
Earlier, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence had confiscated two consignments of heroine weighing six and seven kilogram each from the Amritsar International Airport.
24/03/08 ANI/DailyIndia.com, USA

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Govt may restrict pvt developers from bidding for third airport

Claiming it wants to avoid creating new monopolies in the booming airport construction and modernization business, the civil aviation ministry is planning to restrict private developers to a maximum of two non-metro airports.
Contracts for modernization of two dozen non-metro airports across India will be opened for bidders over the next two years. It is estimated that India needs some Rs1,600 crore private investment at 35 non-metro airports, many of which have seen traffic swelling over the past three years as more low-fare airlines and international carriers enter the market.
GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group’s Reliance Energy Ltd, GMR Infrastructure Ltd, Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd, L&T Infrastructure Ltd, Unitech Ltd, Omaxe Ltd and Ansal Properties and Infrastructure Ltd are among those vying for business at the non-metro airports.
In the next three months, the selection process will require the ministry to shortlist five companies, which will then be asked to submit a financial bid before the final selection. However, since the selection criteria follows a set pattern and parameters, it is likely that the same developers, if they apply, will be shortlisted among the top five each time the government seeks a proposal for the remaining 22 airports.
The ministry is planning to restrict operators from bidding for other airports if they have already won contracts for two airports, according to a senior government official familiar with the process who did not wish to be identified. A developer may be allowed to bid for more airports only after meeting project deadlines on the first two projects as stipulated by the government.
24/03/08 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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'Shamshabad...what's that?'

Hyderabad: In a slip up hours after the Shamshabad airport opened for business, a KLM flight from Amsterdam which was supposed to land at Hyderabad skipped the airport and flew across the country first to Delhi and then to Mumbai.
Apparently the pilot knew nothing about the new airport and hovered towards Begumpet only to be told that the facility had been shut. He was directed to Shamshabad to which the pilot asked the Air Traffic Control (ATC) staff: "Shamshabad...what's that?" The pilot first flew to Delhi where after being refused permission to land, took the plane to Mumbai.
Sources said the pilot of KLM Dutch Airlines flight was unwilling to land at the new airport because the company headquarters at Amsterdam did not receive the Notam (notice to airmen) about the closure of Begumpet and opening of Shamshabad. But airport sources wondered how this was possible because the Notam was sent to all the airlines across the world and everybody else seems to have received it.
However, the officials of GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd claimed that the KLM pilot did not want to take any risk by landing at a new airport at a time when the weather was not good with low clouds.
24/03/08 Times of India

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Minor irritants mar first day of Hyderabad's new airport

Hyderabad: Unwanted landing, bad weather and a huge crowd marked the launch of the commercial operations of the new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Hyderabad on Saturday night.
A Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt was scheduled to be the first flight marking the beginning of commercial operations at the airport, but a SpiceJet aircraft, coming from Ahmedabad, made a surprise request to land at the airport in less than a minute after it was officially opened.
The officials had no choice, but to allow the landing. However, the passengers of this flight were completely ignored.
About 18 minutes later, Lufthansa's flight landed and it was given a royal welcome. The passengers, too, were impressed with the airport although they had some complaints.
"Luggage was not coming. The conveyor belt stopped a couple of times," an angry passenger said.
GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) officials say that the shifting of operations from the Begumpet airport to the new one at Shamshabad was smooth.
But within three hours of the launch of the commercial operations, the airport authorities had to face the ire of the public. A KLM flight from Amsterdam was scheduled to land at the airport at 0145 hours IST. But due to bad weather, the pilot could not locate the airport and diverted the flight towards Delhi.
23/03/08 Shaik Ahmed Ali/CNN-IBN

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Bangalore operator likely to steal the thunder

The GMR consortium-built Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Hyderabad may have stolen a small march, time-wise, over the Bengaluru counterpart by opening on March 23. However, a launch hiccup apart, it looks like the Bangalore operator will be stealing the thunder eventually at the cash counters.
BIA’s promoter consortium Siemens-Unique Zurich-L&T may have hit a gold-mine at Devanahalli, going by just the air traffic numbers, according to what Business Line gathered from neutral industry-watchers. Airport company BIAL (Bangalore International Airport Ltd) has not shared any revenue expectations so far.
By BIAL’s reckoning, Bengaluru should be ending the first year with at least 11 million passengers and grow at 20 per cent each year. Hyderabad, which has seen similar investment of nearly Rs 2,500 crore, expects traffic of some 7 million.
This traffic will be the main revenue source initially, and the user fees to be levied on departing passengers is seen as a major cash cow, apart from air-side revenues such as landing-parking fees; and royalties from cargo and ground-handling agencies.
Bangalore’s attraction for airlines will be undeniably greater than Hyderabad’s, and it could break even in the second year itself, one observer said. If HAL airport last year made a turnover of Rs 650 crore, BIAL could make at least thrice that figure during the first full year. Similar international airports break even in seven-eight years. The prime 4,000-acre airport land is another golden goose, as land rates have appreciated sharply to a couple of crores an acre.
24/03/08 Madhumathi D.S./Business Line

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Calcutta airport faces fresh strike

Calcutta: Littered lounges and stinking toilets will again greet passengers at Calcutta airport on April 10, thanks to a strike by some 1,500 contract staff and casual labourers.
The strike by the Citu-backed ground workmen’s union, which has handed in a 14-point charter of demands including pay rise, was finalised by vote tonight. A total of 1,476 workers voted for the strike and only six voted against, a union spokesperson said.
There could be a shortage of drinking water and passengers may not find trolleys outside the terminals, but an official said flight movement would not be affected.
“Passenger services will be partially affected but flights will operate normally to and from Calcutta,” the official said.
The contract staff and casual labourers mainly load luggage into aircraft, clean the terminals and aircraft, and operate the aerobridges and the pump. Some work as drivers or runway bird-watchers, some maintain the conveyor belts and other equipment, and others retrieve the trolleys.
23/03/08 The Telegraph

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Passenger given boarding pass but flight takes off without him

New Delhi: A Malaysian national found himself in a spot last week at the Indira Gandhi International Airport after his flight to Kuala Lumpur left without him.
After reaching the airport well in time, Ahmed Yashirasul had already cleared security and immigration checks, besides checking in his luggage. Once handed the boarding pass, he decided to rest for a while in the security hold area, till his flight is announced.
The Malaysian Airlines flight, MH-191, was supposed to depart at 11.10 pm. Yashirasul, however, fell asleep waiting for the announcement and missed his flight that left at 11.30 pm, 20 minutes late.
The airline was equally unaware that one of its passengers, who had already been issued a boarding pass, had not boarded the plane.
Waking up finally at 2 am, a bewildered Yashirasul reached the airline’s help desk only to be informed that his flight had left long ago.
To make matters worse, immigration officials refused to let Yashirasul leave the terminal because the airline had not informed them before taking off that a passenger had not boarded the plane.
The ground handling for the Malaysian Airlines is done by the Indian Airline employees.
Nearly five hours later, Yashirasul was allowed to board the next flight even as his luggage had reached Kuala Lumpur much before.
23/03/08 Sobhana K/Delhi Newsline

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Shamshabad airport commences operations

Hyderabad: The new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Shamshabad began its commercial operations on Sunday morning.
A Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt in Germany landed at the airport at around 12:24 a.m.
The flight, carrying 76 passengers received a warm welcome from GMR Group officials. GMR has built the airport.
UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi inaugurated the airport, which is about 30 km from Hyderabad, on March 14.
Built by the GMR Group that has a majority stake of 63 per cent in the project, the Rs 2,470 crore airport has several firsts to its credit.
It has the longest runway in Asia at 4.26 km and the tallest air traffic control (ATC) tower in the country at 75 metres.
The greenfield airport spread over 5,400 acres is a joint venture of the GMR Group, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad which has 11 per cent stake in the project, the Airports Authority of India and the Andhra Pradesh Government, which have a 13 per cent stake each.
23/03/08 Agencies/Economic Times

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Skies open up to bid Begumpet adieu

Hyderabad: The dear old Begumpet airport will sorely be missed. This was what onlookers gathered on the Fatehnagar flyover felt as they silently watched the last few planes take off and land on dark and windy Saturday evening.
Disappointment was writ large on passengers' faces too at the airport, who knew the next air trip would include a long journey by road. No longer would they simply hop to the airport but would have to make elaborate plans to reach destination Shamshabad.
"This airport was incredibly convenient. It will take at least two hours to commute to Shamshabad when the actual air travel time is one hour," frequent flyer A Manohar, said.
As per schedule, the last flight to land at the Begumpet airport on Saturday was an Air India flight from Pune at 11.20 pm. The last flight to take off was again an Air India flight to Singapore at 00.25 hours (early Sunday).
With the shifting of operations to Shamshabad, airport officials themselves admit that the percentage of people opting for air travel was likely to fall by 20 per cent.
23/03/08 Bushra Baseerat/Times of India

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GHIAL to get less revenue from ground-handling firms

New Delhi/Mumbai: GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), the public-private consortium operating the first new airport to start commercial operations, has reduced the revenue stream from the two mandated ground-handling companies Menzies Bobba Aviation and a consortium of Air India-Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS).
Under a new agreement finalised, the two companies will have to pay 5 per cent of annual revenues instead of the earlier 25 per cent, a senior GHIAL executive confirmed.
The move closely follows the civil aviation ministry’s decision to allow domestic carriers to conduct their own ground-handling operations till January 2009.
The decision was made as a result of demands by domestic carriers, which have complained that outsourced ground-handling charges are more than twice the current rates.
22/03/08 Surajeet Das Gupta & Manisha Singhal/Business Standard

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Deal clears ground for new airport

Hyderabad: When Shamshabad airport opens for business at midnight on Saturday, the job of ground handling of passengers' luggage would not be looked after by the two agencies appointed for the purpose.
The airlines themselves would handle this activity—much like what they have been doing at Begumpet airport. This is the reason why private airlines who were very adamant on the issue, have decided to begin operations from Shamshabad. But this concession to private airlines is only till the end of December 2008.
"Airlines are free to have their own ground handling services till December 2008 but from January 2009, they will have to engage the services of the two ground handling agencies appointed for the airport," A Vishwanath, GMR's vice-president (corporate planning) told TOI.
However, airlines which want to avail the services of any of the two agencies,would be free to do so.
22/03/08 K V Ramana/Times of India

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Airport staff’s “flash strike” called off

Hyderabad: A section of Indian Airlines employees resorted to a flash strike at the Begumpet airport on Friday afternoon following the Centre’s decision to stop operations from Saturday midnight. The strike was however called off later in the night. Employees of the Airports Authority of India had also participated in the strike.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation, on Thursday, had announced commencement of commercial operations from 12.25 a.m. on Sunday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Shamshabad.
Passengers travelling in Air India flights had to face some inconvenience following absence of ground handling staff.
22/03/08 The Hindu

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Runway slums sent packing as India takes to sky

For decades, a view of the runway slums has been a feature of landing in Mumbai, but the airport operator wants that to change. The shanties are on airport land and, with India's aviation market expanding at a cracking 20% a year, the operator wants the land to expand and upgrade facilities.
The sheer number of people would make relocation a formidable task. About 400,000 people live in 85,000 huts encroaching on airport land.
"That makes it the biggest slum rehabilitation anywhere," says Manish Kalghatgi, spokesman for Mumbai International Airport Ltd, the private firm that runs the airport.
N. Sureshan, the general secretary of a community group advocating for the residents, says they are happy to move as long as their new houses are near the airport.
"We fear we will be 30 to 50 kilometres from where we work," he says. "This is a big problem. We don't want to go away from the airport — more than 100,000 of our children go to school here."
Many are employed at the airport in low-skilled jobs, such as trolley collectors, guards and cleaners. Others work in industries dependent on the airport, such as taxis or airport-related construction.
Suitable land close to the airport is being found for the construction of new multi-storey buildings to house the slum dwellers. But Mr Kalghatgi says the airport cannot give an assurance that everyone will end up close to the airport.
22/03/08 Matt Wade/The Age, Australia

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Choppers’ landing at Bhuntar creates panic

Shimla: The landing of two Indian Air Force military helicopters at the Bhuntar airport in Kullu last night have raised a number of questions with regard to air safety rules as airport officials had no prior intimation of the flight into their air space.
With the airport at Bhuntar not having any night landing facility, the landing of two choppers at the airport for a brief period after 9 pm took everyone by surprise. With the airport being closed at 2 pm no employee was present at the airport in the evening.
According to eyewitnesses, the two choppers halted at the airport for about 20 minutes before taking off again. SP Kullu Jagat Ram said he too got to know that two choppers had landed at the airport but it was the airport officials concerned who were looking into the incident.
Sources said with no night landing facility at Bhuntar even the Indian Army or Air Force choppers have never landed there at night. “The two Air Force military choppers could have been on some secret training mission but we had no intimation as after 2 pm no staff member is present there,” an official said.
21/03/08 The Tribune

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Airports may’ve to cross-subsidise costs

New Delhi: Wiser from the row over user development fees (UDF) with the developers of GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIAL) and Bengaluru International Airport Ltd (BIAL), the government is planning to mandate greenfield airport developers to cross-subsidise aeronautical cost with the non-aeronautical revenues. The move is expected to result in reasonable UDF burden on air-travellers and increased air traffic growth.
This comes at a time when GHIAL and BIAL are planning to charge steep UDF from domestic and international passengers. The government wants to avoid a similar situation in the case of the proposed greenfield projects being discussed for Goa, Pune, Vishakhapatnam and Kannur. The stipulation would not apply to the new Hyderabad and Bangalore airports.
User charges are directly proportional to the investment made by the airport developer in building aeronautical infrastructure. The operation, management and development agreement (OMDA) for Delhi and Mumbai airports require the operators to cross-subsidise aeronautical cost with non-aero revenue effective 2009.
22/03/08 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

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Row over Customs nod for Mumbai duty-free outlets

New Delhi: Controversy has become the jinx of duty-free business at the Mumbai airport. The finance ministry is looking into a compliant that DFS of Singapore has been provided licence by the customs authorities to launch duty-free outlets at the Mumbai airport without necessary clearances from various departments.
Former civil aviation minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, a BJP MP, has alleged that the customs department has not adhered to the norms laid down by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in providing licence to the duty-free operator.
The former minister has written to finance minister P Chidambaram, urging him to look into the charges. The development comes close on the heels of DFS launching duty-free business at the airport after it went without duty-free outlets for more than a year. The Mumbai airport –– busiest in India –– did not have duty-free outlets for more than a year since the ITDC-Aldesa joint venture, which was awarded a contract for these outlets, came unstuck.
22/03/08 Economic Times

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A passenger fee for new Delhi airport?

New Delhi: Will outbound travellers in Delhi also have to pay a user development fee (UDF) when the new integrated terminal opens in 2010, like people flying out of new airports in Hyderabad and Bangalore? This question is now haunting authorities here as the prolonged controversy over funding model of Rs 8,900-crore project is feared to be leading to a situation, where a fee may be levied on passengers. UDF is levied to meet the gap between loan liability and revenue expected from a project.
The GMR-backed Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd (DIAL) had initially proposed to have a hospitality district over 45 acres by charging security deposits from successful bidders. Combined levies on this district were to raise Rs 2,835 crore but government rejected this model as the developer was not sharing 45.9% security deposit with the Airport Authority of India as per the privatisation agreement.
So, hunt for an alternate funding model was on.
22/03/08 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Airport security: A desirable business for pvt security cos

New Delhi: With the creation of ultra-modern metro and non-metro airports, the external security of airport terminals as well as passenger safety are raking in new avenues and money for private security companies and their promoters.
Static guarding, beat patrol, special events, risk protection services, man-guarding, facility management, cleaning and baggage handling are some of the services that private security companies are offering to airport hubs and their allied installations.
"In the next five years Indian aviation would be growing by leaps and bounds. Security is a very vital component of these developments and hence we are here to offer our best services for our patrons, who ultimately are the passengers," says Regional Marketing Director of G4S (Group 4 Securicor), Rehana Qureshi.
The company is already manning the external security of Terminals 1 and 2 at the Delhi airport.
21/03/08 PTI/Economic Times

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Hyderabad airport will open on March 23; ground handling rates cut

New Delhi/Hyderabad: The suspense is off. The new airport in Hyderabad will open on March 23, a week later than originally planned, with the two ground handling agencies there agreeing to drastically reduce the charges, which the airlines will have to pay to use their services.
Protest from some airlines against the high ground handling rates, being charged by the new airport, was the official reason for the airport operationalisation being delayed.
Sources told Business Line that the new rates being negotiated were likely to see the airlines paying for the services in a graded manner. The airlines are likely to be charged around Rs 9,000 for the first 10 flights operated in a day per airline with the subsequent flights being charged only Rs 6,500 as ground handling costs. Earlier, the airport authorities had proposed ground handling charges at Rs 22,000 per flight, then brought it down to Rs 13,000 and now to around Rs 9,000.
While Air India has tied up with Singapore Air Transport Services, Menzies and Bobba Aviation have come together to provide ground handling services at the new airport.
21/03/08 Business Line

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Barreto arrested at airport with unaccounted dollars

Kolkata: Brazilian football star Jose Ramirez Barreto, who is currently playing with the Mohun Bagan Atheletic Club, was arrested today at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose airport. His passport was seized. The customs officials had stopped him after it was found that he was carrying $21000, but had valid papers for only $3000.
Barreto was on his way to Brazil on a long holiday. He was to take an Emirates flight at 9.15 am. Later in the day he was produced at the Barasat sub-divisional magistrate’s court, which granted him bail.
Barreto arrived at the airport around 7.30 am with his luggage. But he was detained during the customs check and questioned throughout the day. Officials of the Mohun Bagan Athletic Club and mediapersons soon arrived at the scene. The club officials tried to negotiate with the customs officials, but the latter refused to budge.
The club’s senior official Arun Chakraborty, who was present at the Barasat court, told The Indian Express: “He was not carrying any illegal money. It was, in fact, his hard-earned money. But he should have been carrying detailed papers. Anyway, he will produce the papers before the court on April 3 and get released.”
All that the dejected Brazilian striker could comment was: “It is like seeing a red card in a match.”
21/03/08 Kolkata Newsline

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Bagan stand by ‘innocent’ Barreto

Calcutta: Mohun Bagan, stunned by Jose Ramirez Barreto’s arrest on Thursday, stood by the Brazilian saying he was innocent and that he would come out clean from the latest controversy.
Mohun Bagan secretary Anjan Mitra pointed out that Barreto was not aware of the customs rules and the club would “do whatever possible” to make sure he could join his family in Brazil.
“The season has just ended for us and Barreto got the latest salary cheque only on Wednesday. His wife and two daughters had left for Brazil earlier this month and so Barreto had decided to carry their money as well. The maximum amount of money allowed under Foreign Exchange Management Act changes periodically and even many Indian players don’t know these changes,” Mitra said.
The club secretary, in the absence of president Swapan Sadhan Bose and other senior officials, played a key role in having the player released on bail.Mohun Bagan assistant secretary in charge of football affairs, Debashish Dutta, later held a meeting with Barreto, assuring him that he had the club’s support.
Former players and coaches also think that Barreto made an innocent mistake and that he was not aware of the law.
21/03/08 The Telegraph

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I did not know rule, claims Barreto

Kolkata: Customs commissioner (airport) Gautam Ray said Jose Ramirez Barreto was booked for smuggling out foreign currency to set a precedent.
However, there is confusion over how much currency a foreigner working in India is entitled to carry without requiring to declare. While a foreign tourist is entitled to carry $10,000 without declaring, Indian tourists are allowed up to $10,000, of which a maximum of $2,500 can be in cash and rest in travellers cheque.
If the foreigner’s rule is applicable in Barreto’s case, he could have walked out with $40,000, claiming that he, his wife Veronica and daughters Nathalie and Isabella had brought the amount while coming to India. If, however, the rule for Indians is applicable, he was entitled to carry only $10,000 in cash and the remaining $30,000 had to be in travellers cheques.
"His wife and kids had left for Sao Paulo a month ago and did not declare any foreign exchange. So, he was entitled to carry their share. But Barreto’s simplicity was his undoing.
"When confronted by plainclothes intelligence unit officers, he panicked and admitted to having purchased the dollars from unauthorized persons in the New Market area on Wednesday evening. That is an illegal transaction," a Customs department source said.
While being whisked away to the Barasat SDJM court, Barreto blurted out: "I didn’t know carrying foreign currency was a crime."
21/03/08 Times of India

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GMR consortium enters runway at Sabiha Gokcen airport

Ankara: The consortium of GMR Infrastructure, Limak of Turkey, and Malaysia Airports Holdings has signed an agreement with the Turkish defence ministry for developing the second international airport in Istambul. Following this, the Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SGIA) was officially transferred to the consortium.
The need for a second airport has arisen because the existing Ataturk airport is bursting at its seams.
For GMR, which holds 40% in the venture - Limak holds 40% while Malaysia Airports 20% - the project is a huge boost. It marks the company’s first airport footprint outside the country. While for Turkey - a fast-growing EU aspirant - the deal brings exciting FDI at a time when the country is looking at foreign investments, and the deal would dispel any fears of financial restrictions.
Opened in 2001 as the second international airport of Istanbul, Sabiha Gokcen’s annual passenger capacity now is 4 million but is targeted to zoom to 10 million.
21/03/08 Economic Times

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CookieMan lands at Indian airports

Mumbai: Australia’s cookie major CookieMan, through its franchisee Australian Foods India Private Ltd, is contemplating setting up kiosks at three major airports in the country – the newly-opened Hyderabad international airport along with Delhi and Coimbatore airports.
While, other retail majors such as HMS Host, Blue Foods Private Ltd, Café Coffee Day and Hard Rock Café have set up shops at the new Hyderabad airport, McDonald’s and Hog Dog brands will open at New Delhi airport along with Café Coffee Day and Cookie-Man.
Pattabhi Rama Rao, president, Australian Foods India Private Ltd, told FE, “We are planning to set up CookieMan kiosks in upcoming airports.
We also wanted to set up acounter in Mumbai, but could not do so owing to lack of space.”
20/03/08 Shaheen Mansuri, Mona Mehta/Financial Express

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Air passenger off-loaded for misconduct at Airport

Kolkata: A Bangladesh born British passport holder air passenger, Mr T Rasid (35), who was on his way to London from Dhaka via Kolkata was off loaded at NSC Bose Airport this afternoon for abusing the security check system at Indian airports and misbehaving with an official of Air India as well as with the CISF personnel.
The man, who came from Dhaka by a flight of Air India express was on transit. Initially, he misbehaved with AI officials who asked him to go through the mandatory procedures including security check. During security check, he objected to being physically checked. He also refused to give his mobile phone for mandatory checks, became furious and started using abusive language. Officials asked him to be quiet or said they would hand him over to the police. The man, however, continued to show temper and criticised the system of security checks at Indian airport.
20/03/08 The Statesman

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CM, AAI team make cross-J&K on spot visit to inspect airport development projects

Jammu: Jammu & Kashmir is all set to have a massive facelift in civil aviation sector with all airports in the State being modernized and air connectivity extended to some new areas.
On the persuasion of the Chief Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Airport Authority of India (AAI), is working on development of airports in the State on a fast track basis. Apart from building an international airport terminal at Srinagar, the AAI is also building new terminals and extending runways at Leh and Jammu. The extension of runway of Kargil airport and resurfacing and extension of Kishtwar air strip is also in the pipeline.
The Chief Minister with a high level team of AAI, led by its Chairman, Dr. K. Ramalingam, today visited Leh, Kargil, Srinagar and Jammu to review the expansion and development projects of airports, besides flying over Kishtwar to make an aerial survey of the proposed airport.
20/03/08 News Agency of Kashmir

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Mock hijack exercise held

Chandigarh: The Airport Authority of India carried out a mock hijacking exercise today at the airport. Two persons posing as terrorists hijacked an aeroplane with two pilots in it. The drill was well planned and the officials were immediately mobilised to perform the anti-hijacking exercise.
The mock drill created a situation wherein negotiation skills of officials with persons posing as terrorists were put to test. The ambulance was also pressed into service to check the preparedness of the airport officials during a hijack.
The ‘terrorists’ demanded a space to land the aeroplane and negotiated with airport officials. Commenting on the exercise, airport controller Sunil Dutt said: “It was a regular exercise and we often do it to check the preparedness of our officials.” During the exercise, officials cleared the traffic and allowed the aircraft to land at its desired location in Chandigarh.
21/03/08 Chandigarh Newsline

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Concession agreement for pvt airports soon

The government is finalising a model concession agreement for all greenfield airport projects to be developed by private companies. The agreement will be in place in the next two weeks.
“This model is basically a transparent allocation of rights and obligations to the private developer. It will make the private party aware of the airport project before it bids for it,” said a senior official in the civil aviation ministry. The document will include broad guidelines regarding the area of land that will be used and some details regarding traffic projections for the place. While the basic framework would remain the same for all the projects, some of the details will vary depending on the project.
“Finer details like revenue sharing will, however, be worked out after the bidding process and will not be a part of the model concession agreement,” said the official.
20/03/08 Anirban Chowdhury/Business Standard

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CIAL to float Rs 2,500 crore IPO

New Delhi: Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), the consortium that runs the Kochi international airport, plans to raise Rs 2,500 crore through an initial public offer slated anytime between April and December 2009.
The IPO, which will divest 26 per cent of CIAL’s equity, will finance an aerotropolis, a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) unit, and an aviation academy in the vicinity of the airport.
“Of the 26 per cent, 20 per cent will be for the public and 6 per cent will be given as employee stock options,” said S Bharat, managing director, CIAL.
CIAL is planning a tie-up with two international airport developers to finance its projects, ahead of the public offer. The consortium will include a technical partner and a financial investor and will be in place by May this year, according to company executives.
CIAL intends to have a five-star hotel, two budget hotels, a convention centre, an amusement park and a cultural park as part of its aerotropolis that will come up over 500 acres, while the MRO is slated across 40 acres.
20/03/08 Anirban Chowdhury/Business Standard

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ATF duty cut set to fuel growth of small airports

Mumbai: In a bid to promote aviation activity in Maharashtra’s Tier-II and Tier-III cities, the state budget has announced a heavy reduction in duty on aviation turbine fuel for aircraft outside Mumbai and Pune. Finance minister Jayant Patil told the legislature that the ATF duty had been reduced from 25% to 4% on fuel supplied to aircraft in places like Nagpur, Aurangabad, Amravati, Akola, Nanded and other smaller cities.
“All these cities are emerging as developing centres of trade and industry. It is necessary to encourage air travel in these places. Purchase of fuel is an important item in the balance sheets of airlines and a reduction in ATF duty should work as an incentive for more air traffic in places other than Mumbai and Pune where the ATF would be charged at the statutory 25%,” Mr Patil said.
Mr Patil said the state has planned to provide impetus to development of more airports to cater to the increase in aviation activity. In fiscal 2008-09, the state government would support development of airports at Shirdi, Solapur, Amravati, Jalgaon, Nanded and Latur.
20/03/08 Economic Times

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Blame game on Shamshabad snag

Hyderabad: The spanking new Rs 2,500-crore Rajiv Gandhi International Airport still awaits its first commercial flight as the stalemate over its date of opening continues.
Now, a game of passing the buck has begun among contending parties.
Civil aviation authorities in New Delhi say that they are ready to give the green signal for operations the moment the conflicting parties come to them and inform that they have amicably settled their differences. But the GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL) management asserts it is for the airlines and the two ground handling agencies to whom the contract has been given to sort out the dispute.
Airline representatives are engaged in talks with ground handling agencies over the tariffs issue. But the talks are at the level of medium ranking managers.
But analysts said the issue of ground handling charge is just a ruse while the real issue is of keeping Begumpet airport open.
20/03/08 Times of India

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New Hyderabad international airport: The inaugural & after

Suspense continues behind the sudden decision of the Government not to operationalise the new Hyderabad airport despite its inauguration on March 14.While there is no official word on the reasons for the delay, sources suggest that it was mainly on account of the protest from airline operators against the high user charges that the promoters of the new airport are demanding in the form of ground handling charges.
Ms Sonia Gandhi is understood to have conveyed to the Civil Aviation Ministry a day before the event that she would not inaugurate the airport if the strike by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) employees continued. With the strike off, grounds were cleared for the inauguration the next day.
Three years ago on March 16, 2005, Ms Gandhi had laid the foundation stone for the new airport and the Government was keen to go ahead with its inauguration to showcase a major infrastructure facility had been created in record 36 months.
Inauguration over, the Government restrained the promoters from operationalising the new airport from March 16. Among other things, this ensured that there was no confrontation with the Left parties during the on-going Parliament session.
Aviation industry sources say the Government could utilise the delay to “convince” the promoters to take a re-look at the charges.
19/03/08 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

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Airport to hit flight path in a fortnight

Hyderabad: The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, in a freeze ever since its inauguration on March 14, could thaw and buzz with activity in a fortnight from now.
GMR officials are confident that commercial operations will begin in 15 days. But would they? "Commissioning of an airport and actual commencement of operations are two different things. It takes time for airlines to get ready for operations. This is what has happened in our case too," a senior official of the GMR rationalises.
The official points out: "On the same day (March 14) when our airport was commissioned by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, terminal five of Heathrow Airport was inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth in London. But commercial operations haven’t begun there too. They will start from March 27."
The GMR has entrusted ground handling work to a consortia of Menzis-UK, Indian companies Bobba and Air India and Singapore Aviation Technical Services. "Airline operators are currently negotiating with them and several thorny issues have already been settled," the official claimed.
19/03/08 Agencies/Siasat Daily

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