Five new SpiceJet flights from Sunday, Bhopal connects with Surat & Udaipur

Bhopal: Sunday will be a historic day for Raja Bhoj airport Bhopal when SpiceJet would introduce five new flights for different destinations.
SpiceJet would operate five flights from Bhopal to Delhi (two flights), and one each for Mumbai, Udaipur and Surat.

At present, SpiceJet operates to Hyderabad and Bangalore via Shirdi. While Air India, Jet Airways, IndiGo and SpiceJet are the airlines that operate from Bhopal.

Director Bhopal airport, Anil Vikram confirmed to TOI that five new flights will be start from March 31. “The new flights will connect four cities. This is an important development for the city,” said Vikram. About the schedule of the new flights, he said, “We will provide it later.”

SpiceJet had started operations from Bhopal’s Raja Bhoj earlier this year in January.

Spice Jet has deployed its Bombardier Q400 aircraft for all newly announced routes which are specifically designed for business travellers to facilitate a same-day return journey.

Last year, SpiceJet had announced Bhopal as its 50th domestic destination with the introduction of direct flights connecting Bhopal with Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Shirdi and Bengaluru via Shirdi. Earlier, Bhopal had direct flights only to Delhi and Mumbai. Later, Jaipur and Ahmedabad have been discontinued.

According to airport officials, SpiceJet also started parking two flights daily at Bhopal airport.

In the recent past, airlines had demanded reduction in VAT on ATF on a regular basis. Since ATF constitutes around 40% of overall cost of running a flight, airlines have been requesting the state government to reduce VAT.
31/03/19 Ramendra Singh/Times of India

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Mysuru to be air-linked to Kochi in April

Mysuru: Mysuru, which is already air-linked to Chennai, will soon be connected to Kochi as well. According to information shared by the office of Pratap Simha, Mysuru MP, Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, will operate an ATR 72 aircraft between Mysuru and Kochi.

Though the date for the start of services was not mentioned in the release, sources at the Mysuru airport said air services will become operational between the two cities in April.

“Already, officials of Alliance Air have inspected the Mysuru airport. The date for the start of flight services is yet to be announced. But, in all likelihood, the flight services will start in April,” an official at Mysuru airport said.

Kochi route figures among the five new cities to be connected with Mysuru under the third round of UDAN, the Centre’s Regional Air Connectivity scheme. The others are Goa, Hyderabad, Belagavi, and Bengaluru.
However, sources at the airport said the flight will originate from Hyderabad and arrive in Mysuru, before proceeding to Kochi. On its return, the flight will make a stop-over at Mysuru before flying to Hyderabad. Hence, the flight will be connected to Mysuru as well as Hyderabad. The service will operate to Kochi on all days of the week except Tuesday, when it will operate only between Mysuru and Hyderabad, airport officials said.
31/03/19 The Hindu

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Air India to start direct flights on Delhi-Kannur route from April 2

Air India on Saturday announced that it will start direct flights on Delhi-Kannur route from April 2 using its A320neo aircraft.

"The flight will be operated five days a week except on Monday and Thursday," the national carrier's spokesperson said.
"Air India has declared to connect Delhi with a direct flight to Kannur and back with effect from April 2, 2019, using state-of-the-art A320neo aircraft," the spokesperson said.
30/03/19 PTI/Business Standard

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Airports Authority of India officer sits on fast unto death

Mumbai: An Airports Authority of India (AAI) assistant general manager is on a fast unto death since past Thursday, seated outside civil aviation Delhi headquarters in Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan. Sunday is the fourth day of his fast.

Yogendra Gautam is the general secretary of the union that represents AAI officers and his protest is against the management's decision to recruit engineers with no experience in aviation-related fields to the post of managers.


In November 2018, 1700 electronic and electrical engineers appeared for exams held across India by AAI to fill the post of 324 managers (E3 level). Out of this 1268 have been called for interviews, said sources.

The AAI officers who maintain the radars and ground equipments used by air traffic control centres in India have been protesting against AAI for having lowered the eligibility criteria for these posts. In a March 14 letter to AAI management, Gautam alleged that AAI has been "pushing through undeserving candidates for appointments" wherein they will hold a senior position despite not being as, experienced in aviation field, as the junior executives.
31/03/19 Manju V/Times of India

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Cial envisages better domestic connectivity

Kochi: Summer schedule 2019 of Cochin International Airport Ltd (Cial) that will begin on Sunday focuses on enhancing domestic connectivity. Overall weekly air traffic in the domestic sector at Cial has been increased to 1,054 compared to 914 of winter schedule 2018.

The schedule also envisages better intrastate connectivity by starting three daily flights to Kannur. New services to Mysuru and Indore are also enlisted in the summer schedule. The new schedule will be in effect till October 26, 2019.


IndiGo will commence service to Kannur from Sunday with two daily departures at 11.35am and 9.05pm. Both these flights will be coming from Thiruvananthapuram.

GoAir will be operating a new service to Kannur from Hyderabad via Kochi. Another new destination is Mysuru, announced by Allianz Air. It is yet to receive approval from directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA).

31/03/19 Times of India

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New flights from Mysuru-Kochi commence soon

Mysuru: The palace town Mysuru will have air connectivity to Kochi soon, according to Mysuru Lok Sabha member Pratapa Simha.
 Speaking to UNI, the BJP Lok sabha member informed that the city of palaces already connected to Chennai with alliance air, a subsidiar of Air India, have plans to operate an ATR 72 aircraft between Mysuru-Kochi . The services are expected to become operation between two cities from April, the airport sources, said.
 31/03/19 UNI

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‘Dedicated domestic airport need of the hour in Pune’

Pune: Diego Graffi, the managing director and CEO of Piaggio Vehicles Pvt Ltd, has been living in the city for two years and as much as he has come to embrace it, he says it has embraced him as well.

The Italian loves everything about Pune except that he feels a dedicated airport, even if only for better domestic connectivity, will serve the city well. “When we have to go to another city for meetings, we have to plan a day in advance or come back a day later because of the restricted flight timings in Pune. Even for leisure trips to places such as Goa, a weekend getaway spills over to a day more.”
For now, much of his flight trips happen from Mumbai. He rues the long travel to and from the Mumbai airport.

Graffi moved to Pune two years ago and chose to stay in an apartment complex in the Magarpatta township for its proximity to his workplace and also because of easy access to all modern amenities.

His acceptance of the city and country is evident in the Hindi ringtone that plays as his phone rings midway through the conversation. Paneer is another thing he has grown fond of. In restaurants here, he prefers to have authentic Indian food over mixed Italian food.

31/03/19 Satyanarayan Iyer/Times of India

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Ahmedabad airport parking fee raised 9 times in LS

Ahmedabad: The issue of parking fee levied at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) airport in Ahmedabad remained crucial during the discussions in the lower house of the Indian parliament.
This is clear as the issue was raised nine times over the four-year period from 2015 to 2018, by MPs from Gujarat.
Four MPs from Gujarat – Paresh Rawal, C R Paatil, Devusinh Chauhan and Dipsinh Rathod – raised questions in the Lok Sabha, regarding the installation of toll booths to levy parking fees at the SVPI airport, differential parking charges based on the type of vehicle and the revision in charges.
However, despite repeated revisions in the parking fees at the city airport, there appears to be no major difference for passengers moving in and out of the airport. Data reported in the Lok Sabha from 2015 to 2018, indicates that there has been no significant change in parking charges at the city airport which more or less remained the same — Rs 20 for two wheelers, Rs 85 for cars and Rs 100 for SUV, tempo, mini bus, coach, bus or a truck for the first two or four hours.
That apart, the city airport had a free time window of 10 minutes and 12 minutes for access to domestic and international terminals respectively for pick-up and drop in the departure and arrival areas.
31/03/19 Times of India

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5 BJP supporters lose wallets at Ahmedabad airport ahead of Amit Shah's roadshow

Ahmedabad: With most of the cops on bandobust duty, pickpockets had a field day on Friday night as they targeted five persons who had gone to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport to welcome BJP president Amit Shah on his arrival in the city for filing nomination papers for the ensuing Lok Sabha polls from the Gandhinagar seat.
According to a complaint lodged by one Devan Yadav (31) of Sabarmati, who works in a private company, he had gone to the airport with other BJP supporters to welcome Shah at the airport.

“He has mentioned in the complaint that while they were waiting at the airport, someone took out his wallet which was in the back pocket of his pants. The FIR mentions that the wallet contained Rs 4,800 and important cards. About then, Lansh Patel (33), a builder and resident of Vatva; Gaurav Patel (36) of Azad Chowk; Sagar Chaudhary (32) of Vastral; and Utpal Patel (45) also realized that their wallets were missing too,” said a senior police official of the Airport police station.
31/03/19 Times of India

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Djibouti in talks with GMR to develop airport

Hyderabad: African nation Djibouti is looking at closer ties with India. To explore the opportunities between the nations, an India Djibouti Trade Forum has been organised in Hyderabad on Friday. As a part of this forum, Djibouti’s representatives have begun talks with GMR Group to build an airport in that nation.

An eight-member delegation from Djibouti comprising government and industry representatives have visited. In addition to GMR, Djibouti is exploring other collaborations. The delegation has signed a MoU for co-operation in agriculture with Indo African Ventures, development of a boutique hotel with Holiday Inn and development of skill development courses in the defence sector with Don Bosco Tech Society. The delegation is led by Bourhan Aref, representative from Djibouti for India-Djibouti trade ties.
India’s President Ramnath Kovind visited Djibouti last year and has pledged commitment of support between the two nations for a robust partnership.

Narender Bharti, president, India Djibouti Trade Forum, said, “My goal is to build bilateral relations between India and the Republic of Djibouti.”

The Forum’s VP Saba Fatima said, “Djibouti, being the only gateway to Africa with three ports, has a great potential and we would like to divert business interests from the Middle East to Djibouti and want Indian businesses to connect the two nations.”
30/03/19 Telangana Today

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Vistara gets Jet landing and take-off slots for Delhi-Raipur flights

Crises-ridden Jet Airways has lost valuable flight slots to Vistara at Delhi and Raipur airports.
The joint venture carrier of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines is starting two new flights on Delhi-Raipur-Delhi sector from March 31. Vistara has been allotted the same slots in which Jet operated its flights before terminating the services last month due to financial crisis.
30/03/19 R Krishna Das/Business Standard

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Don't charge steep fares for flights to J&K, Northeast, Port Blair: DGCA

Mumbai: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has asked airlines not to charge exorbitant fares for flights to Jammu & Kashmir, Northeast states and Port Blair. This comes in the wake of Jet Airways grounding over half of its fleet leading to massive cancellations and a surge in airfares.

The civil aviation regulator is also expected to take a call next week on the release of slots that are lying unused due to the grounding of Jet’s fleet.

Rival airlines have sought airport slots lying vacant and the DGCA would take a decision on giving them on a temporary basis after Jet submits its operational plan, it is learnt.

Last week, civil aviation minister Suresh Prabhu had asked department secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola to review the impact of Jet’s grounding on cancellations, refunds and safety. The DGCA was also instructed to monitor airfares. The regulator held one meeting with airlines last week and again on Thursday.

The regulator has advised airlines not to charge high fares on routes like Srinagar, Port Blair or in Northeast regions. Jet has pulled out flights from Northeast states and also cancelled its Srinagar flight, leading to reduction in capacity.

The grounding of SpiceJet’s Max planes has also lowered the overall capacity.

The airlines, however, said the demand was high due to Holi and subsequent long weekend and not due to grounding of planes.
30/03/19 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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Flights on the Mumbai airport runway again as maintenance, repair end on Saturday

Mumbai: Critical runway maintenance and repair work that has been under way at Mumbai airport since February 7 is set to end this Saturday, allowing for smoother landings and takeoffs, along with the restoration of 230 cancelled flights.

The nearly ₹100-crore project work involved recarpetting the critical 50,000 sq. mt. intersection of the two runways with bitumin. The last time such an elaborate exercise was carried out was in 2009-10. “A resurfaced runway depending on factors like jet blast, weathering action, rubber deposits etc will last 7 to 8 years,” officials of Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (MIAL) said during a media tour of the runway intersection area. Similarly, MIAL had earlier carried out preservation of the runway surface by applying airport-grade sealguard technology from the US in 2016.

Officials of MIAL and Asphault India Corporation, which is carrying out the resurfacing works explained that the integrity of runway surfaces is assured by regular inspections. A team of 600 workers work as per a well planned exercise to ensure that the work in hand is completed within the available 6 hour window period between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.
29/03/19 Aditya Anand/The Hindu

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Air connectivity: Over 10000 tweets in single day for flight to Kolkata

Bhopal: Continuing with their demand for better air connectivity, flyers have now launched an online campaign seeking Bhopal-Kolkata flight with around 10,000 tweets being sent for the cause on a single day on Thursday.

The ‘Support Bhopal for Air Connectivity’ (SBFAC) online campaign was launched in May 2018 with an objective of raising demand for better air connectivity to Bhopal.

Soon, the campaign gained momentum with active participation of over 65,000 members. Their efforts paid the dividends: In January 2019, two airlines — IndiGo and Spice Jet — started operating connecting Bhopal with Bengaluru, Shirdi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad along with Delhi and Mumbai.

At present, Jet Airways, Air India, IndiGo and Spice Jet are operating flights from the city, connecting nine cities. Till December 2018, only three cities — Delhi, Raipur and Mumbai — were connected with Bhopal.

Buoyed by the response, campaign head Prachi Baluapuri said, “The good response has made us confident to raise similar demand for other cities also. Our next immediate target is Kolkata.”

When asked about the reason behind picking Kolkata, she said, “As of now, Bhopal is not connected by air with the north-eastern states. A flight to Kolkata will make it easier for the passengers travelling to that part of India.”
29/03/19 Times of India

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Belagavi’s first UDAN flight to take off on May 1

Belagavi: After a long wait, the first flight under UDAN-3 scheme will take off from Belagavi on May 1. SpiceJet will launch the flight under the Centre’s ambitious regional connectivity scheme between Belagavi and Hyderabad. This flight will be operated every day between the two cities.

According to sources, flight SG-3734 will depart Belagavi’s Sambra airport at 5.55 pm and touch down at Hyderabad at 7.10 pm on all the days of the week. On the return journey, SG-3733 (SpiceJet) will depart Hyderabad at 4.10 pm and arrive at Belagavi at 5.35 pm. SpiceJet has offered minimum airfare for the one-way route at `2,714.Bookings for the first UDAN flight have begun.
29/03/19 New Indian Express

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Calcutta airport rules relaxed for devotees

Followers of a religious guru parked their vehicles in front of the terminal building of the city airport for more than half an hour on Thursday afternoon, officials said.

When challenged by marshals, the followers produced pieces of paper purportedly issued by police authorising them to park their vehicles in front of the terminal.

Earlier this week, devotees of another religious leader had been issued “special passes” to enter the terminal, though entry of visitors is banned because of heightened security following the Pulwama attack, the sources said.

Cars that remain parked in front of the terminal for more than 10 minutes are slapped a fine of Rs 400. However, government vehicles and cars belonging to “VIPs” are allowed free parking for hours in violation of rules.

Sources said three to four vehicles that were parked near gate number 3C for more than half an hour were about to leave around noon on Thursday when an airport marshal stopped them.

Marshals are employees of an agency hired by the Airports Authority of India to manage parking.

“The vehicles were parked there for more than half an hour. When they were about to leave, a marshal stopped them and told the drivers that free parking in front of the terminal was allowed only for 10 minutes,” a source said.

The people in the car then produced some pieces of paper.

“Those are slips issued at the kiosks at the entry gate of the airport compound. The time of a car’s entry is written on such slips. But the slips the occupants of the car produced had a signature and a stamp with WBP (West Bengal Police) written in it,” the source said.

The marshal then took one of the occupants of the car to a senior airport official.
29/03/19 Sanjay Mandal/Telegraph

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Supreme Court orders fresh environment study of new Goa airport

New Delhi: In a setback to the GMR group, the Supreme Court on Friday did not allow the construction of Goa's new greenfield international airport and ordered an expert committee to study allegations that trees were being felled illegally. Directing the committee to undertake the assessment in a month's time and submit its report to the court, a bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta scrapped the environment clearance given by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in October 2015. Justice Chandrachud also barred all courts in the country from entertaining any plea related to the Goa international airport.
29/03/19 Hans India

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Re-carpeting of runway a must for heavy flight load

Pune: Burdened with around 200 take-offs and landings of commercial flights till recently besides the sorties of Indian Air Force fighter jets, the re-carpeting of the city airport’s runway has become a necessity.
During a conversation after an IAF fighter jet’s tyre burst on the runway on March 18 and delayed the movement of several commercial flights, Air Marshal Bhushan Gokhale (retired) had told TOI that the airport’s runway re-carpeting was of utmost importance.

The runway was last re-carpeted six years ago. There were 30 flight movements back then.

Aviation expert and analyst Dhairyashil Vandekar told TOI, “The number of scheduled flights has grown almost 200% since 2013. So, one can imagine the kind of pressure the runway withstands. A runway becomes too smooth after a point of time. As a result, the frictional force reduces. This force is required for smooth landing and take-off of aircraft.”

He said, “The airport’s runway is checked almost daily, but re-carpeting aims at its complete maintenance. The disappointing part is that the airport has just one runway and its re-carpeting would lead to disruptions in flight movement.”

To obviate the possibility of any incident, it is mandatory to keep the runway in top condition. More so at Lohegaon, because it is a vital airbase. The appointment of a contractor for re-carpeting the city airport’s runway is under consideration, almost three months after the authorities claimed that the job would be done this year.

29/03/19 Joy Sengupta/Times of India

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Mumbai runway repairs worth ₹23 crore completed

Mumbai: The repair of the intersection of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA)’s runway cost Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) between ₹23- ₹25 crore.

MIAL, which runs the airport on February 7, had announced the partial shutdown of the runway to recarpet the intersection area. The runway is set to be fully functional after almost two months from March 31.

The airport has two runways; the main runway is 3,600 meters long and 60 meters wide and the second runway is 2,990 meters long and 45 meters wide with a cross-shaped 50,000 sqmt intersection where the repair work was carried out.

Over 600 people carried out the recapeting of the top two layers which was four inches thick. Around 275 Aeronautical Ground Lightings (AGL), which act as a guide light for the pilots on the runway were removed for repairs and refitted afterwards.

According to a source, “The recarpetting of the intersection cost the company approximately ₹18- ₹20 crore along with another ₹3-₹5 crore to remove and refix the AGLs on the runway.” MIAL spokesperson declined to confirm the amount spent.

A MIAL spokesperson on Thursday said that it was important to recarpet the intersection to increase its lifespan. The last time MIAL had carried the recarpeting of this intersection in 2009-10. This gives the section of the runway an additional 10 years.”
29/03/19 Forum Gandhi/Business Line

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Gagan Malik replaces Negi as Dabolim airport director

Gagan Malik has taken over as new director of Dabolim international airport replacing Bhupesh Chand Hans Negi.
Malik had joined the erstwhile National Airports Authority of India in the year 1989 as a civil engineer. During the course of his career, he has attained a deep insight into different facets of airport functioning and management. He has a deep knowledge of pavement works (asphaltic and concrete), construction of terminal buildings in glass and steel besides integration of different facilities required for passengers’ facilitation. He has been associated with initial planning of Pakyong airport at Sikkim and heliports in Himachal Pradesh.

Highly work-oriented and effective team leader, Malik has done major projects and upgradation works at India’s major airports including in Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Chandigarh, Amritsar and till recently was positioned at Goa airport for parallel taxi track project and terminal building modifications.

Since beginning he has been involved with land management, commercial airport operations, security functions at different airports and has also functioned as airport director at Amritsar airport. He has a vision for modern airport concept for operations, whereby, the passengers feel and enjoy their transition through airport with least of difficulties.

Malik holds a bachelors degree in civil engineering. He is a certified International Airport Professional from Airports Council International Canada. He has acquired the practical knowledge of electrical engineering while executing several projects as project in-charge.
28/03/19 Navhind Times

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Facial Recognition Testing Goes Live At Hyderabad Airport

In a very first initiative from India, facial recognition will be adopted in Hyderabad airport to scan through travellers, providing them with a facility of paperless travel and avoiding identity checks at multiple points in an airport.

As tweeted by Rajiv Gandhi Hyderabad International Airport, Hyderabad, soon the passengers will be free from the hassle of showing their tickets and ID cards at the Hyderabad Airport. “Facial recognition is expected to be fully functional from March onwards,” it said.
Currently, in a testing stage, the authorities believe that facial recognition technology will provide a faster and seamless check-in making it hassle-free and quicker than ever before. The airport is currently testing the technology while running staff trials and the expected to be completed soon for the flyers to avail thereafter.
The aviation industry has been aggressively working on adopting technologies such as analytics and artificial intelligence, and this is one of the moves that explore facial recognition system at a whole new level. Last year the Ministry of Civil Aviation announced a DigiYatra platform that aims at bringing paperless travel on the go. The ‘DigiYatra’ is an industry-led initiative co-ordinated by the Ministry in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India’s vision to transform the nation into a digitally empowered society.
28/03/19 Srishti Deoras/Analytical India

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Vadodara airport cleanest in India

Vadodara: Vadodara airport has topped in the country and bagged the Swachh Bharat award 2019 for the cleanest and safety airport in the category of airports having annual passenger handling capacity up to 1.5 million.

According to officials of Vadodara airport, the award will be conferred upon by Guruprasad Mohapatra, chairman of the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
Vadodara airport director Charan Singh will receive the award on the eve of the 24th annual day function scheduled to be held in New Delhi on March 31.
28/03/19 Times of India

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Delhi airport raises Rs 2,000 cr from realty monetisation

The GMR group-run Delhi international airport (DIAL) has raised Rs 2,000 crore from real estate monetisation, which will help its on-going expansion plan, as the nation's largest airport is set to handle over 70 million passenger this fiscal year, a senior executive said Wednesday.

The country's busiest airport currently handles about 62 million passengers per annum against an installed capacity of 60 million, and 1.5 million tonne of cargo.
The proposed development of the Indira Gandhi international airport includes expansion of the existing three terminals, adding a new passenger and a cargo terminal each, and building a cargo city/village, apart from development of new runway and taxiway among others at an investment of Rs 16,000 crore.

The Delhi airport has raised about Rs 2,000 crore from realty monetization which will fetch it an annual rental income of Rs 360 crore. This will partly help fund the expansion, Sushil Modi, group chief financial officer GMR Infra, which sold around 45 percent in its GMR Airports for Rs 8,000 crore to the Tatas, and the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, said Wednesday.

He said both Delhi and Hyderabad airports, which have a combined cash balance of Rs 5,000 crore, are under major capacity ramp-up. The airports can also part-fund the expansion with internal accruals, he added.

There are bigger opportunities for more real estate monetisation which will substantially increase the cash flow and help the fund the expansion without adding much to the debt, he said.

The GMR-owned Hyderabad airport is also in an expansion mode and plans to expand the existing terminals and add a third runway, besides expansion of the cargo terminal, additional rapid exit taxiways, parallel taxiways and taxi lanes among others.
28/03/19 PTI/Moneycontrol.com

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No more flight delays due to adverse weather at Surat

Surat: Airlines and the passengers at Surat airport will no longer face flight delays and diversions due to adverse weather conditions and heavy rains. The directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) has approved the commissioning of the instrument landing system (ILS), which was damaged due to heavy flooding last year. The repaired ILS will become operational from Thursday.
A team of senior officials from Airports Authority of India (AAI) had visited the airport for the ILS inspection and suggested to raise the equipment hut by almost 3.5 feet to protect it from damag during floods.
The work of raising the height of the ILS equipment hut and other instruments was completed and that the calibration work was performed.
Sources said that the airport is located close to the Arabian sea and that the ILS equipment hut site is set up in the low-lying area where the ground level is around three to four feet lower. Due to the insufficient water outlet available at the airport boundary, the combination of heavy rains coupled with high tide in the sea flooded the airport area.
28/03/19 Times of India

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Jet Airways set to lose prime flight slots

New Delhi: Jet Airways has all most all the important landing and take-off slots in the world's busiest airports like Delhi and Mumbai. "From 5:50 to 8:50 pm and from 6 am to 10 am, it is considered to be the peak hour where all airlines want maximum slots" a senior ministry official has said.

Jet Airways may soon lose its prime slots from all metropolitan cities in India like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai etc. and slots in other countries as well. According to the guidelines, if any airline doesn't utilise a slot for one month, the allocated slot may be cancelled.

There have been many flight slots of Jet Airways which have not been in use for the past four weeks. If Jet Airways don't start operations soon, the company will lose almost all prime slot in metropolitan cities. The major issue is with slots in other countries where it is a bigger issue as there are flight restrictions for nearly 6-7 hours and no flight is allowed during these hours.

Sources have also confirmed that Jet Airways may vacate prime slots of London, Hong Kong, Singapore etc. This means new airlines will get a chance to fly their aircrafts on prime slots.

In India, this will give passengers an opportunity to opt for other flights which would be cheaper if slots are given to low service carriers like Spicejet and Indigo. There is also immense pressure on the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) from the airlines to take away slots from Jet Airways and give them to domestic airlines.
DGCA has already cleared that through an interim arrangement, slots would be given to other airlines equally.
28/03/19 By Ankur Sharma/My Nation

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Tata, GIC and SSG pick up 45 percent in GMR Airports for Rs 8,000 crore

Mumbai/New Delhi: GMR Infrastructure on Wednesday said the Tatas along with Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC and another Singaporean fund SSG Capital Management, have picked up around 45 percent stake in its airports arm for Rs 8,000 crore. The deal values GMR Airports at over Rs 17,700 crore and post-deal, the group flagship GMR Infra and subsidiaries will hold around 54 percent in the airport arm, the consortium of new investors will own the close to 45 percent and the remaining will be held by an employees welfare trust.

Of this, the Tatas will own around 20 percent by investing Rs 3,520 crore (which is around 45 percent stake of the total equity that the consortium will own in GMR Airports), GIC will pump in Rs 2,640 crore for 33 percent share of the diluted equity or 15 percent in GMR Airports and SSG will chip in with Rs 1,760 crore for a 22 percent of the diluted stake or around 10 percent in the company, GMR group told reporters. The GMR group operates the country’s largest airport in New Delhi which has an annual capacity of 70 million and the 22-million Hyderabad airport, besides Mactan-Cebu in the Philippines (with 40 percent stake) and Crete in Greece in which it controls a little under 22%.

Significantly, the Tata group, which also runs the full service airline Vistara in partnership with Singapore Airlines and the low-cost AirAsia India, enters the booming airport business at a time when the Adani group has bagged the mandate to run as many as six government-run airports for a 60 year-period through an last month. As part of this transaction, GMR Infra intends to provide an exit to existing private equity investors who hold 5.8 percent equity stake in the airport arm and most of the proceeds from sale will be used to pare the group debt of Rs 20,000 crore, Saurabh Chawla, executive director finance and strategy at GMR Infra, said.
28/03/19 Free Press Journal

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How Narendra Modi Bypassed Norms to Try and Enable Gautam Adani’s Entry into Airport Business

The Modi government violated the law and ignored the advice given by some of its own ministries and departments to allow private firms to develop and operate six airports that had been recently upgraded. The changes in the norms enabled the Adani group, a new entrant in the airport sector, to win all six bids to develop the airports at Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mangaluru and Thiruvananthapuram.

Read the Newsclick report >>

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Tatas forays into airports, buy stake in GMR

New Delhi/Mumbai: After airlines, the Tata Group is making a foray into airports. The conglomerate will invest Rs 3,555 crore for a 20% stake in GMR Airports, which runs the Delhi International Airport, the country’s biggest and Asia’s sixth largest.
 The proposed stake-purchase has been routed through Tata Sons, which also owns majority stakes in two carriers— AirAsia India and Vistara. Tatas’ interest in the aviation business also includes charter services through Taj Air.T
he Tatas follow billionaire Gautam Adani’s bet on the sector after his company won bids to operate six airports in the country last month. In the past, the Tatas had made attempts to enter this space and tied up with Singapore’s Changi and Heathrow airport operators to participate in the privatisation of airports in the country.
 However, the bids did not materialise due to multiple factors like rules that prohibit a company with interest in an airline from owning more than 26% stake in certain greenfield airports. The Tatas are entering the space at a time when the country is facing a severe shortage of airport infrastructure and in the coming years, the sector is set for a massive expansion. Also, the Tatas have expansion plans for its airlines; the salt-to-software conglomerate will be the first to have a presence in both airlines and airports.
27/03/19 Reeba Zachariah/Sauabh Sinha/Times of India

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‘Air train’ plan to connect IGI terminals set to take off

New Delhi:: Transiting between the various terminals of IGI Airport, the world’s 12th busiest hub, will become a breeze in a few years’ time, with the airport operator finalising the route of an “air train” connecting the terminals as well as Aerocity, the hotel centre.
 The train will have four stations, including one at the cargo terminal, which are also expected to provide seamless seamless connectivity with Metro lines. Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd is currently working on financing the “automated people mover” (APM) project, expected to cost Rs 2,000-2,500 crore.
 DIAL did not give a date for the project’s completion but it is likely to be ready in three to four years. This fits in with the timeline given for other ongoing and future phase-wise expansion projects of IGIA. DIAL had first announced the air train project in 2016 and had said it would be in place by 2020. The project was deferred due to the hugely delayed expansion of IGIA.
The current annual passenger handling capacity of T1, T2 and T3 is 2 crore, 1.2 crore and 3.4 crore, respectively. With T1’s capacity of 2 crore on one end and T2 and T3’s combined capacity of 3.6 crore on the other, lakhs of transit travellers even at present rush between these terminal on busy roads. DIAL says the expansion of T1 and T3, along with the fourth runway and elevated taxi track, will be complete by mid-2022. Once this happens, there will be greater transit passenger flow between T1 and T3/2.
27/03/19 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Apron FOD Walk Held At NSCBI Airport

Kolkata: In order to create safety related awareness and to keep the operational area free of foreign objects and debris, Apron FOD Walk was held at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport,here.
The drill was organised with the support of Airlines Operating Committee (AOC) and CISF on 26th March 2019.
Kaushik Bhattacharya, Airport Director, other AAI officials, representatives of AOC and CISF participated in the exercise.
26/03/19 UNI

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Drones to monitor Kempegowda International Airport construction projects

Bengaluru: Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) will soon use drones for aerial site photography to monitor the progress of ongoing construction projects.
The drones will take aerial photographs of the New South Parallel Runway (NSPR) project area (624 acres), the new terminal (T2) and apron project
area (166 acres) and the forecourt project area (128 acres). The aerial monitoring will be done on a fortnightly basis. Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), operator of KIA, has already issued tenders for the project.
27/03/19 Times of India

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IGI Airport in Delhi to get ‘express check-in’ facility for handbag-only passengers

Air passengers taking domestic flights to travel out of Delhi from the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) can soon expect to save their time via the express check-in counter service. However, passengers with only handbags will be allowed to avail of this facility.

Reportedly, the IGI Airport will introduce this facility by April 2019 at Terminal 2, where airlines such as GoAir and a few flights of SpiceJet and Indigo also function. After some time, this facility will also be extended to Terminals 1 and 3.

The setting up of express check-in counters at the IGI airport will reduce crowding at the check-in zones of the congested terminals. About 40 per cent of the flyers in Delhi do not travel with check-in bags, as per a survey report, and the step will prove to be a boon.
26/03/19 Times Travel

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Mumbai-Delhi remains world's third busiest domestic route in 2018: OAG

New Delhi: Mumbai-Delhi remained the world’s third busiest domestic route in 2018 with 45,188 flights operated by six airlines during the year, averaging almost 124 flights daily.
UK-based air consultancy firm OAG on Tuesday released the “busiest routes 2019” report which featured Bangalore-Delhi as the 19th busiest domestic route with 28,716 flights by seven airlines between the two cities last year.
 Mumbai-Delhi was the third domestic busiest route in 2017 too but that year saw 47,462 flights between the financial and political capitals of India.
 This number went down 4.8% in 2018 as demand for domestic air travel in India is slowly cooling down while India still remains one of the world’s largest growing aviation markets. Indian airlines have been cancelling flights in past few months due to various reasons like financial crunch and pilot shortage.
27/03/19 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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4 new domestic flights from Kempegowda International Airport

The summer schedule 2019 of the Kempegowda International Airport KIA, which will come into effect from March 31, was announced on Wednesday.
 During the summer schedule, four new domestic routes, a new airline and additional two cargo flights to international destinations will be introduced. The schedule will be in force until October 26. The Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), operators of the airport said Agra, Nashik (Indigo), Gwalior (Spice Jet) and Jamnagar (Star Air) are the new routes.
 Saudi Arabia-based budget carrier Flynas will be the new airline as it has proposed to operate three weekly flights between Bengaluru and Jeddah. Singapore Airlines is also set to operate with a luxurious Airbus A350-900 between Bengaluru and Singapore with ten flights each week from May 17. It will be the first airline to start A350 services from KIA.
 Spice Jet has proposed to operate additional flights to Singapore and Abu Dhabi from May 1. “Our new services will further bolster the economy of the City and enhance the reputation of BLR Airport as the Gateway to a New India. Hari Marar, MD & CEO, Bangalore International Airport Ltd., said. “We will continue to explore attractive routes that connect Bengaluru to some of the most exotic destinations in India and abroad,” he added.
 27/03/19 Bangalore Mirror

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Singapore Airlines to fly A350-900 from Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Following a hectic winter schedule, the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB or BLR Airport) is now bracing for an exciting summer.

The BLR Airport will begin its Summer schedule 2019 from March 31, featuring four new domestic routes, a new airline and additional two cargo flights to international destinations. The schedule will be in force until October 26, 2019. Agra, Nashik (Indigo), Gwalior (Spice Jet) and Jamnagar (Star Air) are the new routes, giving passengers the opportunity for non-stop flights.

Flynas will be the new airline as the Saudi Arabia-based budget carrier has proposed to operate three weekly flights between BLR Airport and Jeddah. Meanwhile, leading international carrier Singapore Airlines is set to operate with a luxurious Airbus A350-900 between Bengaluru and Singapore with 10 flights each week from May 17. It will be the first airline to start A350 services from the BLR Airport.
Cargo movement from Bengaluru will get a boost as Spice Jet has proposed to operate additional flights to Singapore and Abu Dhabi from May 1.

“Our new services will further bolster the economy of the City and enhance the reputation of BLR Airport as the Gateway to a New India," Hari Marar, MD & CEO, Bangalore International Airport Ltd, said. “We will continue to explore attractive routes that connect Bengaluru to some of the most exotic destinations in India and abroad,” Marar added.
27/03/19 Anil Urs/Business Line

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Udaipur Maharana Pratap Airport ranked 2nd on Customer Satisfaction Index 2018

Udaipur’s Maharana Pratap Airport was once again ranked 2nd under the Annual CSI Award across India.The Customer Satisfaction Index survey, which is done twice in a year – between Jan to June and July-December, ranked Udaipur second as per the given parameters. Raipur Airport was again ranked at the top of the index. Trichi Airport came in third place.

The award will be given to the Director of the Maharana Pratap Airport at the 24th Annual Day celebrations of the Airport Authority of India.
There are 33 Parameters under which the airports are ranked, some of them being – cleanliness, baggage delivery speed, security, internet access, troller facility, check in facility, washrooms, behavior of the staff, restaurants, WiFi, executive lounge, business lounge, and such.
27/03/19 Udaipur Times

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Bengaluru airport tests readiness: Mock hijack and response drill plays out on tarmac

Bengaluru: Hijacking of an IndiGo aircraft was simulated at the Kempe Gowda International Airport on Tuesday afternoon by numerous security agencies. This is an annual exercise mandated by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Ministry at all airports in the country to ensure they are ready to face emergencies.

Speaking to The New Indian Express, security sources said the drill was conducted between 12.30 pm and 3 pm. “Since the airport runway is closed on all Tuesday afternoons for maintenance purposes, we chose to conduct it during that time as aircraft operations will not be affected in any way,” said a CISF official. 
Representatives from the Airport Police, Central Industrial Security Force, Intelligence Bureau, state government, Air Force and the Army were present along with Central government agencies co-ordinating from New Delhi, he added. 

Another source involved in the drill explained the scenario. “An IndiGo bus was used in place of an aircraft. Twenty passengers drawn from these agencies were seated on board the bus to simulate real passengers. Suddenly, three of those on board took out shot guns and threatened passengers with it,” he said.
27/03/19 S Lalitha/New Indian Express

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Helicopters set to flood Patna airport

Patna: With electioneering for the Lok Sabha polls gathering pace in the state, helicopters have started arriving at JPNI airport for use by political parties.
 The first helicopter engaged for electioneering took off from state hangar at Patna airport on Monday carrying RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and VIP chief Mukesh Sahni. On the first day of RJD’s election campaign on Monday, Tejashwi addressed public meetings at Gaya, Banka and Bhagalpur. Tejashwi’s political adviser Sanjay Yadav and RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari also accompanied him.
 According to Patna airport officials, the helicopter hired by RJD arrived at the state hangar at JPNI airport from Delhi via Lucknow around 10.46am and departed for electioneering work at 11.10am. The twin-engine helicopter – Bell 407 – returned to the airport at 6pm, the official added.
 Santosh Kumar, assistant general manager (air traffic management) at Patna airport, told this newspaper that as per the instruction of the Election Commission of India (ECI), the air traffic control (ATC) has been keeping a tab on all private choppers and chartered flights.
“We are keeping the records of helicopters and chartered flights used for electioneering. For instance, the chopper used by RJD on Monday is operated by Aryan Aviation Private Limited,” he said, adding different political parties have already shared their travel plans with the ATC. As per the directive of ECI, the ATC has also shared the records of the scheduled helicopters with the chief electoral officers and district election officers.
 Rate for hiring a five-seater Bell helicopter is Rs 75,000 per hour, plus additional charges, which can go up to Rs 20,000 per hour. Tejashwi’s father and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad used to describe choppers as ‘udan khatola’ in the 90s. Helicopters are the first preference of politicians as they help them to reach out to maximum constituents during the election campaign. Chartered aircraft, on the other hand, are less popular among politicians in the state due to lack of properly maintained airstrips in most districts.
26/03/19 Faryal Rumi/Times of India

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Swami Vivekananda’s statue to be installed at Airport

Raipur: At the request of the Airports Authority of India, National Mineral Development Corporation, at NMDC Raipur Airport, has agreed to install Swami Vivekananda’s statue. Airport Director Rakesh R Saha informed that the bronze statue will stand at 18 feet tall and the estimated cost of the statue will be around Rs 1,00,00,000.

It will take 5 to 6 months to build this statue with weight ranging between 6. 5 and 7 tons. Thickness of casting is 6 millimetres. 8 mm and 85% of copper in 5 percent tin 5 percent zinc and five per cent lead, and the best part is that it will be made by India’s renowned sculptor Ram V Sutar. He has recently made an idol of 522 feet high of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, at kevadia was recently unveiled in Gujarat Airport Director Rakesh R Saha stated that the he was grateful to the NMDC on behalf of the Airports Authority of India that it is ready to do this work immediately. He hoped that the idol will be unveiled by the end of this year.
25/03/19 Hitavada

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Mattala airport to be developed with India

Sri Lanka's Mattala airport is to be developed with India's Aviation Authority, the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe said today.

“Sri Lankan and Indian Aviation Authorities will launch the joint venture and make the Mattala International Airport profitable within three months," Ranil told those gathered at an event in a cement factory in Hambantota this morning.

"The airport will not be used to store paddy anymore,” he added.

India's involvement with the development of the airport has faced criticism from several Sinhala sources, who have condemned the government's decision to 'sell' part of the island.

The JVP previously said that India's involvement would undermine national security.
25/03/19 Tamil Guardian

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Mangaluru-Dubai Air India Express flights to land in Sharjah from Apr 16-May 29

Dubai: Due to maintainence work at Dubai International Airport terminal 2, the schedule of Air India Express operations between Mangaluru and Dubai will change from middle of next month.

Reliable sources informed daijiworld from April 16, 2019 night flight onwards, there will be new timings and the destination airport has also been changed to Sharjah.

The new timings will remain in place till May 29.
24/03/19 daijiworld.com

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Construction of cargo terminal commences at Srinagar Airport

In a move that will help ease supply of goods to and from Kashmir, construction of a dedicated air cargo terminal at Srinagar Airport has kick-started recently.
The cargo terminal is being constructed in view of the great demand for supply of goods to and from Kashmir, Akash Deep Mathur, the director of Srinagar Airport told Greater Kashmir. 
“The general cargo terminal under Common User Domestic Cargo Terminal (CUDCT) is a project to be undertaken by Airports Authority of India. We have awarded the project to a contractor after proper tendering and the terminal building is expected to be ready in next 15 months,” Mathur said.
After land identification and demarking for the CUDCT was conducted last year at the Srinagar Airport, its construction has started now, he added. Construction of cargo terminal will also provide boost to exports of commodities and perishables from the valley.
“The general cargo terminal project is expected to be carried out at a cost of more than Rs 5 crore. We hope that the external factors are favourable for us to witness the completion of cargo terminal on time,” Mathur said.
24/03/19 Saqib Malik/Greater Kashmir

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Bengaluru airfares see 10-20% surge

Bengaluru: With several flight services offered by carriers Jet Airways and SpiceJet cancelled, airfares for available flights on major routes for March and April have soared 10-20% compared to the same months last year.
 Fares are expected to remain high till the end of April from Bengaluru to major cities, including Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. While several flights of debt-ridden Jet Airways were grounded due to non-payment to lessors, the recent Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) directive on Boeing 737 Max 8 planes also saw five planes of Jet Airways and 12 planes of SpiceJet getting grounded. Holidays raise demand.
"With an unprecedented number of planes now grounded due to various factors, reduction in seat capacity has led to an increase in fares overnight. Last-minute airfares in March have increased more than 100% on some key routes such as Delhi-Mumbai, Mumbai-Chennai, Mumbai-Kolkata and Mumbai-Bengaluru, compared to the same time last year," said Aloke Bajpai, CEO and co-founder, Ixigo.
 "High airfare patterns are expected to continue in the short term with the festival of Holi and upcoming summer holidays resulting in an increased demand," he added.
24/03/19 Times of India

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Mangaluru-Dubai Air India Express flights to land in Sharjah from Apr 16-May 29

Dubai: Due to maintainence work at Dubai International Airport terminal 2, the schedule of Air India Express operations between Mangaluru and Dubai will change from middle of next month.

Reliable sources informed daijiworld from April 16, 2019 night flight onwards, there will be new timings and the destination airport has also been changed to Sharjah.

The new timings will remain in place till May 29.
24/03/19 Daijiworld

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Mosquito repellent must at Kolkata airport, say stung flyers

Kolkata: Bitten and bothered by mosquitoes inside the terminal, tarmac, airport bus, and even on flights, at Kolkata airport, passengers have been flooding the airport’s complaint/suggestion register and social media, voicing there anger over the past few months.
 “It is difficult to wear slippers and three quarters while waiting after the security check as the area is infested with mosquitoes. Even the flights these days are swarming with the insects,” said Arkaprava Bhar, a frequent flyer. Bhar said he has seen mosquitoes breeding in low lying areas around the runway near the old terminal.
“I have complained to the flight crew on a number of occasions regarding the problem, but they say they are helpless as mosquitoes enter when the doors are opened for passengers,” said Soumitra Banerjee, another flyer who now carries mosquito repellent in his hand baggage.
 Airlines officials said they have tried a number of measures, including lowering the temperature inside the flights, using battery-powered mosquito swatters and spraying World Health Organisation-approved insecticides, but they have had little effect.
Airlines Operators Committee chairman Sarvesh Gupta admitted that mosquitoes were a major menace, particularly in aircraft parked in remote bays where passengers take the bus before boarding. “The situation is quite bad. We are trying to address the problem by spraying repellent inside the cabin. But when it is a hopping flight and some passengers are already seated in the aircraft, it is difficult to do so,” said Gupta.
 24/03/19 Tamaghna Banerjee/Subhro Niyogi/Times of India

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"2 kg Gold" Row At Airport Lands Trinamool Leader's Wife In Trouble

Kolkata: Reports of two kilos of gold allegedly seized by the Customs Department from the wife of Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday led to two separate press meets that painted completely contradictory pictures of what happened and hit a new low in politics.
Abhishek Banerjee claimed that his wife was not even carrying two grams of gold when she flew into Kolkata on the intervening night of March 15 and 16 from Thailand. "I will leave politics if anyone can prove she had any dutiable gold or goods on her," he said. "Also, see if you can prove if she had sought and was given any VIP treatment at the airport."

The Trinamool leader said his wife had gone to Thailand for medical treatment. "After 75 minutes of harassment by the customs, she spoke to my assistant who made some phone calls. A lady police officer came to help my wife in case she fell ill during the incident," he added.

Rujira Banerjee has claimed in an FIR that customs official harassed her, and demanded Rs. 50,000.

Abhishek Banerjee said that his wife was targeted because she was connected to a political family. "They are attacking my family because they cannot fight me politically," he added.

At a press conference held earlier, BJP parliamentarian Swapan Dasgupta and former Trinamool leader Mukul Roy raised questions about the Thai passport belonging to Mrs Banerjee and wondered if she held two such documents - which is illegal. However, Abhishek Banerjee said that as his wife is a Thai national born and brought up in that country and holds a Person of Indian Origin card, there is nothing illegal about it.

Initial reports aired by some news portals about 2 kg gold being seized from her were not mentioned at the BJP press meet. There was no mention of any such seizure in the complaint filed by the Customs Department either.


Why did it take customs officials a whole week to file its complaint? There was no clear answer to that. But the customs complaint was drafted by top brass and sent to the officer in Kolkata to file. Manish Chandra, the Customs Commissioner in Kolkata, says so in the cover letter he sent to his assistant commissioner at the Kolkata airport with the draft of the complaint to be filed.

The letter is also marked "secret".
"This is as per CBIC department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, New Delhi," Mr Chandra wrote.
The CBIC is the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs. Why the Ministry of Finance should be interested in this case, where there has been no seizure of illegal gold or cash is not clear.

At the BJP press meet, party leaders tried to make a case for a confrontation between the West Bengal police and the customs department like the confrontation between the Kolkata police and the CBI in February - when the probe agency wanted to question then Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar.
24/03/19 Monideepa Banerjie/NDTV

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Rajagopuram miniature to be installed at airport

Trichy: A scaled-miniature model of the Rajagopuram of Srirangam Renganathar Temple will be installed at the Trichy international airport. The model, with a height of nine feet and costing of Rs 4 lakh, was made by Poompuhar, the Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation Limited.
The airport authorities will be place miniature models of Tamil culture in the halls of the new airport terminal building to give a glimpse to international passengers. As the painting works are in progress, the model will be placed on Wednesday, airport director K Gunasekaran said.
The main gopuram of the temple, called Rajagopuram, is 239.5 ft tall. Based on the space available at the terminal building, it was decided to create 9ft tall scaled model, the director said.
24/03/19 Times of India

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GVK Airport Holdings acquires 12 crore MIAL shares

GVK Power and Infrastructure (GVKPIL) said that its step-down subsidiary, GVK Airport Holdings, has exercised its right, under right of first refusal, in terms of the shareholders agreement to acquire 12 crore equity shares of Mumbai International Airport (MIAL), constituting 10 per cent of the total paid-up share capital of MIAL from ACSA Global.

The company acquired 10 per cent stake at the rate of Rs 77 per share, which amounts to about Rs 924 crore.

Upon completion of this 10 per cent acquisition, along with the earlier acquisition of 13.5 per cent stake from Bidvest, the equity shareholding of GVK group will rise to 74 per cent from the existing 50.5 per cent in MIAL, GVK said in a filing to the stock exchange.

With this, the company will acquire Airports Company South Africa Global’s (ACSA) entire stake in MIAL.
23/03/19 Indian Express

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Dedicated spot at airport for heroes in armed forces

Pune: The district administration will construct a “Shraddhanjali Sthaan (place to pay homage)” at the city airport for the armed forces personnel who lay down their lives in the line of duty.
 The Dakshin Maharashtra Sub Area (DMSA), the local military authority, put forth this demand at the first civil-military liaison meeting held at the DMSA headquarter at Ghorpadi on Tuesday.  General Officer Commanding Major General Navneet Kumar of DMSA chaired the meeting.
Pune police commissioner K Venketesham and senior officials from the Pune district administration, as well as the railway and health departments, attended the meeting. Authorities from the Army and Maharashtra Sainik Welfare Board (MSWB) said that a memorial has been constructed at the exit gate of the airport. But it is not an ideal place as only VIPs can pay their tributes at the current location.
 District collector Naval Kishor Ram said a proposal will be prepared with the help of army authorities and then submitted to the authorities concerned. “Acquiring land for this project is the first crucial step and we will have to work in tandem with the Airport Authority of India (AAI). Currently, it is in the process of launching several infrastructures projects as part of airport expansion work,” he said. Recommended By Colombia Ajay Kumar, director of Pune Airport, said, “As we did not attend the meeting, we are not aware of this demand. We cannot comment on the matter at this juncture.
 23/03/19 Times of India

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No hike in parking fee at airport, says director

Calicut International Airport director K. Srinivasa Rao has said that action will be initiated against mischief makers trying to spread fake news via social and print media on hike in car parking fee at the airport from April 1.

He added that steps had been taken to identify those behind the news. As such, no decision has been taken on hiking the fee.

Usually, rate revision is made by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on an all-India basis, and the Calicut airport authorities alone cannot revise and implement new rates, Mr. Rao said.
The director also said the AAI was in the process of floating a new tender in accordance with the new AAI parking policy. Accordingly, the existing free timing concept for pick and drop for three minutes in front of the terminal building will be abolished.
23/03/19 The Hind

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Indira Gandhi International Airport ranks 12th in Passenger traffic, gets busier than Frankfurt

In the 11th Annual Airport Economics and Finance Conference and Exhibition, Airports Council International, the global trade representative of the airport authorities across the world, released its preliminary list of total passenger traffic for the year 2018. Interestingly, the Indira Gandhi International Airport New Delhi is the only Indian airport among the top 20. The New Delhi-based airport jumped from position 16 to 12 within a year, displaying a massive growth, a difference of 10.2% compared to 2017.
Delhi's airport passenger count surpassed Frankfurt, Dallas Forth Worth, Guangzhou and Istanbul Ataturk airports. The airport had an enplaning and deplaning number of 6,99,00,938. Moreover, the airport has scope of expansion and growth. In 2017, Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd, proposed to have a 5.5km-long automated people mover or air train between T1 and T2-3 by 2020. This gives more scope of better numbers in the coming years.
23/03/19 ZeeBiz

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Interim domestic arrivals terminal opened at Hyderabad airport

The GMR Hyderabad International Airport on Saturday commissioned the Interim Domestic Arrivals Terminal (IDAT).
 SpiceJet SG 468 airline passengers flying from Tirupati to Hyderabad were the first to get an experience of the new facility. The commissioning coincided with the 11th anniversary of the opening of the Hyderabad International Airport.
 Spread across about 4,000 sq.mt in the air-side, east of the existing Passenger Terminal Building (PTB), the IDAT is an exclusive Domestic Baggage Reclaim Concourse primarily serving the passengers arriving on aircraft parked on remote stands.
 23/03/19 P Pavan/Mumbai Mirror

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Contract for airport terminal extension yet to be awarded

Surat: Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid foundation stone for extension of terminal building at Surat airport at a cost of Rs350 crore in January.
However, information gathered under Right to Information (RTI) Act by an RTI activist shows that Airports Authority of India (AAI) is yet to award work contract for the same. Official sources said the tender for terminal building extension was floated two months ago, but the work order is yet to be awarded.
With model code of conduct in force due to Lok Sabha elections, the tender procedure now will be taken up after June 2019. The terminal building of Surat Airport is being extended by AAI at a cost of Rs350 crore. The existing terminal building has an area of 8,474 square metre that will be extended by additional 17,046 square metre (excluding city side and air side kerb) to have a total area of 25, 520 square metre. After the extension, the terminal building will be capable to handle (1,200 domestic + 600 international) ie 1,800 passenger during peak hours daily. Surat airport will be able to handle 2.6 million passengers annually.
 23/03/19 Times of India

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Kutch businessmen hit hard as Jet suspends two Bhuj flights

Rajkot: The crisis at private airlines Jet Airways has adversely impacted the industries in Kutch as the country’s largest district in terms of area, has lost connectivity to India’s financial hub Mumbai.
 The Jet Airways has suspended its two flights — one morning and one evening— from Kutch district headquarters Bhuj till April 30 with immediate effect. Kutch businessmen are frequent fliers to Mumbai. But with suspension of the Jet flights, they are only left with one option that is the Air India flight.
 According to Airport Authority of India (AAI) the occupancy rate in flights originating from Bhuj was high. Bhuj Airport director Navneet Kumar Gupta said, “The jet has informed us that they are suspending operation till April 30. They used to fly Boeing 737 which has capacity to carry 170 passengers and it was operating with at its full capacity
 23/03/19 Times of India

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Pilot says after fatal incident at Malaysia airport: I was not told about vehicle on runway

A pilot, whose jet ran into a car on the tarmac of Subang Airport in Selangor this week, killing a worker, claimed to have been cleared to land by the air traffic controller and that no notice was issued for maintenance work, as required.

Captain Muhammad Fauwaz Zamzam, who had piloted the Bombardier Challenger 300, said he did not see any other light on the tarmac, except for the airport guiding lights and boundary markers.

He said they decided to proceed to the bay after checking the aircraft instruments and confirming that there was no fire.
Captain Muhammad Fauwaz, who has 7,000 hours of flying experience, claimed to have been surprised when he "heard on the airport radio that the plane had rammed into a car and someone was injured" after he had taxied.

During the 3.15am incident on Monday (March 18), the jet collided with a Malaysian Airport Holdings Bhd (MAHB) vehicle, seriously injuring Mr Mohd Ruzaimi Iskandar Ahmad Razali, 39. The vehicle was used to supervise the painting and electrical repair work on the runway.

Mr Mohd Ruzaimi died on Wednesday.

The case is now being investigated by the police and the Transport Ministry's Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).

Mr Muhammad Fauwaz also alleged that he was given clearance to land some four minutes before he approached the airport.

"I did not see any other light on the tarmac, except for the airport guiding lights, as the plane approached the runway. If there has been work being carried out or any vehicle on the runway, normally there would be beacon lights," he said.

He also claimed that the airport did not issue Notice to Airman (Notam) to indicate that work was being carried out, and that he radioed the control tower twice.

The private jet, belonging to Berjaya Air, was on a chartered flight from Jaipur, India, with eight passengers on board.
22/03/19 Starits Times

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Drone sighted at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, airport, Kovalam beach; security on high alert

Thiruvananthapuram: A drone was sighted at the airport, the highly sensitive Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and nearby Kovalam beach early Friday morning, prompting Southern Air Command and Military Intelligence to go on high alert.
Southern Air Command and Military Intelligence are on high alert after the drone was sighted, defence sources said.
"We are always on high alert. The present sighting of the drone is in the civilian area. We are not intervening in the current situation, but are monitoring the entire scenario," a defence spokesperson said.
The drone was first sighted at Kovalam beach early Friday morning by a night patrolling group of Kerala police, who searched the area for its operators.
As it started flying towards the north, where the airport is located, the team informed the airport authorities.
However, after two hours, the CISF team at VSSC found the drone flying there and informed the authorities concerned.
Police and the central intelligence agencies visited the VSSC and found that visuals of the drone was not available in any of the security cameras installed.
22/03/19 PTI/ZeeNews

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MADC to start expansion work of Shirdi airport

Pune: The Maharashtra Airport Development Company Limited (MADC) has embarked on an immediate expansion of the Shirdi Airport’s terminal building, prompted by the rise in passenger traffic.
 “Two more flights were added to the airport earlier this week, taking the total flight movements to 24. The daily passenger traffic at the airport is more than 2,000. This kind of growth is posing multiple challenges to us,” C S Gupta, executive director (technical), MADC, told TOI. The Shirdi airport was inaugurated by the President on October 1, 2017.
 “The two new flights are being operated by SpiceJet on the Shirdi-Delhi sector using Boeing 737-800, which can accommodate close to 190 passengers. In addition, we already have a Chennai-Shirdi service daily with the same type of aircraft being used for it,” the official pointed out. He said the rise in passenger traffic has prompted them to expand the current terminal building.
“After the two Delhi-Shirdi flights were started, we are seeing an excess of 400 passengers with the flights running full. The last time we calculated the passenger traffic at Shirdi in February, it was around 1500. So, we have decided to immediately take up the expansion of the terminal building, else things can become difficult to manage,” Gupta told TOI.
 22/03/19 Joy Sengupta/Times of India

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CBI books former Customs SP for facilitating gold smuggling at KIA

Bengaluru: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against a former superintendent of police of Customs at Kempegowda International Airport for allegedly facilitating smuggling in of gold worth Rs 6.42 crore for a commission.
 The officer’s wife and daughter were sent on a sponsored Europe trip as the commission. According to CBI sources, D Ashok, SP of KIA Customs during 2017 allowed two passengers to smuggle in gold through Bengaluru.
Tamtam Chandrashekar, resident of Indiranagar in Bengaluru, and Vathallore John Williams, resident of New Thippasandra, are the other accused. S Nasser Khan, additional commissioner and the principal commissioner of Customs, airport and air cargo complex at KIA, lodged a complaint against Ashok.
 Ashok entered into criminal consipracy with Chandrashekar and Williams and facilitated their illegal smuggling of 20.12 kg of gold worth Rs 6.42 crore. It is also alleged that Ashok had facilitated smuggling of gold by Chandrashekar on earlier occasions and was receiving illegal gratification of Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000 per kg. Ashok received a commission of Rs 2.38 lakh from Chandrashekar in the form of payment of travel expenses for his daughter Nidhi Ashok and his wife Padma Narayana to Europe.
 22/03/19 Kiran Parashar/Times of India

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Passengers fleeced at city airport

Ahmedabad: Just days after Ahmedabad-headquartered Adani group won bid to operate Ahmedabad airport, taxi and rickshaw drivers have started collecting extra Rs 50 from passengers claiming they have to pay parking charge to the new operator.
 However, airport authorities have clarified that Airports Authority of India (AAI) continues to operate the airport and there is no role of the private company in parking fee collection. Incidentally, AAI introduced the new parking policy around the same time the winning bid to operate city airport was announced.
As per the new parking policy, taxi drivers have to pay Rs 50 to AAI while picking up passengers and not while dropping them. However, taxi drivers charge extra money even when they drop them. Clarifying on the issue, airport Director Manoj Gangal said, "The new parking policy was introduced pan India keeping passenger comfort in mind. It is one of the best policies AAI has come up with for parking and it is implemented in all AAI run airports. Private vehicles are exempted from paying any fees for dropping their relatives. They need to pay only when they park in dedicated parking plot." 
According to the new parking policy, commercial vehicles entering airport to pick up passenger need to pay Rs 50 to AAI, but there are no charges for dropping the passengers.
The taxi or rickshaw is given receipt for the fees they pay to AAI with their vehicle number. Apoorva Bhatt (25), a resident of Ghatlodia who returned from Jaipur recently, told Mirror, "I am a frequent flier. Last time, when I flew back and took a rickshaw to home, the driver asked Rs 200 instead of Rs 112 as per meter. When I asked for the reason, he said since the airport has been taken over by Adani, they need to pay parking charges. I paid only Rs 112 but was taken aback by the confrontation. It was for the first time that such an incident happened with me."
 21/03/19 Ahmedabad Mirror

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Surat airport authorities wake up to power capacity enhancement

Surat: Surat airport authorities have written to Gujarat Government for taking up immediate enhancement of electricity capacity keeping in mind proposed extension of terminal building.
TOI had in an article on March 13 highlighted the problems faced at Surat airport due to frequent power disruption, affecting smooth operation of flight services.
Electricity to Surat airport is supplied by Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company Limited (DGVCL). Earlier, power consumption at airport was less due to operation of one or two flights in a day. However, power consumption at the airport has increased three fold with operation of 27 flights in a day and
increase in passenger traffic from 20,000 to more than 1.45 lakh.
In a letter to roads and building department in August 2018, Surat airport officials stated that present load of electricity at the airport was 1,200 KAV and that the proposed requirement of power after the extension of the terminal building will be 2,200 KAV. The airport will be requiring about 1,000 KAV of additional power supply for the smooth operation of the airport.
21/03/19 Times of India

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Bharti Realty-led consortium to develop commercial project at Delhi airport

New Delhi: Delhi airport operator DIAL Wednesday said it has awarded the rights for a commercial development project to a consortium led by Bharti Realty that will make an annual payment of Rs 363.5 crore towards lease rentals till 2036.

Besides, Bharti Realty will make one-time payments of around Rs 1,837 crore, the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) said in a release.

DIAL, majority-owned by GMR group, operates the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the national capital.

Bharti Realty has been awarded the "right to design, develop, finance, construct, operate, manage and maintain a commercial development project at Gateway and Downtown Districts of Aerocity," the release said.
20/03/19 Outlook

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CBI arrests AAI Executive Director Ravichandran for taking bribe

New Delhi: The CBI on Wednesday arrested an Executive Director of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for accepting Rs 4 lakh as bribe from Bright Shine Services, a Chennai-based airport ground handling firm.

Ravichandran, who was caught red-handed here, has been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act for demanding bribe for awarding a contract floated by the AAI for ground handling at Group D airports.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took the action following a March 16 complaint from V. Venkatesh, the Chief Executive Officer of Bright Shine Services, a partnership firm which took part in the tendering process floated by the AAI.

It was alleged that Ravichandran visited Chennai on March 13 and contacted Venkatesh. Ravichandran was also accused of directing Venkatesh to visit Delhi and meet him personally.
20/03/19 IANS/New Indian Express

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US-Bangla Airlines offers Dhaka-Chennai direct flight

US-Bangla Airlines is set to spread its wings to Chennai as the first ever Bangladeshi carrier from March 31 for increasing connectivity with the southern part of India.

The airlines will operate three weekly flights from Dhaka to Chennai via Chattogram route on every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday through its 164-seater Boeing 737-800 aircraft, Imran Asif, chief executive officer of US-Bangla Airlines, said at a press briefing at Dhaka.

The minimum round-trip fare of Dhaka-Chennai-Dhaka has been fixed at Tk 22,223 while it is Tk 22,225 for Chattogram-Chennai-Chattogram route.

The private airliner also offers special medical packages collaborating with Indian hospital chain Apollo along with other packages for tourists.

Currently, the airlines is operating international flights to Muscat, Doha, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Kolkata with its seven aircraft fleet that is comprised of four Boeing 737-800 and three Dash 8-Q400.
20/03/19 Daily Star

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Is Jet Airways poised to axe Manchester-Mumbai?

Jet Airways’ Manchester-Mumbai route, launched only a few months ago, was the only direct link between the English city and India.

And last August Jet Airways was so confident of its success it decided to up the flight frequency.

Jet Airways has financial problems, and has been not been operating many domestic and regional routes recently. But its wide-body aircraft operations to Europe and beyond have remained unchanged.

Now it would appear that the Manchester-Mumbai route (operated by a wide-body A330-200) is about to be cancelled.

Earlier today Airlineroute said that bookings for this service were not possible “on/after March 23”.

When Business Traveller checked the Jet Airways website this afternoon, the final direct flight was shown for travel on March 22.
19/03/19 Alex McWhirter/Business Traveller

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Kitco to set up new terminal building at Imphal airport

Thiruvananthapuram: Kitco Ltd, the premier public sector technical consultancy organisation, has secured the project management consultancy (PMC) contract from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for setting up a ₹600-crore integrated terminal building at Imphal International Airport in Manipur.

The new terminal building and ancilliary facilities are for developing Imphal Airport, managed by the AAI. It is being developed as an Intra-Regional Hub with facility for round-the-clock operations. Once the project is commissioned, the airport will be suitable for landing of ‘C’ type aircrafts like A-320 and A-321 in all weather conditions.

The PMC, bagged by Kitco through competitive bidding, aims at concept-to-commissioning basis construction of a new integrated terminal building conforming to GRIHA 4 Star Rating, control-cum-technical block, apron link and taxiway, construction of new control tower, parking bays for A-321, B-737-800 and Q 400 type of aircraft, two taxiways, car park, and perimeter roads.

Kitco has made considerable progress in the preliminary work at the airport including site surveys, soil investigation, concept presentation, and stake holder consultation.
19/03/19 The Hindu

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One more IndiGo flight between Mangaluru and Bengaluru from April

Mangaluru: IndiGo airlines is going start one more flight from the city to the capital Bengaluru from the month of April.

IndiGo, which is the on-time performer of India, is adding 14 new flights to its fleet, based on the experience of its customers. This includes the Mangaluru - Bengaluru route also.

The new flight will leave Bengaluru at 7.30 am in the morning and will reach Mangaluru at 8.40 am. It will depart from Mangaluru at 9.40 am and reach Bengaluru at 10.30 am.

IndiGo is going to start its maiden flight service in the sectors of Chennai-Raipur, Hyderabad-Gorakhpur and Kolkata-Gorakhpur. Additional flights will be added to the existing routes of Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru-Udaipur and Bengaluru-Chennai routes. All the new services will begin from the month of April.

The press release of the airlines says that the customers, who wish to plan their trip, may book their tickets on www.goindigo.in, the official website of the airlines.
19/03/19 daijiworld

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15 small towns get linked to Mumbai by air under central govt’s scheme

In a move to strengthen air connectivity within Maharashtra and further connect cities in the state by air nationally, the Centre has approved six routes from Mumbai to cities in the state and nine routes from the financial capital to regional pockets across the country.
 Also, 15 routes involving other cities in Maharashtra, including Pune, Nagpur and Nashik, have been cleared. Among airlines, the major gainers are SpiceJet, Alliance Air, IndiGo, TruJet and Star Air (run by the Ghodawat family), to whom the routes have been awarded under the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagarik) scheme.
However, they will get non-prime or non-day time slots, because of congestion at Mumbai’s airport. Star Air, launched by Kolhapur-based educationist Sanjay Ghodawat, will connect Mumbai and Nagpur with Belgaum, besides connecting Mumbai with Kolhapur, and Hubli with Pune. The airline owns and operates two 50-seater aircraft (Embraer 145) on the Bangalore-Hubli and BangaloreBelgaum routes.
 “Within a few months our passenger load factor has touched 60% and we expect to reach 90% once we sign an agreement with aggregators such as MakeMyTrip and Cleartrip,” said Ghodawat (64), an engineer who operates educational institutes with nearly 15,000 students in Kolhapur and Sangli. the country’s top politicians during poll campaigns.
 In the last Union cabinet meeting before the general election’s announcement, 30 routes for various airlines were approved. Mumbai got the most, 15, followed by Nashik, Pune and Sholapur. According to sources, the routes will soon be “formalized”. Additional infrastructure at some of the regional airports is almost ready, they said.
19/03/19 Chittaranjan Tembhekar/Times of India

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Jet Airways stops flights to 5 destinations from Indore

Indore: There is bad news for frequent flyers of city. The debt-ridden Jet Airways shut down its four fights operating between Indore-New Delhi and New Delhi-Indore from Monday. The airline withdrew flights from city to five destinations in last 20 days including Chennai, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi.

The decision to stop Indore-New Delhi and New Delhi-Indore flights was sudden, which caused panic among the passengers who had booked their tickets. Saddled with heavy debts, Jet Airways is unable to make lease payment of aircrafts and salaries of its employee. It was operating for destinations including New Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Chennai, Bengaluru and Jaipur.
19/03/19 Manish Upadhyay/Free Press Journal

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Man held with live cartridges at Jaipur airport

Jaipur: A man was caught at the Jaipur Airport carrying six live cartridges and a magazine on Monday afternoon. Dinesh Kumar was to take the flight from Jaipur to Surat and had checked in with firearms in his luggage.
He was handed over to the police and the preliminary probe revealed that he has an arms licence. However, firearms are not allowed on board private airlines and Kumar’s questioning is on. The airport authorities caught the firearms when the luggage was scanned.
Lakhan Singh, SHO, Sanganer police station told TOI, “Kumar was supposed to take the afternoon flight to Surat but was stopped when the cartridges were found in his luggage. He did have a licence, so it is not a case of illegal transportation of firearms.”
 According to the rule, no one can carry any firearms or even toy replicas on board the flight. Kumar is a businessman from Surat who had travelled to Jaipur for some work.
19/03/19 Times of India

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IAF aircraft suffers tyre burst at Pune airport, civil flight operations hit

An Indian Air Force aircraft at the Pune's Lohegaon airport suffered a tyre burst on Monday and was stranded for at least an hour before being cleared from the runway.

The aircraft suffered a tyre burst which forced the plane to remain stranded on the runway which resulted in civil flight operations getting affected. Airport director Ajay Kumar confirmed to news agency ANI that the IAF aircraft was stranded on the runway which had affected civil operations. The Pune airport is used for both defence as well as civil flight operations.

The IAF plane was eventually taken off the runway and flight operations resumed soon after.
18/03/19 Zee Media

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New ATC tower at airport by July

Ranchi/Jamshedpur: By July, Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi will have a new air traffic control (ATC) tower which will offer better visibility for flight operators who will also have at their disposal better equipment that include the latest in radar, weather forecasting technology and communication systems.

Ranchi Airport director Pravat Ranjan Beuria said work on the new tower would be completed in June and it would become functional after the director general civil aviation (DGCA) gave a final okay in July.

“The new ATC tower will be nearly 35 meter tall, almost double the height of the existing ATC tower which stands at 17 meter. The new tower will provide better visibility and be equipped with latest machines, radar control and better facilities for pilot briefings and weather forecasting,” Beuria told The Telegraph, adding that the private agency working on the tower had assured them it would be ready in June.

Sources revealed that the need for a new and higher ATC was felt in view of the increase in volume of air traffic and that an additional apron area (tarmac) would be operational from May after the DGCA’s nod.

The new ATC, being built beside the fire station in the airport, is being constructed over an area of 9,000sqft.

“An ATC tower that is taller will provide a better view of aircraft moving on the ground, taking off or landing from/on the runway and other ground operations. As airports get bigger, ATCs also need to be higher so that operators are able to notice all detail,” said an airport official.

As of now, the airport apron area, where aircraft are parked, refuelled, loaded and unloaded, and passengers board and disembark, can accommodate three Airbus (A-320) and two 19-seater ATR planes. The new apron can accommodate four Airbus planes and one ATR.
18/03/19 Animesh Bisoee/Telegraph

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Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International airport bags three awards for world-class services

Big achievement by India’s aviation sector! The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SPVI) Airport in Ahmedabad, Gujarat which is also known as Ahmedabad Airport has been awarded for its international-level services. Recently, the airport has bagged a total of three international Airport Service Quality (ASQ) awards. All the three international awards have been awarded by the Airport Council International (ACI) for the year 2018. The categories for which the airport has been acknowledged include best environment and ambiance, best customer services, and best infrastructure and facilitation. The ASQ programme is the leading airport passenger service as well as benchmarking programme of the world.
Recently, another incredible feat was achieved by another Indian airport- Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB). The Bengaluru Airport become the world’s first airport to clinch the ACI’s ASQ awards for both arrivals as well as departures. Interestingly, it is for the first time that the airport has won an ASQ award for arrivals, a category open to all airports across the world, that was introduced in the year 2018. The airport has also been recognized as the best Airport by size/ region in the 25-40 MPPA (million passengers per annum) category in the Asia-Pacific zone, according to a PTI report.
18/03/19 Devanjana Nag/Financial Express

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Pune airport officials to watch over unscheduled flights

Pune: The airport authorities in Pune have orders from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) to keep watch over unscheduled flight movements. Pune airport witnesses an average of 10 unscheduled flight movements per day, most of them chartered.
 “The BCAS has sent instructions regarding unscheduled flight movements in the wake of the general elections. A system is being readied to ensure that the instructions are strictly adhered to. We are on the alert since it is a defence airport,” an airport official told TOI.
 The BCAS guidelines come in the wake of the model code of conduct and focuses on steps to curb the movements of unauthorized items, especially cash, sources told TOI. There are instructions to check flight movements to and from unserved, remote and underserved airports and airstrips too. Maharashtra has a good number of such airports and airstrips
. “The Airports Authority of India (AAI), directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) will coordinate and inform the police and the income tax department if flights are taking off or landing in such airstrips. Similar instructions have been laid out for unscheduled flights at airports with heavy passenger movements which includes Pune. The Air Traffic Control will share unscheduled movements with the CEO and the district administration officials in advance,” another official said.
 18/03/19 Joy Sengupta/Times of India

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No information on cancelled SpiceJet flight irks flyers at Kempegowda International Airport

Bengaluru: Several passengers were put to hardship in the absence of any prior information sent by SpiceJet via phone call or text messaging about cancelling of its Sunday afternoon flight from Bengaluru to Bagdogra in West Bengal.

The passengers arrived at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) to board flight SG759 to Bagdogra, only to learn at the eleventh hour that their flight had been cancelled. The grounding of Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft as mandated by the Director General of Civil Aviation was cited as the reason. 

Priyadarshini Jain, an entrepreneur, was heading home to celebrate the Holi festival with his family. When he went to the check-in counter of SpiceJet, he was directed to a specific counter.

He told The New Indian Express, “It was only when I reached the second counter that I got the shocking news that flight SG759 had been cancelled. How can they not even send me a text about it? I left my house at HSR Layout at 11 am to reach the airport well in time for my 3 pm flight. The two staffers at this counter did not know the reason too.” This direct flight to Bagdogra was slated to reach its destination at 6 pm.

Describing the scene at the counter as ‘complete chaos,’ Jain said nearly 20 other passengers meant to take the same flight were also fuming over lack of prior intimation.
18/03/19 S Lalitha/New Indian Express

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Calicut airport seeks permission for Emirates flights

Calicut International Airport in Kerala is currently in the process of seeking a no objection certificate (NOC) from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for Emirates to operate direct flights to the airport.

The NOC from DGCA will pave the way for Emirates to begin direct flight operations to Kozhikode (Calicut) in northern Kerala.

Calicut airport authorities’ move to secure an NOC for Emirates’ operations follows the UAE flagship carrier’s submission of its final report to them on Tuesday, after conducting a compatibility study along an AAI (Airport Authority of India) team at the airport earlier this month.

A high level team from Emirates also held negotiations with the top AAI officials at the airport on its requirements to commence operations to the Calicut airport.

“The final study report is being completed by including Emirates requirement and will be submitted to the DGCA through our (AAI’s) corporate headquarter in New Delhi shortly,” K Srinivasa Rao, Airport Director at Calicut, told Arabian Business.
17/03/19 James Mathew/Arabian Business

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Mock anti-hijack exercise conducted at Vizag airport

Visakhapatnam: With the objective to test the efficacy of contingency plans and procedures to deal with hijack threats and subsequent evacuation, an anti-hijack and mass casualty evacuation drill was conducted at Visakhapatnam airport by INS Dega.
Marine Commandos (Marcos), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), National Security Guard, Airport Authority of India and state government agencies participated in the drill. The hijack exercise was conducted with a mock situation created for initiating coordinated actions by various stakeholders from the navy, the airport and other central and state government agencies.
 As part of the exercise, a scenario of inbound aircraft pilot reporting a possible hijack by about seven armed men to the Duty Air Traffic Control Officer of Visakhapatnam airport and his intentions of making an emergency landing at Visakhapatnam airport was simulated.
On landing, the aircraft was shifted to an isolated bay away from the main terminal. The quick reaction team of INS Dega and CISF were immediately deployed till the arrival of NSG and Marcos.
17/03/19 Times of India

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Strict passenger screening in place at Shamshabad Airport

Hyderabad:  In the wake of the massacre at Christchurch in New Zealand on Friday, stringent security measures have been put in place at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad. Security agencies in India have directed all airports authorities across the country to tighten their passenger screening procedures.

Until recently, water bottles, and even shampoo bottles, of 500 ml were allowed to be carried into the aircraft; however, as per the latest orders, only bottles containing 100 ml of water shall be permitted. The rule applies to all liquids, gels and aerosols.
Though there is no specific input from the security agencies, the move comes as a preventive measure against emergencies, said a CISF official on the condition of anonymity.

“In addition to the existing measures that are foolproof, the additional ones would be a pro-active step towards making passenger movement safer,” the official said. Earlier, in a bid to clear huge flow of passengers, they were screened randomly and based on their ‘suspicion element’. Now, each passenger is put thorough screening despite the long queues.
17/03/19 New Indian Express

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Rahul Gandhi saved from ‘stale’ tea, Hyderabad airport lounge in the soup

Hyderabad: Congress president Rahul Gandhi, an SPG protectee having VVIP security protocol 24/7, arrived at the premium lounge of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) on March 9 evening and was waiting to have some refreshments before he was to set out for addressing a public meeting in Shamshabad. Thankfully for him as well as those who guard him, two staffers of Telangana State Forensic Science Laboratory (TSFSL) chanced upon tea bags past expiry date before Rahul could have the tea and quickly removed them from the food and snacks spread. Taking a serious view of the gaffe involving a VVIP leader’s security protocol, the RGIA police filed a case against Plaza Premium Lounge.
The case was registered on March 13 under section 273 (selling any food or drink as food and drink, knowing the same to be noxious) of the IPC against the management of Plaza lounge. A senior police official told TOI that punishment for the offence under section 273 could lead to imprisonment for six months or a fine of Rs 1,000 imposed or both.
Tea bags found to have expired in October 2018
As the offence is non-cognizable in nature, the station house officer (SHO) of RGIA took permission from the court to file the case,” he said.
When Rahul arrived at the lounge in ‘C’ level — Plaza has three such lounges in the airport — at the international arrivals in the evening, TSFSL staffers — Venkateswarulu and Venkatraj — who were on the VVIP food inspection duty, checked the food items that were to be served to the AICC chief and his entourage. They noticed tea bags of ‘Typhoo flavoured masala tea’ (batch number D1 2297), which were packed in October 2016 with its expiry date mentioned as ‘best before 24 months’. The duo were shocked but gained their wits and immediately checked other items and found another batch of tea bags (A1 5299) with October 2016 packaging with the same expiry period.
16/03/19 Mahesh Buddi/Times of India

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CISF gets 6 bullet-resistant vehicles to secure IGI from terror attacks

New Delhi: The Central Industrial Security Force on Friday received six bullet-resistant vehicles for Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, becoming the first airport in the country to have such vehicles deployed at its premises.

Equipped with state-of-the-art weapons, these vehicles are being introduced to counter lone-wolf and vehicular attackers inside and near the periphery of the airport. The armoured vehicles will be handed over to CISF's Quick Reaction Teams, trained to be the first responders in a crisis situation. The procurement of these vehicles has been done to minimise any damage caused by a terrorist attack.

Officials said that earlier, there were no bulletproof vehicles at airports for the security of passengers and hence, the Bureau of Civil Aviation, recently, approved the procurement of such vehicles.

Each vehicle costs anywhere between Rs 25 and 40 lakh and has a light machine gun mounted on it. They are bomb resistant and are deployed along with a specifically trained staff, at locations that are more prone to attacks at the airport.
16/03/19 Times of India

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