Central team inspects work on Gulberga airport

A high-level three-member team of officials from the Airports Authority of India and the Civil Aviation Ministry, along with senior officials of the Infrastructure Development Department of the State government, inspected the half-complete Gulbarga Airport at Srinivas Saradagi village on the outskirts of Kalaburagi on Wednesday.
Official sources said here on Wednesday that the visit was based on a request by the department to visit the airport and give a detailed report of the remaining work to be completed and its estimated cost.
The team consisted of Executive Director of the authority T.S. Chandramouli, General Manager of Goa Airport M.N.N. Rao, Deputy General Manager of the Goa Airport V.S. Krishna and the officials of the department.
The authority and the ministry has made it clear that the Central government would not provide any funds for completing the incomplete work and the entire cost of the construction of the remaining works in the airport would be borne by the State government.
12/03/15 News Hub

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Collector orders steps to check bird menace

Visakhapatnam: District Collector N. Yuvaraj directed the officials concerned to ensure proper maintenance of the geddas (major drains) located at Gnanpuram, Convent junction, Kobbarithota and Port area to prevent birds coming in the way of landing and takeoff of planes from the airport.

The Collector presided over a meeting of the Airport Committee at the Collectorate on Tuesday. Officials of the Navy, Airport, Visakhapatnam Port, Revenue, Irrigation, AP Pollution Control Board attended.
04/03/15 The Hindu

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Chandigarh airport ranked no.8 in country by private agency

Chandigarh: Although services of international flights at the local airport continue to elude passengers, a survey conducted by an independent agency, Airport Services Quality (ASQ), has awarded rank 8 to the city airport in India and 41 in the world. ASQ assessed passenger facilities across 254 airports around the world.
The survey records a passenger’s immediate appraisal from check-in through departure at the gate on 34 key service indicators and eight major categories including access, check-in, security, airport facilities, food and beverage, retail and more.
Speaking to Newsline, J S Balhara, Director, Airport Authority of India, Chandigarh, said, “In the recent period efforts had been made by the staff to uplift the airport facilities by adding more baggage trolleys, seats in waiting areas, upgrading the quality of lounges and waiting areas and keeping sanitised toilets for giving out quality services.”
04/03/15 Kartik Kumar/Indian Express

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Two Indians caught for smuggling gold at Mumbai airport

Two Indian passengers were caught smuggling gold on Monday night at Mumbai airport. The duo was identified as Milanoor Mohammed Asif who arrived by flight AI 331 (Bangkok-Ahmedabad via Mumbai) and Rubeena Begum, who arrived by Oman Airways flight. Both were caught following a random check in the green channel as they were carrying the gold in their hand baggage. Around 2 kg gold was recovered from the duo. Both were charged Rs. 50,000 and were released on bail. While Asif was caught with 850 grams of gold Rubeena had 920 grams in her possession. The total value of the yellow metal caught by the AIU was around Rs.51,000. According to a Mumbai Customs Officer a lot of smugglers have been apprehended from AI 331.
04/03/15 Mid Day

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Cops hunt flier who vanished from airport

Mumbai: The police are hunting for a 25-year-old Mangalorean man who mysteriously vanished from Mumbai airport, after arriving from Riyadh on February 22.

Mohammed Safwan Aboobaker was to catch a connecting domestic flight from Mumbai to Mangalore, but he never boarded it. The city police are now tracking his cell phone, which is being switched on sporadically.

An air-conditioning technician in Saudi Arabia, Safwan was heading home to his family in Uppinangady, Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, when he went missing.

Safwan's family has said that he was heading home for good, and was supposed to board the domestic flight to Mangalore. They approached the Sahar police on February 24, after learning that he had indeed caught the flight to India from Riyadh on February 22.
04/03/15 Aditya Anand/Mumbai Mirror 

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Gold-smuggling probe falls in Ahmedabad agencies’ mine

Ahmedabad: Probe into the 60-kg-gold smuggling case, detected by crime branch at the city airport last week, seems to be lost in letters among various agencies. In the past one week, only letters have been exchanged among three agencies while the accused were in remand. Since the seizure was made right outside the airport and the value of gold is more than Rs 1 crore, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Customs have written to crime branch asking for the details of the case for further investigation. Initially, the Customs department wrote to crime branch asking for information. Later, the crime branch wrote to DRI saying that it wishes to hand over the case details and the seized gold to the intelligence agency.
04/03/15 Times of India

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SilkAir plans to offer flights to Pune

SilkAir, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines is planning to start operations to Pune. The airline already flies to eight destinations in India namely; Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram and Visakhapatnam- plans to expand its network to Tier II and Tier III cities in India.
Speaking about the new developments, Jagdish Ram Bhojwani, general manager- India, SilkAir said, “In terms of the existing range of fleets, we can only fly to the south market, but we will soon get our Boeing Max which will give us a range of six to six and half hours from Singapore. Pune will be the next target city for us. Pune is a city which has both MICE and leisure travellers. Moreover, travellers coming to Singapore from Pune have to take a flight from Mumbai, which becomes hectic.”
When asked about the date of operation Bhojwani added, “Pune does not fall under the India- Singapore Bilateral Agreement. From our side we have intended to start operations.”
With the reduction of fuel prices the aviation sector has undergone a major transformation. “We have announced a fuel charge reduction effective from February. Passing the benefits to our customer is our main objective.”
02/03/15 Akshay Kumar/Financial Express

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US National With Satellite Phone Detained at Chennai Airport

Chennai:  A US national was detained by authorities at the airport here on Sunday after he was found in possession of a satellite phone.

David Paul was scheduled to take a flight to Mumbai this evening.
01/03/15 PTI/New Indian Express

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Dubai passenger carrying 600 grams gold held

Hyderabad: The crackdown by customs officials seems to have little impact on gold smugglers. The latest arrest of a passenger at the RGI Airport on Monday while he was carrying 600 grams of gold worth Rs 18 lakh from Dubai shows the audacity of smugglers.
Customs sleuths nabbed the 35-year-old smuggler who landed here from Dubai by an Emirates flight (EK 528) on Monday night. The accused opted for green channel at the customs check area suggesting that he did not have anything to declare.
16/04/14 Times of India

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Gold worth Rs 93 lakh seized from Mangalore airport

Mangalore: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials at Mangalore International airport seized more than three kilograms of gold from two passengers who arrived at the airport by Air India express 818 from Abu Dhabi via Muscat on Sunday at 7pm.
The seizure was 3,206 grams of gold valued at Rs 93.63 lakh. The contraband was seized from passengers Abdul Nisar Abdul Khader (33) of Kumble, Kasargod who was travelling along with his cousin Khadeejathul Fouziya (30). The woman passenger was accompanied by her five year old girl kid . They were arrested on Monday and produced before the court.
07/04/14 Stanley Pinto/Times of India

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Battery cars to be withdrawn at Chennai airport

Chennai: While the walkalator is nowhere close to becoming functional, the battery cars at Chennai airport too may soon be a thing of the past.
This summer, passengers are in for a long walk in the airport as battery operated golf carts — a free service that shuttles passengers between the two terminals — will soon be withdrawn.
Plans to increase rent from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 11,000 per month and harassment by a few officials of Airports Authority of India (AAI) are some of the reasons why the golf cart service will be withdrawn, said a senior official of Carrieall Car Pvt. Ltd, the firm that runs the service.
“We recently lost the advertisement for our cars. It was our primary source of revenue. We can easily find another advertiser but we decided to withdraw the service owing to harassment by a few AAI officials,” he said. Airport officials declined to comment.
There are about a dozen vehicles with varying seating capacity currently operating at the airport and they ferry about 2,500 passengers a day.
31/03/14 Sunitha Sekar/The Hindu

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US deports couple, among three

Ahmedabad: As many as three people, including a couple, were deported to Ahmedabad from the US, after they were found to have migrated there illegally. Police said all three, two of whom are women, are natives of Mehsana district.
According to the bureau of immigration’s in-charge immigration officer for the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Yashwantkumar Chauhan with Sardarnagar police, 62-year-old Raman Patel and his wife Kamu had landed at the city’s international airport by Air India flight AI-031 on Thursday night.
While passing through immigration, the natives of Nichlovaas in Ambliyasan, Mehsana were found to have been travelling with emergency certificates issued in Chicago on March 17.
While Raman had two passports — one Indian issued in September 1998 and another American issued in December 2009, which expired in December 2010 — Kamu’s Indian passport from July 1999 had expired in July 2009. However, none of their passports had any arrival or departure stamps from either country, nor did either of them have any official visa documentation. This led the authorities to suspect that they had travelled to the US on fake papers, said the police.
30/03/14 Daily News & Analysis

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Oil cos want Delhi, Mumbai ATF model for six airports to be privatised

New Delhi: Fearing that new operators of six soon to-be-privatised airports may take over their ATF refuelling facilities, PSU oil firms have asked the government to follow the Delhi and Mumbai airport model of jointly operating the facilities.
After Delhi and Mumbai airports, the government is privatising major airports at Chennai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Ahmadabad, Jaipur and Lucknow. Bids were invited in September last year and concession agreements for transfer of rights were to be signed this month but the announcement of general elections has led to postponement of the move.
Oil PSUs have been owners and operators of aviation fuel facilities since the start of these airports. They have built and upgraded ATF infrastructure at these airports, as well as back-end supply chain, to support jet fuel throughput of about one million kilolitres per annum.
Sources said state-owned firms fear there is an imminent threat that new private operators could take over the existing fuel facilities built with public money over the decades.
30/03/14 PTI/Business Standard

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Varanasi, Gaya used for smuggling rare tortoises, turtles

The holy cities of Varanasi and Gaya are being increasingly used for smuggling of rare tortoises and freshwater turtles, according to the wildlife trade monitoring network, TRAFFIC.
TRAFFIC officials said the final destination for these turtles, smuggled via Bangkok, is Hong Kong.
The officials pointed out at the recent arrest of suspected smugglers at Bangkok airport to establish the fact that these endangered species originated from Varanasi and Gaya.
"This previously unknown trade route for smuggling turtles from Gaya and Varanasi to Bangkok is often used by religious tourists," says Shekhar Kumar Niraj, Head of TRAFFIC in India.
A TRAFFIC release issued here said the involvement of Thailand, India and Hong Kong in illegal trade of rare tortoises and freshwater turtles was highlighted earlier this year when over a thousand specimens were confiscated from smugglers in three separate seizures.
30/03/14 Economic Times

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Airports told to ensure private screening of people with disabilities

New Delhi: Following numerous instances of people with disabilities being harassed during security checks, the aviation ministry has issued fresh directives to airports.
The bureau for civil aviation security (BCAS) issued a new set of rules seeking 'dignified travel' for all: "All airport operators should make special arrangements to facilitate screening of persons with %special needs ... keeping the dignity and privacy of the passenger in mind... This will include provision of suitable enclosed space for private screening of passengers."
It added, "While thorough checking is essential ... courtesy and attention to privacy and dignity will be invariably observed. In the case of a passenger having difficulty in walking or standing, the way his or her screening is conducted will depend on his or her level of ability/disability."
29/03/14 Times of India

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Two arrested with gold worth Rs 19 lakh

Ahmedabad: The customs department on Saturday held two men for smuggling gold worth Rs 19.23 lakh at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. Ahmedabad-based Mirza Imran Abbasbeg, 28, and Irfan Khan Pathan, 50, were caught with 665 grams of gold concealed in electronic appliances.
According to officials, Abbasbeg is a first-time carrier while Pathan had come to pick up Abbasbeg at the airport. This is the third such incident of gold smuggling in this month and 20th in last three months.
Abbasbeg arrived from Dubai in Emirates flight EK-538 at 2.50am. Acting on a tip-off, customs officials detained Abbasbeg and questioned him. "Abbasbeg had concealed gold weighing 407.8 grams in a popcorn-maker in the form of wire and 15 gold bars weighing 257.6 grams were concealed in a set-top box," said a customs official.
The official said Abbasbeg chose to fly into the country through Ahmedabad, thinking that it would be easier to pass through the security here than at Mumbai or Chennai. "Pathan had come to pick up Abbasbeg so he also was detained for questioning," he said. The two were produced in the metropolitan court on Saturday.
30/03/14 Times of India

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Threat of Taliban attack forces closure of Kabul Airport, Air India flight diverted back to Delhi

Kabul:  An Air India plane to Kabul was today diverted back to Delhi after Afghanistan's main airport was closed because of possible dangers to aircraft in the wake of a Taliban attack on the country's Election Commission headquarters nearby.
 The Air India plane was diverted along with other planes of other carriers as the Kabul airport was closed, an Air India official told PTI.
 If the situation normalises and the airport reopens, Air India plans to send a bigger plane accommodating today's passengers on tomorrow's flight, the official said.
29/03/14 Dailybhaskar.com

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Airports told to ensure private screening of people with disabilities

New Delhi: Following numerous instances of people with disabilities being harassed during security checks, the aviation ministry has issued fresh directives to airports.
The bureau for civil aviation security (BCAS) issued a new set of rules seeking 'dignified travel' for all: "All airport operators should make special arrangements to facilitate screening of persons with %special needs ... keeping the dignity and privacy of the passenger in mind... This will include provision of suitable enclosed space for private screening of passengers."
It added, "While thorough checking is essential ... courtesy and attention to privacy and dignity will be invariably observed. In the case of a passenger having difficulty in walking or standing, the way his or her screening is conducted will depend on his or her level of ability/disability."
29/03/14 Times of India

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AAI extends free parking time at Chennai airport to 10 mins

Chennai: After several complaints to increase the time to enter and exit the city airport without paying a parking fee for vehicles, the Airports Authority of India has decided to extend free parking time to 10 minutes from April 1.
Earlier, motorists who failed to leave the airport within five minutes of entering were charged a parking fee of 70.
Airport authorities had been receiving several complaints from passengers and taxi drivers saying the time allowed for free entry and exit to the airport was less and congestion on the flyover in front of the airport's new terminal buildings were forcing people to pay parking charges because they could not drive out within five minutes.
The system was introduced as taxis took long to exit the airport after dropping passengers.
29/03/14 Times of India

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272 Turtles Seized at Bangkok Airport, 2 Smugglers Arrested

Hot on the heels of three major tortoise and freshwater turtle seizures in Asia comes another in Bangkok involving nearly 300 turtles and the arrest of two men suspected of smuggling them.
On 12th March, Royal Thai Customs officers discovered 218 Black Spotted Turtles (Geoclemys hamiltonii) and 54 Indian Narrow-headed Softshell Turtles (Chitra indica) in check-in luggage.
The two Indian nationals, who took a flight from Gaya and Varanasi in India to Bangkok, were due to board a flight to Macau when their luggage was checked and the turtles found.
Initial investigations show the end destination for the turtles was Hong Kong. The duo has been handed over to Royal Thai Police for further investigations.
“This previously unknown trade route for smuggling turtles from Gaya and Varanasi to Bangkok is often used by religious tourists,” said Dr Shekhar Kumar Niraj, Head of TRAFFIC in India.
The involvement of Thailand, India and Hong Kong in the illegal trade in rare tortoises and freshwater turtles was highlighted earlier this year when over a thousand specimens were confiscated from smugglers in three separate seizures. All three seizures passed through Bangkok, with at least two involving tortoises and freshwater turtles originating from India.
28/03/14 Annamiticus

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Jet to double Mumbai-Kathmandu flights

Mumbai/Kathmandu: Leading private Indian carrier Jet Airways Friday announced daily double flights on the Mumbai-Kathmandu-Mumbai sector from March 30.
"In our bid to expand our business and coverage in international and domestic sectors, Jet has decided to increase frequencies," said the airlines' senior vice president (Commercial) Gaurang Shetty.
The new Jet Airways morning service, flight 9W 268, will depart Mumbai daily at 0805 and arrive Kathmandu at 1100 (local time).
On the return sector, flight 9W 267 will depart Kathmandu at 1200 hrs (LT) and arrive in Mumbai at 1440 hrs (LT).
This new service will complement the existing daily Jet Airways flight on the sector.
Jet Airways will become the only private airline to fly twice daily return flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Kathmandu.
Jet had had launched its Mumbai-Kathmandu-Mumbai flight in December 2009. The new service will be operated with a Boeing 737-800/900 Next-Gen aircraft.
28/03/14 IANS/Business Standard

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Syrian held at airport for smuggling gold worth about Rs 5

New Delhi: A Syria national has been arrested at the airport here for allegedly trying to smuggle into the country gold bars valued at about Rs five crore.
The 25-year-old Syrian was intercepted by customs officials on his arrival from Bahrain here yesterday.
"On detailed examination of his baggage, nothing objectionable was found. But on his personal search, 18 gold bars weighing 18 kg valued at Rs 494.62 lakh (Rs 4.94 crore) which he had concealed in the secret pockets of his trousers and inner jacket were recovered," a press release issued today by the customs said.
29/03/14 PTI/Business Standard

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Five held at airport for trying to smuggle gold, drugs

Mumbai: In separate cases, five air passengers, including a foreign national, were arrested from the Mumbai international airport for allegedly trying to smuggle gold and drugs collectively worth Rs 1.2 crore, a Customs official said today.
The arrests were made on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday, they said.
In a gold smuggling case, four Indian passengers -- Rameshbhai Godhani, Hiren Kumar Gohik, Jignesh Ukani and Navinchand Patel -- who arrived here from Dubai on a Jet Airways flight, were caught with crude gold bracelets weighing one kg each collectively valued at Rs 1.09 crore, the official said.
The quartet was arrested for smuggling under relevant sections of the Customs Act, the official added.
In the drug smuggling case, Malawi national Chikaya Francis was arrested with 20 kg of Ephedrine drug worth Rs 20 lakh that was hidden below the bottom of his suitcase, the official said.
The accused was scheduled to depart to Blantyre in Malawi on Ethiopian airlines flight today via Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, the official added.
29/03/14 PTI/Business Standard

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Airports Privatisation Only After Polls

Bangalore: The decision to privatise six airports will be taken up only after the Lok Sabha elections, according to the aviation ministry.
Union Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Lavasa, while addressing an industry event said that the projects will be put on hold till the elections have been concluded.
Kolkata, Chennai, Lucknow, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Guwahati airports are all set to be privatised. The move saw opposition from many quarters. The Standing committee on Transport, Tourism and culture headed by CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury had opposed the move and instead recommended that state run Airports Authority of India should form a subsidiary or a SPV (special purpose vehicle) to grant management contracts. He added that private parties should be given these contracts based on their expertise in the field.
28/03/14 New Indian Express

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Mangalore airport hit as five services to go off air

Mangalore: In a setback to air travellers, three airlines are set to withdraw a total of five domestic flight services at Mangalore International Airport from March 29.
Sources in the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and airlines told The Hindu that the five services to and from Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai would be withdrawn from Saturday when the summer schedule of airlines would come into effect.
A major impact of this decision is that there would be no direct daily flight connectivity between Mangalore and Hyderabad and the lone late evening daily flight service from Mangalore to Bangalore would come to an end. However, Direct connectivity to Bangalore and Mumbai would not be severely affected as there are other operational flights.
Last month, the Air India Express had withdrawn its international flight between Mangalore and Kuwait.
27/03/14 Raviprasad Kamila/The Hindu

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GE pledges RNP boost for India

GE Aviation will be providing technical support to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to accelerate the deployment of the Required Navigation Performance (RNP) flight paths nationwide.
The two partners will work together through a US Trade and Development Agency grant to deploy the procedures at the Bangalore, Mangalore and Gauhati airports to improve the airspace efficiency.
GE Aviation will also work with the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to support RNP operations approval for a domestic airline. Once the flight paths are deployed and in use, a report documenting the actual benefits of the flight paths will be published.
The use of the Required Navigation Performance flight paths is expected to alleviate air traffic congestion and reduce excess fuel burnout, noise levels around airports as well as the flight delays due to increased traffic.
27/03/14 Air Traffic Management 

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Better service yardsticks to take off at Kolkata airport

Kolkata: The Kolkata airport, which was recently declared the "most improved airport in Asia", is planning to enhance customer satisfaction by introducing a quantitative benchmarking system for each service it delivers — both to passengers and airlines.
The practice, known in international civil aviation parlance as "facilitation services", consists of the efficient management of the flow of passengers, baggage, cargo and mail through the airport facilities, ensuring that services are delivered in a healthy, safe and secure environment, and meeting — and exceeding, when possible — the needs and expectations of customers.
Once the system gets underway, every customer service will be benchmarked, right from the time taken to X-ray registered baggage to check in, security check while departing and aerobridge linkage and baggage reclaim on arrival. In the international wing, even immigration services and Customs will be benchmarked.
27/03/14 Subhro Niyogi/Times of India

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Chennai secondary runway to open in 10 days

Chennai:  Planes will soon roll over the country's first runway bridge in Chennai as the Airports Authority of India (AAI) plans to open the extended second runway in 10 days. The runway and its bridge across Adyar river received safety clearance from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
The runway was closed for extension work in 2009. With the opening of the second runway, aviation experts said flight handling at Chennai airport would increase from 27 per hour to at least 40.
However, planes coming in to land will not touch down on the bridge though AAI had been claiming the bridge had been constructed to withstand landing weight of an A380 aircraft. It has been decided to mark the touchdown point from the Manapakkam side after the bridge because of two reasons — to provide required safety buffer zone at the end of the runway and DGCA's reluctance to take a risk on the bridge. But flights will roll over the bridge during take-off.
27/03/14 Arun Janardhanan/Times of India

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Aranmula: Land Board Drags Feet on Excess Land Issue

Thiruvananthapuram: The delay of Kozhenchery Taluk Land Board (TLB) in issuing a revised order as directed by the High Court in the excess land issue pertaining to the KGS Group, the promoters of the proposed Aranmula airport project, has given rise to concerns that it would help the government in giving exemption to the business group.
 The High Court through an order issued on  November 27, 2013 quashed the TLB order declaring a total of 232 acres of land purchased by the KGS Group as excess land and directed the board to reconsider and take a fresh decision within six months.
With the declaration of the Lok Sabha elections, the TLB will have only just 11 days left to take a decision before the deadline set by the HC ends on May 27, as the model code of conduct will remain in effect till May 16.
The TLB had enough time to issue the new order before the election was declared. It is alleged that the TLB had purposefully delayed the hearing of Abraham Kalamannil, the original owner of the land, as directed by the HC before pronouncing the new order.
They also had time to hear those who are opposing the Aranmula project. The TLB has wasted time only for the government to give exemption to more than 200 acres of land that the airport promoters - KGS Group - had acquired as part of the project, highly placed sources said.
27/03/14 Prabhat Nair/New Indian Express

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Flight diverted but patient dies

Visakhapatnam: Indigo’s Kolkata-Bangalore non-stop flight (No. 6E434) made a ‘priority landing’ here at Visakhapatnam International Airport on Thursday after a passenger complained of severe chest pain.
“On the request of captain-on-board after the flight took off from Kolkata, a request was made for a priority landing at the nearest airport. Later clearance was given to divert it to Visakhapatnam,” a spokesperson for Indigo told The Hindu from Delhi.
Naval doctors who attended on the sick passenger at the airport advised Indigo to rush him to a corporate hospital.
27/03/14 The Hindu

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Chennai secondary runway’s safety gauged again

Chennai: Built at a cost of Rs. 450 crore, Chennai airport’s secondary runway, even three years after completion, is yet to see the light of day. Officials have now carried out another safety assessment of the runway.
According to officials, recently, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had asked the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to carry out a fresh safety assessment of the runway before it could be operationalised.
Earlier, experts and even AAI officials had raised concerns over safety issues. In view of this, a few AAI officials carried out this assessment recently, and the College of Engineering, Guindy, carried out Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) alone, an official said.
Work on extending the secondary runway from a little over 2,000 metres to 3,400 metres that started in 2009 and ended two years later was part of a modernisation project of the airport that cost over Rs. 2,000 crore.
Despite such a huge investment on the extension of the runway, according to the safety assessment report, only 1,800 metres may be put to use, an AAI official said. The report that has been forwarded to the headquarters will subsequently be sent to DGCA for clearance, he added.
26/03/14 Sunitha Sekar/The Hindu

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Proposed Goa airport only a land scam, alleges AAP

Panaji: A proposed airport at Mopa plateau is nothing but a land scam orchestrated by politicians from both the Congress and the BJP, the AAP alleged Tuesday.
Releasing a provisional manifesto, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member Oscar Rebello said several politicians from both the mainstream parties had purchased land around the proposed airport site and that the AAP would reveal their names soon.
The proposed airport site is located 45 km north of Panaji.
"This is nothing but a land scam. It's not that we are against an airport or large infrastructural projects. But Goa does not need an airport that urgently. The upgraded airport will serve Goa's need for several years to come," Rebello said.
"Most of the land in the surrounding area belongs to politicians or their close supporters and the present government is keeping the proposal alive to keep land prices inflated and then sell to unsuspecting buyers," AAP's draft manifesto for the state reads.
"With the airport at Sindhudurg (a south Maharashtra district bordering Goa) being ready by the year-end, it does not even make Mopa financially viable," it adds.
Over the past few years, Goa has been split geographically with mainstream politicians in north Goa backing the greenfield airport project, cleared by the union civil aviation ministry more than a decade back.
25/03/14 IANS/News Track India

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AAI files affidavit in Aranmula airport case

Kochi: The Airport Authority of India today informed the Kerala High Court that it had only made a visit to the proposed Rs 2,000 crore Aranmula Airport Project site to submit a feasibility report as directed by Civil Aviation Ministry and did nothing else.
AAI has no other control over the project it said in an affidavit filed in the directions of the high court, which has initiated suo motu proceedings on the basis of Devaswom ombudsman's report on the harm that would be caused to the Sri Parthasarthy temple when the airport comes up.
The affidavit said all obstructions, relating to the existing hill and tress, were recommended to be removed, with the condition that airport operator was required to take appropriate clearance from the environment ministry.
The establishment of an airport in the private sector, all required permits, licence, sanction and consent had to be obtained by KGS Ltd only, it added.
25/03/14 PTI/Business Standard

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Flight cancelled, passengers take a bus ride to Chennai

Tiruchi: Passengers bound for Kuala Lumpur from here by an Air India Express flight were sent to Chennai by a bus after the airline’ s flight in Singapore–Tiruchi–Chennai sector was cancelled on Monday afternoon.
Flight IX — 681 was cancelled because of launch of an experimental launch vehicle over the Bay of Bengal between noon and 4 p.m., airline sources here said.
Information regarding cancellation of the Air India Express flight was given to passengers who were to board from the international airport here, an Air India official here said.
Chennai-bound passengers from Tiruchi who were travelling by the flight made their own alternative, the sources said.
The 38 Kuala Lumpur-bound passengers who were to travel by the flight to Chennai and take another aircraft of the same airline to the Malaysian capital were put in a bus at the Tiruchi airport.
25/03/14 The Hindu

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Proposed airport causes political turbulence in Kerala

Pathanamthitta: India's first proposed privatized international airport has threatened to ground sitting Congress MP Anto Antony's flight to parliament in the Lok Sabha elections.
The proposed greenfield airport at Pathanamthitta in Kerala's Travancore region had even created dissent within the Congress, with Antony now battling former veteran Congress leader Philipose Thomas, who recently parted ways with the party due to difference over the Rs.2,000- crore KGS Aranmula International Airport project.
According to Thomas, an All India Congress Committee (AICC) member and former president of the party in the district for more than a decade, he had become a persona non grata within the party from the moment he put his foot down on the airport project.
Contesting on the Communist Party of India (M) ticket now, Thomas is expected to make Antony sweat in his poll campaign to retain the Pathanamthitta seat.
The proposed KGS Aranmula International Airport got all the necessary sanctions, with the last and final clearance coming from the Ministry of Environment and Forests in November last year.
25/03/14 News Track India

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GE Aviation and AAI to improve airspace efficiency

GE Aviation is providing technical support to air navigation service provider Airports Authority of India (AAI) to accelerate the deployment of Required Navigation Performance (RNP) flight paths throughout India. Through a U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) grant, GE Aviation and AAI will work together to deploy the efficient procedures at India’s Bengaluru, Mangalore and Guwahati airports to improve airspace efficiency.
GE will also work with India’s regulator Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to support RNP operations approval for an Indian airline. Once the flight paths are deployed and in use, a report documenting the actual benefits of the flight paths will be published.  India’s aviation sector is one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world according to the Center for Aviation (CAPA). In the last decade, domestic air traffic has more than quadrupled to 60 million while international traffic more than tripled to 40 million. The use of RNP flight paths can alleviate traffic congestion, excess fuel burn, noise levels around airports and flight delays from increased traffic.
25/03/14 Travel Trends

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Air Intelligence Unit nets 18kg gold in the biggest seizure at Mumbai airport

Mumbai: In arguably the biggest seizure so far at city airport in a single day, the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of airport customs seized a total of 18kg gold, valued over Rs5 crore, in four different cases on Tuesday. In two cases, gold bars were found in the toilets of two Jet Airways flights from Dubai.
With this, the total value and quantity of gold seized at city airport this year has gone up to around Rs83 crore and 32kg.
According to AIU officials, three kilogrammes each of gold bars were recovered from the toilets of aircraft 9W 537 and 9W 543. The value of each consignment is said to be over Rs82 lakh. AIU officials suspect the gold was meant to be picked up by a passenger who would have continued on the flight to a domestic destination. Both the flights were meant to go ahead till Udaipur and Hyderabad.
26/03/14 Shahkar Abidi/Daily News & Analysis

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Greener flights, lesser delays in the offing

Mumbai: Airports Authority of India (AAI) is working on the deployment of Required Navigation Performance (RNP) flight paths throughout India which would help airlines cut down on fuel usage and also help cut down flight delays.
Performance-based Navigation (PBN) technology allows pilots to use onboard technology to follow a precise track, independent of ground-based navigation beacons that limit where the aircraft can go. RNP procedures, an advanced form of PBN technology, can be designed to shorten the distance an aircraft has to fly en-route, and to reduce fuel burn, exhaust emissions and noise pollution in communities near airports. Because of RNP's precision and reliability, the technology can help air traffic controllers reduce flight delays and alleviate air traffic congestion.
"GE Aviation is providing technical support to air navigation service provider through a US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) grant. GE Aviation and AAI will work together to deploy the efficient procedures at India's Bengaluru, Mangalore and Guwahati airports to improve airspace efficiency," said a release issued by GE Aviation.
24/03/14 Manju V/Times of India

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Airport real estate was to cushion UDF, but it isn’t

Bangalore: The land available for commercial development in Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) has become contentious with some stakeholders urging the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) to consider its value before reviewing the current user development fee (UDF) paid by passengers.
At present, the GVK-led Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL) is charging an UDF of Rs. 260 from departing domestic travellers and Rs. 1,070 from international passengers. It has approached AERA seeking an increase in UDF and tariff for other services to fund its future expansion plan. In response, AERA initiated a consultation process.
As per the submission made by the State government to AERA, BIAL has been given 4,008 acres with the aim of catering to 50 million passengers (5 crore) per annum. At least 720 acres are available for non-aeronautical, or commercial, activities.
In the present arrangement, all revenue from aeronautical services is considered for determining user charges. This is the single till model originally proposed by AERA. Now, AERA is open to a hybrid till model under which all revenue from aeronautical and 40 per cent from non-aeronautical services will be considered.
24/03/14 The Hindu

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Ozar airport gets first query on using runway in emergency

Nashik: Three weeks after the revamped passenger terminal at Ozar airport was inaugurated, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) received the first query from a private airline on using the runway for emergency landings as an alternative to Ahmedabad airport.
A five-member technical team of Jet Airways visited the Ozar airport terminal on Saturday. "At present, the Ahmedabad airport is used as an alternative to the Mumbai airport for emergency landings or night landings. Aircrafts scheduled to land at the Mumbai airport often have to carry additional fuel, considering the emergency landing option. Since Nashik is closer to Mumbai than Ahmedabad, the Ozar runway can be used as an alternative instead of Ahmedabad. The Jet Airways team conducted a technical survey of the runway," a senior HAL official told TOI on Monday.
"Apart from using the runway as an alternative to Ahmedabad, the company is also looking for night landings at Ozar from Mumbai, instead of Ahmedabad. Their third objective was to check the feasibility in commencing domestic air service from Nashik in future," the official said.
25/03/14 Tushar Pawar/Times of India

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In Kolkata, freak fog at runway disrupts flights

Kolkata:  Flight operations at Kolkata airport were affected on Monday morning by fog, an unusual phenomenon at this time of the year. A Jet Airways aircraft arriving from Mumbai had to be diverted to Dhaka as visibility dropped drastically while several departing flights were held up. Only pilots trained to fly in low visibility were allowed to take off.
Fliers were taken by surprise as flight departures were halted on Monday morning. According to airlines, there was no indication of fog that suddenly enveloped the runway, parking bays and apron area. While visibility was crystal clear at 1,800m around 4.50am, it dropped to 500m by 5.20am and further to 200m by 5.50am, stalling morning takeoffs.
"Even at the time of driving into the airport, I had no clue about the fog forming near the runway.
I cannot recall when operations at the airport was disrupted due to fog in late March," said an airlin5e official.
25/03/14 Times of India

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AI Express flight from Singapore cancelled

Tiruchirappalli: An Air India Express flight from Singapore, scheduled to land here was cancelled today, airline officials said.
However, they did not give any reasons for cancellation of the flight this afternoon.
The flight was on the Kuala Lumpur-Tiruchirappalli -Chennai-Kuala Lumpur sector.
24/03/13 PTI

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Bank loan facilities of Mumbai International Airport Private Ltd's project upgraded

Mumbai: India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) has upgraded Mumbai International Airport Private Ltd s (MIAL) project bank loan facilities to 'IND A-' from 'IND BBB+', said the company in a statement issued on Monday.
"The rated bank loans are INR42.31bn long-term loans, INR2.5bn fund-based limits (increased from INR1bn) and INR4.15bn non-fund-based limits (increased from INR3.55bn)," it said. Ind-Ra has also assigned an 'IND A1(exp)' rating to MIAL's proposed INR1bn commercial paper issuance which is to be carved out from the INR2.5bn fund-based limits.
24/03/14 Manju V/Times of India

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Airport privatization grounded for 4th time

Ahmedabad: Bidding process for privatization of the city airport has again been deferred till mid April, raising question on the privatization of six major airports, including Lucknow, Kolkata and Chennai, which are developed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
This is the fourth postponement since November, when the process of privatization had formally begun. The due date of application for the request for qualification was pushed earlier from January-end to February 17 for four airports at Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow and Guwahati and to February 12 for Jaipur and Ahmedabad. These dates in February were further postponed to March 17. Now, it has been extended till April 15.
According to sources, there are still issues pertaining to agreement, which is to be signed between selected private party, AAI and civil aviation ministry. "The response by private companies to the privatization has not been very encouraging, especially for Lucknow and Guwahati, which is delaying the process. Also, with general elections coming up, the bidding will be taken up only by the new government," said an AAI official.
24/03/14 Piyush Mishra/Times of India

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Navi Mumbai Airport: CIDCO might start land acquisition afresh

Mumbai: The state-run City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), nodal agency for the Navi Mumbai international airport, will have to start afresh the land acquisition process for 271 hectares under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2014, if the villagers opposing the acquisition fail to come on board.
This is necessary as the validity of the notices served in phases under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, to the project affected persons (PAPs) in 2012 would be over in July.
CIDCO would have to serve new notices for the acquisition of 271 hectares of private land from six of the  17 villages under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2014.
24/03/14 Sanjay Jog/Business Standard

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GHIAL bags Assocham CSR excellence award

Hyderabad: GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), the operating company of Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, has bagged Assocham's CSR excellence award.
The award for 2013-14 recognises "outstanding corporate social responsible" activities undertaken by the company. The selection jury is chaired by former chief justice of India V.N Khare, said a statement by GHIAL.
"The award is indeed an honour and reflects our best of efforts and spirit in giving back to the society. As a responsible corporate citizen, GHIAL has been displaying a committed endeavour and a concerted approach in taking CSR activities to the threshold of the target communities," said GHIAL CEO S.G.K. Kishore.
23/03/14 IANS/Business Standard

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Get grilled by airport customs even if you import gold within limit

Mumbai: Get set for some intense grilling by customs officials at the airport even if you import gold within permissible limit from abroad. As per the new guidelines issued by the finance ministry to the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the customs department, such passengers must be questioned on the source of their purchase and amount paid as duties in foreign currencies. The antecedents of passengers must be checked before giving them the clean chit, the guidelines state.
Passengers will have to answer questions such as the reason for their journey, who financed their trip and details of the person who purchased the tickets. There are strict instructions to the AIU to mention details of the engraved serial number of gold bars on the baggage receipts. In case of gold jewellery, passengers will have to give details of item-wise inventory.
Eligible passengers can import maximum 1kg gold by paying 10 per cent customs duty in foreign currency. They include people of Indian origin and those with a valid passport coming to India after staying abroad for not less than six months.
24/03/14 Shahkar Abidi/Daily News & Analysis

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Gold staple pins hidden in dry fruit boxes seized at airport

Mangalore:: The officers of customs at Mangalore International Airport on Sunday March 23 thwarted another attempt of smuggling and seized gold staple pins, totally weighing 577 grams valued at Rs 17,19,460.
The gold was concealed as silver colour coated staple pins in 18 carton boxes of vegetable dry fruits.
The was seized from the possession of a passenger named Nesif Kowal, aged about 28 years, a resident of Chengala, Kasargod. He arrived at Mangalore International Airport on March 23 at about 7.15 am by Air India Express flight IX814 from Dubai.
Operations were conducted under the supervision of Krishna Kumar Prasad, assistant commissioner of customs, Mangalore International Airport and were led by B Prabhakara Poojary, superintendent along with superintendents Lionel Fernandes, B A Kariappa, H G Yogesh and inspectors G Kumaraswamy, K T Preethi Suma, S Ranjan Behera and Ankit Kumar and Hawaldar Gulabi.
23/03/14 Daijiworld

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Gold worth Rs 68 lakh seized from passenger at Coimbatore airport

Coimbatore:  Customs officials at the Coimbatore airport intercepted a 24-year-old passenger of an Air Arabia flight from Sharjah, and seized two gold bars and two gold plates weighing 2.23 kilograms worth Rs68.11lakh from the passenger, who was attempting to smuggle the gold to Kerala from Sharjah, early Sunday morning.
The passenger has been identified as A Shavaz of Kasargode hailing from Kerala state. He was working as a salesman at a textile shop in Sharjah. He was a passenger of an Air Arabia flight which reached Coimbatore at 3.30pm on Sunday. He was isolated and frisked on the basis of suspicion and later was taken into custody.
He had hidden two gold bars weighing one kg each and two gold plates weighing 116 gm in his underclothes. The total worth of the gold seized is estimated to be Rs 68.11 lakh.
24/03/14 Times of India

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Gold biscuits recovered from Tiruchi airport

Tiruchi: Six gold biscuits and gold jewels, totally weighing about 866 grams, were recovered from a toilet at the arrival hall of the Tiruchirapalli International Airport by officials of the Customs Air Intelligence Unit on Saturday night.
According to sources, the officials had mounted vigil acting on information that gold was being smuggled in from Singapore.
An inspectionat the toilet led to the recovery of six unclaimed packets at the toilet cistern. The packets, wrapped in polythene sheets, were found to contain the six gold biscuits, each weighing 100 grams, and gold jewels weighing 266 grams.
The seized gold was valued at Rs.25 lakhs.
24/03/14 The Hindu

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Malaysia Airlines plane hits flock of ducks in Nepal

 Kathmandu: A Malaysia Airlines aircraft on a scheduled flight (MH114) from Kuala Lumpur with 180 passengers and crewmembers on board escaped disaster while landing at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) here on Friday night.
A flock of ducks struck the aircraft’s windshield as it touched down on the runway at 10.45pm, leaving the southern tip of runway 02 strewn with broken glass, airport authorities said. There were no reports of injuries.
The airline’s cockpit crew, however, did not immediately inform the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) about the incident.
The flight captain later confirmed the "suspected bird-hit", but only after a Jet Airways crew reported it to the airport authority.
"The incident came to light after a pilot of Jet Airways, which landed minutes after Malaysia Airlines, informed us of sighting pieces of glass on the runway," said an ATC on condition of anonymity.
Upon inspection, airport officials found at least 10 dead ducks and pieces of glass on the runway. The debris was cleared and airport resumed normal operations after half an hour.
The airline cancelled a return flight to Kuala Lumpur that was scheduled at 11.00pm Friday. All passengers who were booked on the flight were subsequently transferred to Soaltee, Annapurna and Hyatt Regency hotels. The plane took off for the Malaysian capital at 3.30pm Saturday after necessary repairs.
 23/03/14 Kathmandu Post/ANN/The Star

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Aerocity buildings a security threat for Delhi's IGI airport

New Delhi: Even though the security agencies and the government are pretty comfortable with the chain of luxury hotels coming up in the vicinity of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport but the fact is these hotels remain a potential threat to the property at the airport and the safety of hundreds of passengers.
Sources say the CISF, NSG along with other airport agencies are keeping a tight vigil in the wake of general threats received of disruption at airport and attacks on the politicians by terror groups. The task to man the airport now rests on CISF and the task to man the outer side of the airport on the Delhi Police. But are security agencies even aware that danger is staring on their face?
The controversial Aerocity Project underway near the Airport was our biggest concern. Security officials told us that there were security guards at every entry and exit points and there is no entry to any of the buildings without prior permission and ID cards and off course no one except engineers and card holder workers are allowed on roof tops. That sounded good but we still wanted to check.
22/03/14 Pankaj Upadhyay/India Today

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Misbehaviour on Dubai - Mangalore flight : Passenger arrested

Mangalore : A passenger from Dubai who landed at the Mangalore International Aiport on Saturday March 22 was arrested by the Bajpe police.
42-year-old Abdul Munir Kunhi, a passenger who arrived from Dubai on Saturday evening flight which landed at around 5.45 pm at Mangalore airport was arrested by Bajpe police for allegedly misbehaving with co-passengers and air hostesses. Officials speaking to daijiworld said that the passenger was drunk during the flight.
23/03/14 Daijiworld

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British Couple Kidnap Case: UK Court Praises Chennai Police

Chennai: A UK court has lauded the Chennai Police for the rescue of a kidnapped British couple here last year while convicting two London-based accused in the case.
The Croydon Crown Court Judge has on March 19 convicted Ajanthan and Ramesh Sornalingam, the masterminds behind the kidnap of British citizens Thavarajah and his wife and sentenced them to imprisonment for nine and seven-and-a-half years respectively, a Chennai Police release said today.
"If it was not for the good work of the Indian police in rescuing the hostages... the consequences for Mr and Mrs Thavarajah may well have been far more serious," the release quoted from the judgement.
London-based businessman Kanapathipillai Thavarajah and his wife Salajah, from Edgware in London, were waylaid and kidnapped as they arrived in Chennai airport on May 29, 2013.
The kidnappers had demanded a sum of around 2.58 crore (?300,000) ransom for their release.
22/03/14 New Indian Express

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Customs crackdown on gold: Declare all jewellery at IGI

New Delhi: The customs authorities are cracking down on Indians bringing gold into the country as the department has made it mandatory for all flyers at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) to declare their jewellery.
The degree of vigilance has increased at international airports in India and a punitive fine is being imposed to prevent the easy entry of gold.
The customs department has made it mandatory for all flyers arriving in Delhi from international destinations to fill a detailed declaration form.
The new form was to be introduced from January 1 but there were some problems. It will now be available to the flyers from next month.
The new form has 19 questions while the old one had only four.
22/03/14 India TV News

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Two kg gold seized from two air passengers

Vishakhapatnam: Two air passengers, who arrived here on Saturday by the Air India AI 952 flight from Dubai via Hyderabad, were detained by the Customs officials on the charge of smuggling gold from Dubai.
On a tip-off that two passengers — Mir Abbas Mahdi and Abbas Razi — had concealed contraband goods on their person/in their baggage, the Customs officials examined them. On persistent questioning and thorough examination, it was revealed that Abbas Razi, who boarded the flight at Hyderabad, had concealed one blue plastic tape wrapped packet in his trouser near the belly.
When the officials opened the packet, they found three gold bars covered with carbon paper pieces. The total quantity of gold was 2024 gm, valued at Rs.61,02,360 in the Indian market. The gold was seized by the officers of Customs, Air Intelligence Unit, Visakhapatnam International Airport.
22/03/14 The Hindu

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4 kg of gold seized at Nedumbassery airport

Kochi: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence on Saturday foiled an attempt to smuggle gold through the Cochin International Airport and seized about 4 kg of gold worth Rs.1.2 crore, hidden inside the toilet of a flight from Dubai.
According to officials, the smuggling was unearthed following the detention of Raheem, a native of Tamil Nadu, who had landed here from Dubai.
The step followed a specific intelligence input the DRI got about the smuggling.
23/03/14 The Hindu

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Birds give anxious moments to ATC personnel

Vijayawada: Every day, it’s a tense situation for the Air Traffic Control (ATC) personnel who closely monitor the trajectory of the aircraft until it takes off or lands at the Gannavaram airport near Vijayawada. Their anxiety is not unfounded as there could be a danger lurking in the sky in the form of a bird. Bird strikes are significant threat to flight safety.
The airport has been witnessing bird menace for past few years owing to a fish market located close by and heaps of garbage piled up in the open place abutting the airport. Vendors at Kesarapally, Gannavaram and other areas also dump filth around the airport attracting flocks of birds.
This is becoming a potential threat to aircraft movement. Currently, four airlines are operating flights to Hyderabad, Bangalore and other cities. Birds, sources say, invariably assemble in the open place and to control their influx, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has formed a special team to inspect the runway and surroundings areas. They patrol in a jeep to open fire with an airgun using a gas cylinder, a senior official explains.
21/03/14 M Srinivas/The Hindu

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Kolkata Police plan crackdown on airport cargo thieves

Kolkata: Bidhannagar police are preparing for a crackdown on cargo theft at Kolkata airport, calling it a shame that has tarnished the city's image.
"If needed, we can deploy officers in the apron area. But this menace has to cease," additional deputy commissioner-airport Santosh Nimbalkar said after a meeting with representatives of Airports Authority of India (AAI), airlines, outsourced loading firms, cargo handling agencies and CISF. The meeting was called on the instruction of Bidhannagar police commissioner Rajiv Kumar following a TOI report on the theft in the airport secure zone.
Kolkata airport has long been grappling with pilferage of cargo but of late, there has been an alarming rise in the theft of electronics goods consignments, particularly cellphones, memory chips and pen drives.
22/03/14 Subhro Niyogi/Times of India

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Aerobridges soon: After touchdown, don't walk

Bhopal: Two aerobridges under construction at the airport are likely to be operational from first week of May. An Indonesian company is carrying out construction work.
With aerobridges becoming functional, air travellers at Raja Bhoj airport, Bhopal will no more be required to walk down to the aircraft or to airport building soon after landing. Airport will soon have aerobridge facility allowing passengers to board the aircraft directly from the terminal building.
Talking to TOI, airport director Vivek Upadhyaya said, "Work is under progress and aerobridges will reach Bhopal airport by March 28 from Indonesia."
21/03/14 Ramendra Singh/Times of India

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Tab lost at airport recovered from Metro

New Delhi:  A passenger who lost his costly Samsung Tablet at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here got it back from the Delhi Metro thanks to some diligent tracking of the gadget by the CISF.
The incident occurred on March 19 when an air flier, Abhishek Samant, reached the IGIA's Terminal 3 to board a flight to Chandigarh.
 Officials said Samant complained to Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel at the airport that someone has picked up his Samsung calling tablet from the ticketing window while he was busy with his travel documentation.
 The CISF immediately began scanning CCTV footage of the area and simultaneously played a trick by sending a message that the location of the tab device had been traced and whosoever was handling it would be caught.
 Soon after the message, officials said, a person called up the CISF airport control room that he had been handed over the lost gadget and that he was handing over the tablet to a CISF officer posted at New Delhi Metro station.
21/03/14 PTI/ABP Live

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Review of security breach says CISF ignored alarms at IGI Airport

New Delhi: A week after a 16-year-old mentally-challenged teenager scaled the walls of Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport in a big security breach, an interim investigation review has found that the CISF declared false all the four alarms raised by the Perimeter intrusion detection system (PIDS).
The boy had scaled the airport perimeter wall and had started running on an active runway for about 30 minutes before he was spotted. According to the interim review, the PIDS system raised its first alarm as soon as the perimeter was breached.
On condition of anonymity, a senior official investigating the matter said, " Around 5: 10 am, when the boy scaled the wall, the PIDS raised the first alarm. Around 50 seconds after the 1st alarm, another alarm was raised. The system also clicked the 1st picture of the intruder after three minutes at around 5: 13 am. CISF officials ignored all these alarms." According to DIAL officials, just after three minutes of intrusion, the PIDS had captured the 1st picture of the intruder.
Log records also corroborate the findings that point towards the negligence of CISF officers on duty that night.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Home affairs have asked for a report on the incident after the story was published in Mail Today.
20/03/14 Ankur Sharma/Mail Today/India Today

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Airport politics takes centre stage in UP

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh’s focus on improving the condition of the airports in the state is expected to benefit RLD in western UP.
After assuming charge as Civil Aviation Minister in 2011, Singh had started his drive to modernize the poor airport infrastructure in the state. But Akhilesh government kept thwarting it by one mean or the other.
With the general elections round the corner, the SP has seemingly realized that creating any further hitches in Ajit Singh’s campaign to refurbish these airports can prove detrimental to its electoral prospects in the state.
Now, Akhilesh government has not only decided to support Ajit Singh’s drive but also come into an agreement with the Airport authority over the renovation work. Now, the hurdles in upgradation of these seven small airports have been removed.
The development work of Meerut, Moradabad and Bareilly airports is expected to directly benefit the RLD. Similarly, the revamp of Kanpur, Allahabad, Faizabad and Agra airports can help the SP consolidate its plummeting vote bank.
20/03/14 Jagran Post

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GMR gets nod to raise up to Rs 2,500 crore

Bangalore: GMR Infrastructure has received the approval of its shareholders to raise up to Rs 2,500 crore through multiple instruments. This will primarily be used to reduce the corporate debt which is at Rs 4,500 crore and also to infuse equity into another power project in India in Chattisgarh.
The company also enhanced its authorised share capital from Rs 750 crore to Rs 1,950 crore to make a preferential allotment to a group of private equity investments led by Singapore-based Temasek and India's IDFC Group.
GMR Infrastructure, which is under a debt of close to Rs 40,000 crore across various of its projects, has been active in reducing debt and has during the past 18 months reduced as much as Rs 6000 crore and along with it, GMR has managed to release additional cash flow of Rs 4,000 crore.
21/03/14 Business Standard

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Coastal Karnataka NRIs meet to restore direct flight between Kuwait – Mangalore

Kuwait :  Presidents and office bearers of various Karnataka State Associations in Kuwait on Wednesday March 19 met visiting congress leader Ivan D’Souza, secretary of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and discussed the issue of deliberate or planned cancellation of Air India Express flights to Kuwait-Mangalore sector throwing away the travel plans of thousands of NRIs from Coastal Karnataka and Northern parts of Kerala in Kuwait.
The meeting was organized by United Associations of Karnataka (UAKK) convened by well known social activist Elias Sanctis. The meeting was held at Salmiya Play School in Rumaithiya, here on Wednesday March 19.
Elias Sanctis briefed about the difficulties faced by the Coastal Karnataka community with the cancellation of flight services to the said route by Air IIndia Express management.
Ivan D’Souza, president of Rachana - Catholic chamber of commerce and Industry, Mangalore and a lawyer in profession is also dissatisfied with the decision made by Indian Carrier. He shared his experience of his journey on his way to Kuwait via Mumbai which was a 6 hour ordeal at Mumbai airport alone!. He insisted to take the matter with higher authorities and the Government and all the elected leaders regardless of political parties so that the Coastal Karnataka NRIs  living in Kuwait get their cancelled sector reinstated.
 Speaking on the occasion, Ivan D’Souza said that retaining the direct flight services to Kuwait-Mangalore sector is a social obligation of Indian Government as more than 130,000 Coastal NRIs work here.   He assured to the leaders of UAKK member associations that he would help to intensify the Campaign and take up the issue with Central Govt. and the concerned aviation ministry authorities.  He said that Mangalore is an International airport and is having all the facilities to receive international flights 24 hours either from national carriers or other interested International airline companies.
20/03/14 Bellevision

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DHL in the dock over smuggling of gold at city airport

New Delhi: Logistics major DHL’s licence to operate as a courier service provider from Bangalore’s Kempegowda International Airport has been suspended following confiscation of a consignment originating from Singapore that allegedly contained gold.
The company has approached the Karnataka High Court against the suspension.
“It is a fact that DHL’s licence to operate as a courier service provider from Bangalore has been suspended,” said a source in the know of the development.
According to sources, customs officials at the airport confiscated a consignment ferried by DHL from Singa-pore to Bangalore as they found gold/gold items in a packet. When contacted, a DHL spokesperson said: “A suspicious consignment was intercepted by customs in Bangalore, which is being investigated.”
20/03/14 PTI/Bunsiess Standard

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Pvt Aranmula airport issue tops campaign in Pathanamthitta

Pathanamthitta: The proposed green field private airport at Aranmula, issues connected with the famous Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple and pollution caused by quarry operations have turned the April 10 Lok Sabha election scene in Pathanamthitta an interesting one to watch for.
Battle in the constituency is expected to be more fierceand prestigious for ruling UDF, as sitting Congress MP  Antony, who won the 2009 polls with a margin of more than one lakh votes defeating CPI(M)’s K Ananthagopan, is crossing sword with a former Congress leader Peelipose Thomas, the CPI-M supported independent candidate of LDF.
Thomas, who was the DCC President for nearly two decades, resigned after Congress renominated Anto Antony for a second term ignoring his claim for the seat.
Seeking to take political mileage out of the ‘defection’ of Thomas and his political clout in the constituency, CPI(M) came forward to field Thomas as the LDF candidate in the constituency situated in the Central Travancore region.
20/03/14 Free Press Journal

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Reginaldo vows to rally behind Dabolim airport, special status

Margao:  Indicating that he has accepted the challenge to contest the Lok Sabha seat to fight communalism raising its ugly head in the state, South Goa Congress candidate Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco vowed to strengthen Dabolim airport as Goa’s lone international airport and work towards getting special status for Goa.
“I had never staked my claim for the ticket. But, when the party nominated me for the seat, I accepted the challenge since dark clouds of communalism have been hovering over peaceful Goa in recent times. I am ready to quit and sit home if anyone proves that I had staked claim for the party president,” he said during an interaction with elected representatives of Zilla Panchayat, panchayat and municipal bodies at Hotel Nanutel here Thursday evening.
He promised to do justice to his job and beat the record of all previous MPs that have represented the people of South Goa, if elected. On the contentious airport issue, Reginaldo said he would work in the best interest of the people of Goa by strengthening Dabolim airport. “I will get my party to work in tandem with the aspirations of Goans,” he said.
On special status for Goa, Reginaldo said he would get the Congress to rally behind him to achieve the demand. “I do not want to promise you the sky, but we have to work to save our culture and the spirit of Goans,” he said.
21/03/14 Herald

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Minor fire breaks out in Chennai ATC, third reported in a year

Chennai: A minor fire broke out in the equipment room at Chennai airport's Air Traffic Control (ATC) complex on Monday. It was put out immediately using a fire extinguisher.
This is the third fire accident at the airport in a year. A major fire in the backup battery room of the ATC building shut down the airport for two-and-a-half hours in March 2013, while a fire in the new radar building in September delayed plans to commission the secondary radar. It has been a year since the fire inside the ATC building but neither Airports Authority of India nor Directorate General of Civil Aviation has studied and prepared a report about the causes and steps needed to avoid such accidents.
AAI officials say the fire in the ATC building was triggered by a short circuit which set fire to the batteries and do not feel the need to study its cause though it is a sensitive installation used to control movement of flights. DGCA is yet to file its report.
19/03/14 Times of India

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Deciphering FSI is a big challenge for many airport farmers

Mumbai: Both, the state government and Cidco, are trying hard to win over the trust of the agitated farmers. However, even as the state government is touting that the NMIA deal package offered to the farmers is the best in the country, the absence of the cash component is making things difficult for the latter. The farmers are unable to understand FSI and how much money they will get once it is monetised. As if that weren't enough, there are a host of 'leaders' who are misleading them and not divulging correct figures.
According to sources, "The missing cash component in the package could be the reason why the farmers are unable to understand the package. Villagers from this area, whose land had been acquired, were given monetary compensation earlier. However, since this deal does not involve monetary compensation and offers an FSI of 2 to farmers whose land will be acquired, it is difficult for them to understand how much money they will actually get. Add to it, there are some people who are misleading them."
The source added, "While monetary compensation is easy to understand, when it comes to giving FSI even the educated class gets it wrong. Besides, there are many who are absolutely clueless about FSI. It is largely a technical term and therefore tricky for a common person to understand."
20/03/14 Rahul M Tawade/Daily News & Analysis

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GFDO asks parties to clarify stand on Mopa

Goans For Dabolim Only (GFDO) have urged political parties to clear their stand on the dual airport issue. They will be holding a public rally at Azad Maidan shortly to garner public consensus on this issue.
"GFDO urges the people of Goa to closely scrutinize and assess the stands of their respective candidates who represent parties that have taken a stand for Mopa against Goan interests-North as well as South," said GFDO convener Fr Eremito Rebello.
Rebello has demanded that chief minister Manohar Parrikar clarigy whether the 10,000 jobs he claims will be generated by Mopa airport will be for migrants or for Goans.
"If the government cannot ensure jobs for Goans in projects where it is supposed to be in full control, then Parrikar needs to explain how his government, if it manages to survive till then, will succeed in forcing a private entrepreneur who operates Mopa airport solely on profit basis, to give jobs to Goans?" said Rebello.
19/03/14 Times of India

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New four-lane road to Kochi airport to be opened soon

Kochi: Keeping in view the steady growth in passenger movement through the airport here, the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) will soon open a four-lane airport approach road from the National Highway.
According to officials, the airport company is in the final stages of completing the first phase of the 5-km-long stretch, which is scheduled to open in April. “The 2.5-km stretch starting from the highway to the Golf Course Club is being developed at a cost of Rs.21.3 crore. This will be opened to traffic soon,” said a senior CIAL official.
He said the traffic on the existing approach road was bound to increase over the next few years and a new widened road was required to maintain a safe traffic flow and avoid congestion during the peak hours. “Traffic on the existing two-lane road has almost multiplied over the past few years with the airport’s growth and it is estimated to double every 5-6 years. For instance, a traffic survey conducted in 2012 put the number of vehicles using the road during peak hours at 2,200, with one car passing in each direction every eight seconds”, he said.
The design and alignment of the four-lane road, with a three-layer bitumen surface, is in conformity with the specifications laid down by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. It will have a carriageway of 7 metres on each side, separated by a 3-metre-wide median.
19/03/14 The Hindu

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Volvo Cars launches Lounge at Delhi Airport

Kolkata: Swedish luxury carmaker Volvo Auto India on Wednesday launched its first exclusive Lounge and also showcased the new generation S80 at the Terminal 3 Domestic Departure, Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi.
The Lounge is located at the entry of the departure concourse next to the information desk, spread over an area of 925 sq ft having a true Scandinavian luxury experience.
It focuses at the discerning travelers, helping them relax before boarding a flight and at the same time informing the customers about the pioneering concepts designed at Volvo Cars.
The Lounge comes with exclusive Volvo Retail Experience (VRE). Volvo carlines would be on public display at the lounge entrance accessible for all the travelers. However, the entry into the Lounge would be only ‘by invitation’. Platinum and Gold cards respectively for Volvo customers and VIP guests.
The New Generation Volvo S80, showcased at the Lounge, features the concept of Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection with full auto brake. The D5 summum gives a class-leading fuel consumption of 14.69 kms/ltr. It is available in D4 and D5 diesel engine, priced at Rs 41.35 lacs and Rs 44.80 lacs respectively (Ex-showroom, Delhi).
19/03/14 India Blooms

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Gold in soap, chocolate syrup seized, passenger arrested

Mangalore: Officers of Customs at Mangalore International Airport have thwarted an attempt to smuggled gold by seizing gold pieces and granules totally weighing 800.6 grams and valued at Rs 24,09,806 from Abdul Gafoor, 30, a resident of Melangadi House at Bangaramanjeshwar under Manjeshwar post office in neighbouring Kasargod district in Kerala.
The gold pieces and granules were concealed in four Lux brand bathing soaps and one American Garden brand chocolate syrup bottle from Abdul Gafoor's possession. Abdul who arrived at Mangalore International Airport on March 19 at about 7.30am by Air India Express flight IX814 from Dubai was arrested later and produced before the magistrate. Further investigation is under progress.
D Purushotham, commissioner of customs expressing concern regarding increasing trends in smuggling, directed officers to intensify the vigilance and surveillance and crack the attempts made by the unscrupulous elements who are indulging in these activities.
19/03/14 Jaideep Shenoy/Times of India

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Ten Afghan nationals held for smuggling gold worth Rs 10.6 crore

New Delhi: Nine Afghan women and a man have been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle into the country gold valuing about Rs 10.60 crore.
The accused were intercepted by customs officials after their arrival from Herat, Afghanistan, at the international airport here on Sunday.
38.430 kgs of gold valued at Rs 10.60 crore was seized from their possession, a customs official said.
18/03/14 PTI/India Tv News

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Drug worth Rs. 2 crore seized at RGIA

Hyderabad: Officials of Customs Air Intelligence Unit, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), on Tuesday night detained a woman, Hunguana Joana Samuel, and seized 20 kg of Ketamine drug worth Rs. 2 crore from her.
The woman was intercepted while she was leaving for Abu Dhabi by Etihad Airlines. Initially, the woman denied carrying any prohibited goods but the officials checked her baggage and found the drug concealed in the check-in-baggage.
A group of junior artistes who were allegedly cheated by Telugu television actress Vijaya Rani, on Tuesday met officials of the Central Crime Station (CCS) asking them to intensify the efforts to nab her.
19/03/14 The Hindu

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Customs officials seize GBP worth Rs 3.45 lac from Dubai-bound passenger

Mangalore : The officers of customs at Mangalore International Airport seized 3400 GBP worth Rs 3,45,950 possessed illicitly by the passenger, who concealed inside the personal clothing kept in check- in baggage.
.Passenger identified as Nellikunnu Abdulla Jamalu resident of Thalangara Kasargod.
 Customs officers took Nellikunnu  Abdulla Jamalu from Mangalore International Airport  while who was about to depart from Mangalore to Dubai by Jet Airways at 7:30 in Jet Airways flight 9W532 to Dubai.
19/03/14 daijiworld

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Missing Malaysia Airlines flight could have fallen victim to world's first 'cyber-hijack'

Flight MH370 could have fallen victim to the world’s first ‘‘cyber-hijack’’, with a British anti-terrorist expert saying a plane could be taken over using a mobile phone or USB stick.
Former Home Office scientific adviser Dr Sally Leivesley said hackers could change the plane’s speed, altitude and direction by sending radio signals to its flight management system.
It could then be landed or made to crash by remote control, Dr Leivesley told the Sunday Express in London.
More than a week after the Malaysia Airways Boeing 777 went missing with 239 people on board, theories are all family and friends have to explain the fate of the plane.
light MH370 vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. At the weekend, Malaysian police finally confirmed that the disappearance was a deliberate act and searched the captain and co-pilot’s homes.
Dr Leivesley, who runs her own company training businesses and governments to counter terrorist attacks, told the Sunday Express she believed malicious codes, triggered by a mobile phone, would have been able to override the aircraft’s security.
“There appears to be an element of planning from someone with a very sophisticated systems engineering understanding,” Dr Leivesley said.
17/03/14 Sydney Morning Herald

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Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 investigators forced to consider possibility of pilot suicide

As police investigate the two pilots of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 passenger jet that disappeared more than a week ago, a possibility they must consider is that one of them committed suicide by deliberately crashing the plane.
While such incidents have happened before, the topic remains almost taboo, with investigators and officials reluctant to conclude that a pilot purposely crashed a plane in order to commit suicide even when the evidence appears compelling.
A dozen years ago, U.S. investigators filed a final report into the 1999 crash of EgyptAir Flight 990, which plunged into the Atlantic Ocean near the Massachusetts island of Nantucket, killing all 217 aboard. They concluded that when co-pilot Gameel El-Batouty found himself alone on the flight deck, he switched off the auto-pilot, pointed the plane downward, and calmly repeated the phrase “I rely on God” over and over, 11 times in total.
Yet while the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the co-pilot’s actions caused the crash, they didn’t use the word “suicide” in the main findings of their 160-page report, instead saying the reason for his actions “was not determined.” Egyptian officials, meanwhile, rejected the notion of suicide altogether, insisting instead there was some mechanical reason for the crash.
16/03/14 AP/National Post

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Missing Malaysia Airlines jet may have flown under radar: investigators

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 dropped to altitudes as low as 1524 metres (5000 feet) using a dangerous flying technique called “terrain masking” to avoid radar in at least three countries, investigators believe.
The plane with 239 people on board also kept to commercial airline routes as it flew for more than seven hours after turning back from its scheduled flight path over the South China Sea, they believe.
As the focus of police investigators has swung back to the pilots, authorities have revealed that whoever spoke to Kuala Lumpur air traffic control minutes after the plane’s main communication system was disabled gave no clue that anything was wrong.
“All right, good night,” some-one in the cockpit had said calmly, seemingly to mislead ground control that anything was wrong.
Investigators believe that by following commercial routes the plane did not raise the suspicion of people monitoring radar of the countries it overflew.
Terrain masking is used by military pilots for stealth flights. Based on the estimated time in the air, authorities believe MH370 would have passed over two additional countries besides Malaysia, although it's not clear which ones.
Experts say flying a Boeing 777 in such a way would be dangerous, putting pressure on the 250 tonnes air frame and possibly causing those on board to be air sick.
Experts are trying to nail down precisely how far the plane could have flown with the fuel on board but sources say the plane would have been close to running out at the time it was recorded in raw satellite data at 8.11am after departing Kuala Lumpur airport at 12.31am.
Malaysia Airlines has confirmed that no additional fuel than normal was loaded on to the plane in Kuala Lumpur.
17/03/14 Lindsay Murdoch/Sydney Morning Herald

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India suspends search for Malaysian plane, but on standby

New Delhi: India Sunday suspended its search operation for the missing Malaysian plane but placed its assets on standby as Kuala Lumpur reassessed the strategy for the hunt.
"Malaysian authorities have now indicated that, based on investigation, the search operations have entered a new phase and a strategy for further searches is being formulated," said a statement from the defence ministry.
"Accordingly, search operations have been suspended and all Indian assets earmarked for SAR (search and rescue) operations have been placed on standby," it said.
India has deployed numerous assets of its navy, air force and coast guard to search for the missing plane of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.
A total of six aircraft and six ships with their integral helicopters were deployed which have combed the designated search areas spanning across the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal.
16/03/14 IANS/Business Standard

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Technical snag grounds Air India Dreamliner in Paris

New Delhi/Mumbai: As many as 236 passengers were stranded in Paris following a Paris-New Delhi flight was cancelled due to technical snags on Saturday night. Air India will bring to Delhi the stranded passengers on Monday morning in a scheduled flight.
Air India's flight AI 142, operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, had to be grounded as it was to take off from Paris CDG Airport on Saturday night following malfunctioning of the “spoilers on the aircraft. Spoilers are speed retardation devices on the wings that move up and down.
“The stranded passengers have been sent to hotels and will be flown to Delhi on Monday morning,” said an official in Air India.
This is the second time technical snags have surfaced in Dreamliners spoilers. In February, a Delhi-Frankfurt flight had to be cancelled due to spoiler trouble.
Air India chairman and managing director Rohit Nandan had said on Wednesday that there were no plans to ground the Boeing 787 Dreamliner as the fleet was doing well and there were no safety concerns attached with them. The Boeing and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have looked into every fleet incident reported in the past 18 months and said there were no safety issues involved, Nandan had said.
17/03/14 Business Standard

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Regional airports to offer great potential for India

In view of the vast untapped potential, the next generation of aviation growth in India will be triggered by regional airports, offering significant long-term opportunities for global aviation players.
According to the “Indian Aviation 2014” report, launched at the ongoing India Aviation exposition here, there is a large untapped potential for growth in the country as access to aviation is still a dream for nearly 99.5 per cent of the population.
“At present, there are around 450 used, unused or abandoned airports and airstrips spread all over the country,” the report, compiled by consultancy firm KPMG Advisory Services, in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, or FICCI, said.
Many Indian states, especially in Eastern India, have started taking proactive measures to promote air connectivity.  These initiatives include reduction in sales tax on aviation turbine fuel, or ATF, development of no-frills airports, promotion of aviation academies and supportive policies for airlines and tourism, the report said.
“West Bengal deserves special mention as it is the first large state in the country to declare zero per cent sales tax on ATF at its regional airports and 15 per cent sales tax on ATF used by additional flights started at its metro airport in Kolkata,” the report said.
16/03/14 PS Jayaram/Khaleej Times

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AAI staff say will protest against civil aviation ministry's move to privatise six airports

New Delhi: The Airports Authority of India Employees Union (AAEU) has said that it is completely opposed to a move by the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation to fast track the privatisation of six major airports.
In a letter to the government and the Planning Commission of India, AAEU general secretary B.S. Ahlawat said that the since the Election Commission's Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is currently in force, the civil aviation ministry must not go ahead with the privatisation move.
16/03/14 ANI/Business Standard

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AAP opposes construction of Mopa airport in Goa

Panaji: The Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday attacked the proposed Mopa airport in North Goa as a “big land scam involving 84 lakh sqm of people's land”, and backed continuation of Dabolim international airport as sufficient for Goa’s needs for next 100 years.
This was a clear stand taken on Sunday by AAP’s South Goa candidate Swati Kerkar who has been long associated with Goans For Only Dabolim (GFOD), a movement which spearheads opposition to dual airports for Goa.
In the same press conference, the North Goa candidate of AAP Dattaram Desai, however, took a muted stand saying he was aware of diverse opinions on Mopa airport issue, but he was yet to study full issue.
North Goa favours the setting up of a new airport at Mopa to usher in development in the backward Pernem taluk, while a big section of population of coastal South Goa opposing the same fearing it will adversely affect its five star tourism presently having closer access to Dabolim airport. The ruling BJP and the Congress are rooting for continuation of Dabolim even after Mopa is built, considering future needs.
16/03/14 Prakash Kamat/The Hindu

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Snow fallout: Airfares skyrocket in Kashmir

Srinagar: Air carriers operating on the Jammu and Kashmir sector have increased the airfares taking “undue” advantage of Srinagar- Jammu highway blockade following heavy snowfall in Kashmir.
 Passenger travelling from summer capital to other destinations in the country, and those coming home, complained that air carriers have skyrocketed airfares making travelling on this sector highly costly.
 They complained that whenever, the highway gets blocked, air carriers unilaterally hike the fares taking undue advantage of the situation.
 Travel agents here told Greater Kashmir that after the snowfall, the price of air tickets has increased manifold.
 “Air tickets are being sold at a whopping price tag of Rs 7000 to Rs 15800 on Srinagar-Jammu-Delhi sector,” they said.
 “The sharp increase in airfares hits our business, besides giving a lot of trouble to the people,” they said.
 Mushtaq Ahmad of Travel Master, a local travel agency in Srinagar, said, most of the passengers who travel around this time to and fro the Valley are either students or patients.
16/03/14 Mukeet Akmali/Greater Kashmir

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Cargo theft puts Kolkata airport to shame

Kolkata: Even as Kolkata airport wins accolades for its new passenger terminal, the cargo wing continues to be a major embarrassment with imports being systematically pilfered. Such is the menace that cellphone manufacturers Nokia and Samsung have decided to shift bulk of their import cargo from Vietnam and China to other airports. This will not only hurt Kolkata airport's revenue but also give it a bad name worldwide.
Freight forwarding and Customs clearing agents told TOI that theft of mobile handsets, pen drives, storage cards, computer parts and other electronic items was rampant at the airport. "As new systems and work ethics were ushered in, we hoped the problem would get weeded out. Instead, thefts have become more frequent and brazen. It is a shame," said Calcutta Customs House Agents' Association secretary Utpal Das. He has written to Airports Authority of India (AAI), expressing concern over the situation.
Though there are multiple CCTV cameras, they do not have 180-degree vision, allowing pilfers to do their job without detection. Moreover, the pilferage usually happens at night when a majority of the international flights arrive. The cameras don't have infra-red capability and the footage is not satisfactory.
16/03/14 Times of India

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No end to ‘security hassles’ at Srinagar Airport

Srinagar: A Spanish national whacked his backpack on the floor, seething in anger. “Check, check, check… Do you want to even check my underwear,” he shouted to a security guard at the Srinagar ‘International’ Airport. “Oh, I say, it is shame.”
Not once or twice, security guards checked the backpack of Anbessa Andrés for three times after he left for New Delhi. Anbessa had come from Spain to visit the world-famous tourist destination of Kashmir to spend some “good” time.
This is how it goes at Srinagar Airport day in and day out.
Among all the issues facing the Airport, security hassles are a major concern for flyers.
Anbessa told Greater Kashmir he felt humiliated at the Airport “with the kind of treatment I was given on my arrival and departure.”
“When I was about to land at the Airport a month ago, I saw mountains, snow and forests. I felt at peace,” he said. “Then I saw men in uniform ordering to do this and that every now and then as if I were some kind of a terrorist.”
He asked, “Do they do this to everyone here?”
Anbessa was on a month-long journey to Kashmir. He did skiing in Gulmarg and stayed in a house boat in Dal Lake.
According to travelers, authorities make them wait at the main gate at Humhama for hours together.
16/03/14 Imran Muzaffar/Greater Kashmir

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Indian man commits suicide in Jeddah airport restroom

Riyadh: An Indian man committed suicide in the restroom of an airport lounge in the Red Sea coast city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
The unnamed Indian worker reportedly tried to assault a female passenger while he was about to board an outgoing flight at the departure lounge of King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, the Saudi Gazette reported Saturday citing airport director Abdulhameed Abalaree.
Though police arrested him after the attempted assault, he hanged himself in the restroom where he went on the pretext of relieving himself.
After completing all formalities at the departure lounge, he had suddenly tried to jump on a woman who was waiting to board the same plane he was supposed to board.
16/03/14 IANS/daijiworld.com

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Five arrested for smuggling gold worth Rs 9 lakh

Trichy: Airport authorities in Trichy on Saturday arrested five men in two different incidents of alleged smuggling of gold worth Rs nine lakh.
Three men, who arrived in a Singapore flight late night, were trying to smuggle gold by rolling them in tissue papers. Upon inquiring, the airport security found that they were from Thanjavur and Karaikudi. The passengers, Aiyappan, Anthoniraj and Chidambaram, said they were given 300 g of gold each in the form of gold biscuits by a person while boarding the aircraft at Singapore. The three passengers did not know the identity of the men who gave them the gold bars. However, they revealed the identity of the people to whom they had to handover the gold. The airport security, after waiting for a while, spotted one of the men, who had come to collect the gold. The man, one Muhammad Salim from Theni was also arrested.
17/03/14 Times of India

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Old woman found near Dimapur airport

Dimapur: An old woman (in the picture) was found loitering near the main entrance area of Dimapur airport late night of March 15. She is now under the care of Prodigals’ Home, Short Stay Home for Women/Girls located at Fellowship colony, Dimapur.
Alemla, Residential Counselor of the Home in a press release said that the woman (non-Naga) does not even know/ remember her own name. Concerned relatives of the woman have been asked to contact the following numbers: 03862-248723 and 03863-248744.
16/03/14 Morung Express

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Surveillance at Delhi airport to be increased

New Delhi: Politicians enjoying immunity to drive straight to the aircraft at the Delhi airport would now have to get their baggage screened till the time the general elections are over. However, an exclusive list of VVIP politicians, who have been exempted from security check, would be kept out of it, officials in the Delhi Electoral Office said.
The measure of keeping vigil on the movement of baggage carried by politicians is a part of the series of actions taken by the Delhi Electoral Office to check flow of black money and contraband in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. Officials have also directed the airport authorities to install additional scanners in the arrival lounge at Delhi airport to screen the luggage of fliers arriving in the city.
“The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) prepares a list of the passengers who are allowed to drive till the aircraft due to security and medical reasons. All baggage, including hand baggage, of people who are permitted to drive up to the aircraft on the runway shall also be screened by the CISF and the State police,” said Chief Nodal Officer Ankur Garg.
The DEC on Thursday held a high level meeting with officials from Customs, BCAS, Airports Authority of India, Delhi Police, CISF and private carrier operators among others to finalise standard operating procedures in terms of movement of passengers and cargo at the city airports ahead of Lok Sabha polls.
14/03/14 Vishal Kant/The Hindu

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CISF orders probe into IGI security breach, warns of strict action

A day after Mail Today exposed a security breach at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) that is guarding airports across the country initiated an inquiry into the matter.
A 16-year-old boy had scaled the airport boundary near Kapashera Crossing around 4.50am on Wednesday and took a half-hour-long jog along an active runway before he was spotted.
Notorious for false alarms, the perimeter intrusion detection system (PIDS) installed at the IGI airport reportedly didn't work when the boy sneaked in.
The CISF told Mail Today that the force would write to the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), asking it to rectify the errors in the PIDS.
"The CISF has ordered an inquiry into the incident. We will investigate how the lapse had occurred. The officers probing the incident will submit their report as soon as possible. If we find any lapse, strict action will be initiated against erring officials," Hemendra Singh, CISF spokesperson, told Mail Today.
14/03/14 Mail Today/India Today

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Serge fires at DOTC over Cebu airport job

A day after calling President Benigno Aquino III and Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla “awful managers,” Senator Sergio Osmeña III slammed the Transport Department for allegedly not doing its job.
He continued his criticisms even as Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Friday defended Aquino, saying he had a difficult job to do.
Osmeña criticized Aquino and Petilla on Thursday for the country’s unreliable and expensive electricity, and on Friday he warned he would hale Transport officials to court should they award the P17.7-billion construction and 25-year management contract of the Mactan Cebu International Airport to a questionable foreign firm.
“If the DOTC awards this and gives this to GMR [Infrastructure Ltd. of India], I’ll take them to court. What can I do, the DOTC [people] are not doing their job,” Osmeña told reporters.
In Malacañang, presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said Friday Osmeña remained an administration ally despite his attack on Aquino.
“One disagreement does not unmake or unravel a particular relationship. We’re open to having these discussions,” Valte said.
15/03/14 Macon Ramos-Araneta/Manila Standard Today

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CIDCO steps in to end Navi Mumbai airport row

Despite stiff opposition from six villages, where the runway for the Navi Mumbai International Airport is expected to come up, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) is keeping all options open. The planning agency has given top priority to finalising a deal with the disgruntled villagers.
To break the ongoing stalemate, the planning agency is in talks with Justice (retd)  P B Sawant, who was earlier seen attending meetings of the opposing villagers. It is learnt that two senior-most CIDCO officials have already finished a preliminary meeting with the retired Supreme Court judge. Sanjay Bhatia, MD, CIDCO and joint MD, V Radha, had a first round of discussion with Justice (retd) P B Sawant in Pune last week, a source knowing the development said.  However, the outcome of the said meeting is still unknown.
14/03/14 Indra Bhadra/Free Press Journal

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