JDA delaying on construction of security corridor around Jaipur airport

Jaipur: Safety and security at the city airport continues to take a backseat as the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) seems to be in no mood to develop the security corridor around the airport.
Five years ago in accordance with the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security ( BCAS) guidelines, the Jaipur airport authority had proposed a 30-foot-wide security corridor around the airport. The Jaipur airport also desired to construct the security corridor on the lines of Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in Delhi. However, till date the
JDA has not taken any step in this regard.
Currently, passing through the airport premises has been prohibited for the public after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's ( DGCA) warning to confiscate international licence of the Jaipur airport. Sources at the airport security department said the prohibition of passing through the airport was not a concrete measure for passenger's safety.
Once the corridors are developed, patrolling by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and state police can be done 24 hours a day. The existing land where the security corridor has to be constructed, is, however, encroached and many houses are constructed on it.
09/06/11 Times of India

Read More

Passengers left stranded after Guwahati-Delhi flight reaches Jaipur

Jaipur: The passengers of a Delhi-bound flight from Guwahati spent a harrowing time at Jaipur airport on Sunday night after the flight was diverted here and subsequently cancelled following bad weather at Delhi airport.
The SpiceJet plane carrying 190 passengers landed at Terminal 2 of Sanganer airport at 10.30 pm on Sunday. Soon, without giving any solid reasons, the passengers were told that the flight was cancelled.
"It was already 1 am on Monday when we were told about the cancellation of flight. This is not done. They neither refunded the money nor arranged for any vehicle to reach Delhi," said a passenger.
Finally, after four hours, the passengers and staff were sent to Delhi via cars and other vehicles.
"The plane was diverted to Jaipur due to bad weather in Delhi. It was scheduled to take off once weather gets cleared in Delhi, but it was cancelled," said R K Singh, director, Airports Authority of India, Jaipur, said.
"We have ordered an inquiry into the matter and the report would be sent to the Director General Civil Aviation's ( DGCA) office soon," said a senior officer with the AAI, Jaipur.
31/05/11 Times of India

Read More

Dead rat cooks up a brand new Air India disaster

Mumbai: On May 24, AI 115, 7.15am was to leave from Delhi but got delayed by three and a half hours because of the foul smell.

When the crew boarded the plane they got a whiff of it. The engineering department was informed. But it took the engineers an hour to find the source of the smell, the dead rat. “They declared the aircraft could not be operated and recommended a change in aircraft,” says a source from AI.

The crew accordingly informed the catering department to change all catering equipment (oven), food trolleys and food as the smell had permeated them due to the air-conditioning. All the passengers were taken off the plane and moved to another aircraft. “The crew had already marked all the food trolleys and carts on the earlier plane but when they boarded the new plane they found the same food and equipment on it,” says the source.

And the same foul smell from the opened food carts.

The cabin crew reported the matter to AI airport manager Rita Buddhiraja who said that the plane should leave as it was already delayed and the flight duty time limit (FDTL) might also get over if there was further delay. So, the flight took-off at 10.45am and the same rat-smelling food was served to the passengers.

30/05/11 Naveeta Singh/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Gale triggers midair turbulence

Bhubaneswar: Passengers of the Mumbai-Bhubaneswar Kingfisher flight had a harrowing experience on Sunday after the aircraft was caught in a midair turbulence and failed to land.

After three aborted attempts, sources said, it was diverted to Kolkata and returned later in the evening. During the attempted landings, when the city was hit by strong wind and showers, the passengers were left panic-struck.

The flight, carrying 130-odd passengers with three? infants, had left Mumbai at 12.45 pm and was to reach Bhubaneswar at 2.35 pm.

With the weather not so conducive, the passengers wondered why the flight was given permission to land in the first place. “Besides, if there was a turbulence, why make three attempts at all?,” another traveller asked. Some of the passengers complained of uneasiness and even vomited.

30/05/11 New Indian Express/IBN Live

Read More

Kuttadan Padam looks set to become the site for Guruvayur's own airport

An overgrown stretch of land, which is currently a headache for local residents, has been proposed as site of a mini airport in Guruvayur.

Officials have zeroed in on Kuttadan Padam in Vylathur, 3km away from Guruvayur, as a suitable site to build the long awaited airport.

District Collector PG Thomas had demanded that a report on the proposed site be submitted yesterday.

"I will receive the report tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, but the tahsildar told me via phone that the land met the required proportions. The next step will be an examination of the land by aviation experts," said the collector yesterday.

The proposal was made during a meeting held at the collector's chamber last morning. Members of the Guruvayur Airport Planning Society handed over the proposal to the collector in the presence of Guruvayur Devaswom and corporation officials.

"Earlier, a stretch of land in possession of the Guruvayur Devaswom had been identified. But the 14-acre site is inadequate for the construction of an airport which requires at least 40 acres," said society secretary Ravi Panakkal.

He added that they had proposed that the airport be constructed at Kuttadan Padam which had been abandoned for years.

Vylathur ward member MT Kuriyakose told City Journal that the plan would benefit the local community.

31/05/11 Vishnu Prasad/CityJournal

Read More

Air India weighs hub in Guwahati

Kanpur: Air India plans to make Guwahati the hub for its Northeast operations. The national carrier wants to include remote regions in the Northeast and east in its flight schedules to increase its flagging market share.

In the next six to eight months, Air India is planning to get as many as sixteen 40-70 seater aircraft on lease to start operations in these regions.

“Many areas in the Northeast do not still have a single flight connecting them to a single nearest metropolitan city. We are going to start regular flights from places such as Imphal, Aizwal, Dimapur and connect them to Guwahati and other cities in the region,” said a senior Air India official who did not want to be named.

Air India will have to set up a maintenance base and open other services at the airport in Guwahati. The national carrier’s subsidiary — Alliance Air — will be operating the flights. Alliance will induct mainly two types of planes — the CRJ-700 jets and turbo-prop ATRs. These two aircraft have lower operating costs because of the hefty concessions they get on landing and parking charges.

At present, around 30 flights operate between Calcutta and places such as Agartala, Dimapur and Aizwal. According to Air India officials, around 35 to 40 flights will operate from Guwahati to cities in the Northeast.

30/05/11 Karan Chowdhury/The Telegraph

Read More

Nun complains against Jetlite

New Delhi: A nun with a fractured collar bone, who had flown Jetlite from Delhi to Kochi earlier this month, has filed a complaint of negligence with the civil aviation minister. The nun and her three companions said that the airline "grossly overcharged" them for stretcher facilities and did not take the necessary care in handling a sensitive case.

Sister Cisily Augustine of the Franciscan Clarist Congregation had injured herself in Ethiopia and required surgery for which it was decided to take her to the mission's affiliated hospital in Kerela. She was booked to fly from Delhi to Kochi on May 5 on Jetlite S2-241. "The patient was bed-ridden and we required a special stretcher facility in the aircraft. Six seats were removed to accommodate the stretcher but the airline charged us for nine seats at Rs 25,390 each and an additional Rs 5,518 per passenger. We ended up paying over Rs 2.5 lakh," said Paul Joseph, a member of the mission.

"At Delhi airport, the airline staff came with a wheelchair to take the patient to the aircraft when it had been specified to them that she required a stretcher. The airline had not informed the security agency of this case either, which is necessary in such a situation and Sister Cisily had to wait in an ambulance outside the terminal for really long till they got their act together," added Joseph.

29/05/11 Times of India

Read More

MIAL completes reconstruction of Primary Runway at CSIA

In line with its ongoing efforts to upgrade the cross runway system and create an efficient airside infrastructure, Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) has completed the reconstruction of runway 09/27 (Primary Runway) at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport(CSIA) in Mumbai.

This project which is an integral part of the overall master plan for the modernization of CSIA was completed on time in a period of seven months. The primary runway will now be available for round-the-clock operations from 1700 hrs today.

The scope of work primarily included upgradation and resurfacing of the Primary Runway. The existing width of the runway has been increased from 45 mtrs to 60 mtrs with a compliant runway shoulder width of 7.5 mtrs on each side, thus making it compatible for operations by Code F aircraft such as the A380. The slope profile of the runway has been corrected to address the undulation present earlier.

Additionally, landing aids have also received a major facelift with the introduction of Touchdown Zone Lights, Taxiway Centre Line Lights and RET Identification Lights, all controlled through a new Control & Monitoring System from either the ATC Tower or from the CCR Hall. Safety enhancements with the straightening of the centre line and the addition of Stop Bar and Guard Lights are also of significance.

30/05/11 India Infoline/India Infoline

Read More

Passengers create furore at airport after flight cancellation

Jaipur: Passengers of a Delhi-bound aircraft today created pandemonium at Sanganer airport here after their flight was cancelled. The Guwahati-Delhi spice Jet flight with 190 passengers and crew members on board was diverted to Jaipur following bad weather in Delhi. It landed at the airport at 1030 hrs last night and was cancelled at 0100 hrs on technical grounds. The passengers created an uproar at the airport as they collectively complained to the administration about the inconvenience caused to them and poor management by the staff. "It was a Guwahati-Delhi spice Jet flight with 190 passengers and crew members on board. It was diverted to Jaipur due to bad weather in Delhi and was scheduled to take off once weather clears but it was finally cancelled," R K Singh, Director, Sanganer Airport, Jaipur, said. "Some passengers resisted the cancellation of the flight and complained about the poor management of the airline. We have ordered an enquiry into the matter and the report will be sent to DGCA as well as to Airport Authority of India's head office," he said.

30/05/11 PTI/IBN Live

Read More

Air India Delhi-Guwahati flight Passengers harassed

New Delhi : Passengers on the Delhi - Guwahati Air India flight No. 9611 were harassed the whole day here today. Scheduled to take off from Delhi at 1030 hours the aircraft stood on the tarmac and even after cruising on the runway it returned and was parked. The pilot informed the passengers that this was due to some technical snags.

Passengers where first made to wait in the craft for about an hour and then they were sent back inside the airport terminal. For hours they kept the passengers waiting, and kept informing that they are trying to fix the problem. Then the national carrier informed the traumatised passengers that another aircraft was being arranged and hence, as usual the unhelpful staff of the airlines declined to adjust any passenger on other flights to Guwahati, irrespective of the urgency of the purpose of the proposed journey.

Passengers were made to run form one corner of the airport to the other without respite or any proper information. The passengers later came to know that Air India knew about this “technical snag” well before the passengers were made to board the flight and the whole drama was staged.

At 3pm they informed the passengers that they were cancelling the flight and a refund will be issued to the passengers. The only next flight to Guwahati was of Jetlite who were charging about seventeen thousand for a ticket!

29/05/11 The Milli Gazette

Read More

Top HR Activist Detained At Srinagar Airport

Srinagar: Noted Indian human rights activist and outspoken advocate of Kashmir’s independence, Gautam Navlakha, was on Saturday detained at the Srinagar airport to deny him entry to the valley, with the police saying that ‘his presence was not required here.’

A co-convenor of the International People’s Tribunal on Justice and Human Rights in Kashmir (IPTK), which among other cases has strongly contested the government’s investigations into the Shopian tragedy of exactly two years ago, Navlakha was barred entry when he arrived from New Delhi with a friend at around 1:50 pm, the authorities invoking section 144 of the Criminal Procedure and citing law and order reasons.

The ITPK said that he had been taken to some undisclosed location as no outgoing flights were available by the time authorities finalized decisions for his return, and would be allowed to go back on May 30.

Navlakha described his detention as outrageous, saying that authorities here were not willing to listen to reason.

“This shows the level of control they exercise on people,” he told reporters over phone.

“The police offered to send me back in their own vehicle, but I refused, saying that I was not a criminal,” he said.

A frequent visitor to Kashmir in the past two decades, Navlakha said that had come for trekking and not for work on this occasion, the first time ever he was stopped from entering the city.

28/05/11 Kashmir Observer

Read More

Two airports put Air India, Kingfisher on cash-and-carry from June 1

Mumbai: The burden of unpaid bills again caught up with Air India on Friday and could catch up with Kingfisher Airlines by the coming Wednesday.

In a late evening development, GMR operated Delhi and Hyderabad airport announced that Air India and Kingfisher Airlines have been put on a cash-and-carry basis from June 1. This would mean that the two airlines need to clear their airport charges for every take-off and landing before operating flights out of the two airports.

In a statement, the airport said this was being done ``in order to control the significant dues recoverable from the two airlines”.

27/05/11 Business Line

Read More

Geer study reiterates futility of efforts to stop bird-hits

Ahmedabad: Will there be an end to bird-hit incidents at Ahmedabad airport that continue to endanger the lives of thousands of flyers? Ahmedabad airport at present spends over Rs 30 lakh a year mainly on firecrackers to check birds entering the runway area, but all that seems to be in vain.

A preliminary report of a six-month-long study on migration, food habits and behavior of birds at Ahmedabad airport and surrounding areas suggests that there is really no help until trouble spots outside airport campus, especially near the Kotarpur water works and cantonment area, are nailed.

In a meeting of Airport Environment Management Committee earlier this year it was decided to commission a survey on nesting patterns and attractions of birds frequenting the airport to Gujarat Environment Education and Research (Geer) foundation.

Sources with the Ahmedabad airport suggest that Geer began the study last month and has recently submitted a preliminary report which suggests that many spots around the airport are active breeding grounds for birds who get easy access to food at waste dumping sites near the fish and mutton markets close to the runway.

28/05/11 Ankur Jain/Times of India

Read More

Bird-hit incidents at Ahmedabad airport dip

Ahmedabad: In the first four months, thanks to the joint effort of Airport Authority of India, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and forest department, the number of bird hit incidents at the airport has come down.

The airport was labelled as a 'critical airport' in the country due to the bird hits. For the period January to April 2011, the airport witnessed only seven incidents, significantly lower, compared to last year.

The data obtained by DNA reveals that the number of bird hits has declined. But with the monsoon not very far away, the actual challenge for the agency has just begun. The monsoon brings the toughest challenge when birds often park themselves at the runway.

During the rainy season birds often fly low over the runway in search of insects that appear on the vast fields near the airport. The scavenging birds hover about in search of their prey thus posing a danger to aircrafts.

27/05/11 Satish Jha/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Spice Jet flight makes emergency landing after fire alarm

Mumbai A Mumbai-Hyderabad Spice Jet flight with 140 passengers on board today landed under emergency conditions at the city airport after a fire alarm in the aircraft.

The aircraft, which took off from Mumbai airport around 0530 hours returned and landed safely at 0605 hours. All the passengers were disembarked by 0630 hours, a Mumbai International Airport Limit (MIAL) official said here.

"Full emergency was declared at 0558 hours for the Mumbai-Hyderabad flight SG 401 after a fire alarm in the aircraft," the official said.

27/05/11 ExpressIndia.com

Read More

Four Air India employees at Ahmedabad airport under scanner

Ahmedabad: Four Air India (AI) employees at the city airport are under police scanner in connection with the Rs10 lakh jewellery theft that had taken place early this year.

Cops have subjected these employees to lie detection tests and are awaiting their reports.

Sardarnagar police inspector VS Sarvaiya said that Amul Bhattt, Faruk Sindhi, Vipul Patel and Pravin Chauhan of AI are suspected to have been involved in the theft that had taken place on February 24 this year. Of them, Amul Bhatt is security in-charge for AI at Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA), while Faruk Sindhi is luggage loader for the national career at the same airport. The other two suspects are also posted at SVPIA, said Sarvaiya.

The police inspector further said that Bhatt is responsible for scanning of passengers' luggage and Sindhi is a luggage loader. So, only these two could have known that the bag of complainant Anju Aradhya, 30, a resident of Bangalore, contained diamond jewellery.

The polygraphs were done at Forensic Science Laboratory in Gandhinagar, the PI further said. Giving detail of the case, Sardarnagar police said that Aradhya had visited Ahmedabad in February to buy jewellery for her marriage.

28/05/11 Ritesh Shah/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Faridabad Air Ambulance Crash: DGCA, the real culprit

Directorate General of Civil Avition (DGCA), India’s aviation regulatory body alone is responsible for the Wednesday night’s small aircraft crash at Faridabad near Delhi that Killed all 7 people on board and 3 on ground.

It was by violating its own regulations that DGCA had granted permission to the single engine Pilatus PC-12/45 to fly as air ambulance in India.

The CAR or Civil Aviation Requirement notification released by DGCA on 1st June, 2010 (SECTION 3, AIR TRANSPORT SERIES ‘C’, PART III, ISSUE II) prohibits all single engine aircraft ferrying patients.

Captain Mohan Ranganathan , aviation safety expert and veteran pilot who also is a member of Safety Advisory Committee of the Aviation Ministry points out:

” The CAR (Civil Aviation Requirement) is very clear that a Single-engine aircraft cannot be used for ambulance flights. The CAR is also very clear that the flight cannot be undertaken at night and in Bad weather conditions..”

Paragraphs 2.2 & 2.3 of the CAR:

Single engine, turbine powered aeroplanes may be operated day/night, VFR/IFR weather conditions as per their certification and operating procedures stipulated in flight manual. Single engine piston airplanes shall not be operated at night or in Instrument Meteorological conditions. However, they may be operated under special VFR subject to the limitations contained in the type certificate.

Operations with single engine aeroplanes shall be conducted only on domestic sectors except for medical evacuation flights and shall be operated along such routes or within such areas for which surfaces are available which permit a safe forced landing to be executed.

” When the flight left Patna, there was a Squall warning for Dellhi. The flight should not have been cleared as it was already night and the weather forecast was bad.Whoever gave the permission for the flight from DGCA should be held accountable for all the fatalities..” say Capt. Ranganathan who has more than 20,000 hours of flying experience to his credit.

The Union government has already announced it will appoint a committee of inquiry to probe the crash of the air ambulance in a residential area in neighbouring Faridabad.

But it is really doubtful if the probe would reach anywhere.

Because in this accident the law maker, who also happens to be the agency that implement the law, itself is the real culprit,

And it has already become clear to where the investigation is heading:

See this news report:

Preliminary probe by aviation regulator DGCA into the Faridabad air crash that claimed ten lives today pointed towards technical malfunction and high velocity winds as possible major reasons for the mishap.

27/05/11 Jacob K Philip/Decision Height

Read More

Air ambulance crash: Plane tossed, turned & blipped out

New Delhi: The PC-12 aircraft that crashed in Faridabad on Wednesday got trapped in such bad weather that it suddenly stopped moving and started plummeting.
"It kept descending and ascending at a very rapid rate for a few seconds like it was being tossed about and then suddenly plummeted down to 2,000ft. That is when we lost the blip on the radar. About three minutes later we got information that it had crashed," said a source.
The Met department had issued a weather forecast at 2.30pm on Wednesday indicating heavy winds at night. At 8.30pm, it issued a weather warning and within 90 minutes, a massive dust storm hit the airport. "The warning was issued for a radius of 100 km. There was a lot of disturbance in the approach paths as well. General visibility had come down to 800m," said RK Jenamani, director incharge, IGI Met.
Sources added that the wind was so strong that several aircraft approaching
Delhi from the east, including big Boeings, found it difficult to stick to their path and were being pushed towards the south. During investigations, officials will also be questioning pilots of other flights that were making their way to Delhi to see if they experienced similar problems and how they dealt with the weather.
"If that was the case with the bigger aircraft, a 9-seater stood no chance against the weather. It must have been like encountering a wall. Even if the aircraft developed a technical snag, it would have happened due to the weather conditions," said an official.
On crashing into a house at Parvatia Colony, the aircraft turned almost 90 degrees on impact and burst into flames. Dr O P Mehta, the chief medical officer at B K Hospital where the victims and injured were taken, said the victims were charred beyond recognition.
27/05/11 Times of India

Read More

ATC: Wall of air stopped plane at 24,000 feet

New Delhi: The Pilates PC-12 aircraft that crashed in Faridabad on Wednesday had come up against such strong winds that it was unable to move, observations at the IGI Airport's air traffic controller reveal. An official described the conditions as "hitting a wall" in the air.
The blip on the ATC radar indicated the 9-seater air ambulance approaching Delhi from Patna suddenly stopped moving around 10.35pm on Wednesday. As the air traffic control scrambled to contact the pilot of the aircraft, the dust storm outside IGI airport reached a speed of 60kmph.
"The pilot reported bad weather and since the blip was not moving, we would only conjecture that the wind was so strong that the aircraft was unable to fly," said highly placed sources.
The aircraft that crashed into a densely populated locality in Faridabad, killing 10 people including all seven on board, had ATC officials worried for as long as 10 minutes before the crash. "The aircraft was at 24,000ft when it stopped moving. Then ATC asked it to descend to 11,000ft," sources said.
27/05/11 Times of India

Read More

Panel to probe plane crash

New Delhi: The Union government will appoint a committee of inquiry to probe the crash of a small air ambulance in a residential area in neighbouring Faridabad on Wednesday. Ten people, including all seven onboard, were killed in the freak tragedy.
The committee will also make recommendations to prevent such accidents, the Union Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. A preliminary report has been received by the Ministry.
The nine-seater aircraft of Air Charter Services India Private Limited on its way from Patna to Delhi was carrying a 20-year-old jaundice-afflicted Rahul Raj, doctors Rajesh Jain and Syed Arshad Abbas and nurse Cyril Joy employed with the Apollo Hospitals, Delhi, and Ratnesh, a cousin of the patient. The two pilots, Captain Harpreet Singh and Captain Manjeet Kataria, were also killed.
The crash killed all seven and also three women — Sarita, Vedvanti and Rani — when the plane smashed into their house.
A Directorate-General of Civil Aviation team has inspected the site.
According to DGCA Director of Air Safety (Delhi) Ram Nath, who was present at the site, the strong winds could have caused the small single engine turboprop to crash. “Based on our initial investigations, it appears that strong winds and stormy weather may have been responsible for the incident,” he said.
26/05/11 The Hindu

Read More

Court issues notices on security checks at airports

Lucknow: The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Thursday issued notices to the director general, bureau of civil aviation security ( Ministry of Civil Aviation), Government of India for a reply as to why high court judges are not exempted from pre-embarkation security checks at all the civil airports in the country.
A division bench of Justice Uma Nath Singh and Justice Satish Chandra also summoned the original file leading to issuance of notification, which provides exemption to President, Prime Minister, and Supreme Court judges totalling to 31 categories of VVIPs. The court posted the matter on July 12 for further hearing of the matter.
27/05/11 Times of India

Read More

CBI to probe Davy's daring escape from Mumbai airport

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) wishes to write "the last chapter" of the Purulia arms drop case as it wants to know the name of a politician who might have helped the main accused Kim Davy escape from the Mumbai airport.
A source in the agency said CBI is keen to probe Davy's mysterious escape from the airport since he has been making claims to the media that he was helped by a politician to leave the country.
"The last chapter of this mystery has to be scripted by Davy. So far, CBI hasn't found the involvement of any politician in the Purulia arms drop conspiracy," said an officer.
He added, "The details about the escape can only be provided by Davy. Let him come to India, and say in court whatever he is claiming through media interviews. Once he gives his statement in the court, we are ready to probe every possible lead provided by him."
27/05/11 Times of India

Read More

Air India flights in Kerala hit as ATF supply is restricted

With state-owned oil marketing companies refusing to supply aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to Air India and Air India Express till they start paying for it upfront, the airlines cancelled a few flights on Friday in the Kerala.
Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation had put the carriers on notice following mounting dues. The outstandings stand at over Rs 2,400 crore, including Rs. 400 crore in interest, according to the oil firms.
Air India operates nearly 320 flights on the domestic and international sectors daily.
An Air India spokesperson in New Delhi said the situation was back to normal by afternoon, but reports from Kochi indicated that the uncertainty may persist.
27/05/11 The Hindu

Read More

Lufthansa says A380 flight to India stuck for govt approval

India has appeared prominently on the Lufthansa German Airlines’ double-deck A380 plan but government hurdle could well push it off it.
The airline, which has been trying to get approval for introducing A380 flights from India over the last two years, says it has been frustrated in its effort with the Indian government being “unresponsive” to its request.
Carsten Sphor, chief executive officer of Lufthansa, said if the airline gets a nod from Indian authorities today, it would go so far as to remove an existing flight to start one from India.
“Many markets would love to serve it with (A)380 but the infrastructure is not ready. You are now ready in Delhi. If we get an approval to fly to India, we are ready to pull out flight from other destination to accommodate it,” he said.
Lufthansa currently owns seven of the Superjumbos, which it operates on five routes including Johannesburg, New York, Beijing, Tokyo and San Francisco. The airline has ordered a total of 15 A380s and is expected to receive eight of them over the next few years.
27/05/11 Praveena Sharma/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Spicejet aircraft makes emergency landing in Mumbai

Mumbai: A Spicejet Mumbai-Hyderabad flight made an emergency landing at Mumbai airport early on Friday after smoke was detected in the cabin, an official said. The incident occurred when the Hyderabad-bound flight SG-401 took off at 5.29am. Ajiv Patil, a passenger on board, said that soon after take-off, there was burning smell inside the aircraft and passengers felt a burning sensation in their eyes.
Even as there was panic among the passengers, the pilot announced that on account of some technical problem, the aircraft would return to Mumbai, Patil told IANS.
27/05/11 Indo-Asian News Service

Read More

Bird-hit grounds Mumbai-bound flight

Ahmedabad: More than 170 passengers on the Mumbai-bound Kingfisher flight had a close shave as the aircraft was hit by a bird on Thursday morning. The incident took place at around 8 am when the flight was just about to leave the runway. This is the fourth bird-hit incident in the last one month. The bird-hit severely damaged one of the propeller blades of the aircraft, forcing the pilot to apply emergency brakes.
Panic gripped the passengers inside when sudden brakes were applied. The flight was then grounded and declared unsafe for flying again. Passengers were accommodated in alternative Mumbai-bound flights of Spice Jet and Jet Airways, said an airline official, adding that those demanding refunds were given back money.
"The flight was about to touch the 175-180 knots take off speed when a bird-hit the propeller blade. Had the incident taken place a few seconds late then the pilot would have had to take off despite the damage as applying emergency brakes wouldn't have been possible," said an airport official.
27/05/11 Times of India

Read More

10 killed as air ambulance crashes near Delhi

New Delhi: At least 10 people, including seven on board a chartered air ambulance carrying a critically ill patient, were killed when the aircraft crashed in a densely populated area of Faridabad city of Haryana on the outskirts of the national capital late Wednesday night.
The aircraft crashed on two houses in Parvatia locality near Sector 22 of Faridabad town in bad weather, barely minutes before it was to land here, police and aviation officials said.
Seven people, including two pilots, were killed in the crash. Three people died on the ground and one was injured, senior police officials said.
Ten people including the seven on board the aircraft died in the crash, Faridabad Police Commissioner P.K.Aggarwal said. Three people had died on the ground and one was injured and the toll could go up, he added.
Police said that victims included three women.
Apart from the two pilots, the plane was also carrying four passengers, including a doctor, all of whom died.
The air ambulance was carrying Rahul Raj, a critically ill patient from a private hospital in Patna for treatment to Apollo Hospital here when the accident took place. The aircraft had gone from New Delhi to bring the patient from Patna.
The Pilatus PC-12 single-engined turbo-prop aircraft was flying to the capital from Patna, rushing a seriously-ill patient for specialised medical treatment when the crash occurred at 10.50 p.m., five minutes after it lost contact with the Air Traffic Control at Delhi airport, aviation officials said.
The aircraft was descending from 8,000 feet when it went off the ATC radar, an official said.
The plane crashed into two houses in a thickly populated area of Delhi’s suburban town and 20 fire tenders were rushed to the spot to aid in the rescue operations, Haryana police chief Ranjiv Dalal told IANS in Chandigarh.
26/05/11 IANS/News One

Read More

Storm in Delhi behind Faridabad plane crash?

New Delhi: A chartered aircraft carrying a patient from Patna crashed in Faridabad in the suburbs of Delhi on Wednesday night. The small plane - said to be carrying seven including the patient, relatives and crew - crashed into a house in Sector -22 in Faridabad.
At least eight people are reported dead in the crash. However, the residents of the house on which the plane crashed were safe, police officials said.
Reports say the plane went off the radar at a distance of 16 nautical miles from Delhi when it was flying at a height of about 600 feet.
The aircraft, registeration number VT-ACF, was being operated by Air Charter Services India. The aircraft was manufactured in 2005.
Preliminary reports indicate that the ATC lost touch with the plane soon after it was asked to hold position at about 11,000 ft before it could prepare to land.
The plane later began losing height and crashed in Faridabad. Aviation authorities are now trying to ascertain what went wrong after they lost contact with the plane. There was a storm in Delhi and neighbouring areas around the time the plane crashed, at about 10.45 pm and the authorities are trying to figure out if this could have been the cause.
26/05/11 Dailybhaskar.com

Read More

Faridabad news: It was all very scary: Eyewitnesses of aircraft crash

Faridabad: Residents of the Parvatiya colony near Sector 22 here woke up due to a deafening roar and saw a huge fire-ball, as an air ambulance aircraft crashed over two houses of this congested colony late Wednesday night. Eyewitnesses said that aircraft broke into nearly three pieces and its main part fell on the roof of one of the ill-fated house. Fire tenders faced much difficulty to cross the congested streets and reach the accident spot. It delayed the rescue work.
"It was all very scary. We woke up with a thunderous sound and saw flames erupting outside our house. The crashed aircraft had also damaged the grills of the boundary wall of our house. Fire brigade vans reached the spot late as they faced difficulty in crossing narrow streets of our colony," said one of the eyewitnesses, who is the resident of Parvatiya colony here.
"So far we have seen police officials taking away the bodies of at least nine persons. However, few people, who are residents of houses on which the aircraft crashed, are still missing. The rescue work is on at war scale," said another eyewitness.
The plane belonged to Apollo hospital and was being used to bring Rahul Raj, 28, a jaundice patient from Bihar's Betiya district to Delhi when the tragic accident occurred.
Seven people, including two pilots, were killed when the air ambulance with a critically ill patient on board, crashed in a densely populated area of Faridabad on the outskirts of the national capital, barely minutes before it was to land here, police and aviation officials said. Three people died on the ground and one was injured.
The aircraft fell on the one-storey house owned by Shobharam. His family lived on the ground floor while four Nepal nationals lived as tenants on the first floor.
The tennants luckily survived. But the 55-year-old Shobharam lost his wife, daughter and daughter-in-law in the accident. These people were rushed to a hospital where the doctors declared them brought dead, said Rajesh, an eyewitness.
26/05/11 IANS/Economic Times

Read More

Plane crash nightmare for residents in Faridabad

Faridabad: Mangled remains of an aircraft on streets, a damaged heavy metal fan of the engine, burning buildings, and people in panic.
This was the scene at the accident site of the chartered plane that crashed in a residential area in Faridabad yesterday night, killing ten persons, including all seven onboard.
The aircraft lost control and nosedived crashing into the first floor of a building, killing three women residents.
The building in no time turned into a ball of fire.
A battery of people surrounded the accident site, which caused difficulty in rescue operations.
“I rushed to the building, it was on fire. There were some people on the stairs who were engulfed in flames. I tried to find my way to the first floor but the flames were too strong,” Omkar (30), one of the injured, said.
Three persons were injured in the mishap.
The whole area has been cordoned off and security personnel deployed.
The incident was a nightmare of sorts for the residents of the densely populated Parvatiya Colony as they came out of their houses after hearing the massive explosion.
Police said fire tenders and rescue teams had difficulty in reaching the spot due to the crowd assembled at the spot. Rescue operations were being carried out for two hours.
“We faced lot of difficulty in rescuing people as there was a power cut in the area,” said Sitaram, an eyewitness.
The deceased women have been identified as Sharla, Rani and Sarita while those injured are Harvinder(30), Satish (18) and Omkar (30).
26/05/11 PTI/The Hindu

Read More

Lufthansa Cargo to use GMR Hyderabad airport as pharmaceuticals hub

Hydrabad: Lufthansa Cargo on Wednesday certified GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. (GHIAL) to be one of its key cargo hubs in South Asia for transport of temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals, making the airport India's first airport to enjoy such a status.
Addressing a press conference here after handing over the certificate, Christopher Dehio, senior manager, global key accounts, Lufthansa Cargo, said the airline would operate three wide-bodied freighters a week to Hyderabad. India was a key market and fast catching up in the cargo business. While textiles used to be the main export items earlier, half of the cargo carried by its freighters now consisted of pharma products, auto components and electronic goods. While the air cargo growth in Asia was 40 per cent between 2008 and 2010, it was as high as 169 per cent in India during that period, he said.
The dedicated pharma zone at Hyderabad airport, which became operational in January, can provide temperature-controlled handling for more than 30,000 tonnes of pharma products annually. The zone will have officials from the drug controller's office and the customs department. Lufthansa Cargo will provide the capacity for transport of temperature-sensitive cargo. The company will station its own fleet of cooling containers called, Opti-Coolers, at GHIAL.
Meanwhile GHIAL, after achieving a breakeven last year, is expecting to make a profit this year, according to GHIAL CEO Vikram Jaisinghani.
26/05/11 The Hindu

Read More

4 years on, stranded flier gets Rs 35,000

Mumbai: Nearly four years after Ketan Ashar was stranded for eight hours inside a London-bound plane at the city airport, the consumer court’s recent order, directing the private carrier to pay him Rs35,000 as compensation, has offered him some respite. The Mumbai District Suburban Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum recently directed the Jet Airways (India) Ltd. to pay Rs30,000 towards compensation to the Worli resident whose flight was delayed for at least eight hours due to a technical snag. Besides, Ashar will also get additional Rs5,000 incurred towards litigation.
Jet Airways, however, did not respond to repeated calls seeking their comment on the consumer forum order.
Ashar boarded a flight, which was to take off at 2.30am on October 31, 2007, but the flight was aborted soon after, as the pilots noticed the plane was not attaining expected speed due to some technical glitch. Engineers were called in. They took nearly eight hours rectify the problem, following, which the flight finally took off next day at 10.30am — almost eight hours after its scheduled departure.
Ashar moved the consumer forum in April 2008 alleging that passengers were made to remain seated inside the plane for almost eight hours and that too without any food and water. In his plea, Ashar sought a compensation of Rs50,762 from the airlines, stating he had incurred a loss of Rs25,762, which he paid for hotel reservation and local transport in London.
26/05/11 Kanchan Chaudhari/ Hindustan Times

Read More

AI defaults on airport fee pay

New Delhi: The hefty airport development fee (ADF) airlines collect from you at the time of booking ticket to ensure world class infrastructure could well be going down a black hole. The GMR and GVK Groups, which are developing Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderabad airports, have said national carrier AI collects ADF ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 1,875 per flier on their behalf but does not pay them this money. The same happens with the passenger service fee component that is levied to cover security-related expenses and other charges.
AI uses this money to somehow keep afloat. AI has not paid their ADF dues along with other charges like landing and parking. "The combined dues of Delhi and Hyderabad are Rs 224 crore, of which Rs 50 crore is from ADF alone," said a senior official of the GMR Group that runs Delhi and Hyderabad. While Mumbai airport has now been asked not to charge any ADF, its dues on this front from AI were over Rs 6 crore as of April 30, 2011.
In a letter dated May 12, 2011, Delhi International Airport (DIAL) CEO I P Rao has told AI CMD Arvind Jadhav that unless AI pays 75% of the Rs 190 crore dues of Delhi and Rs 34 crore dues of Hyderabad airports and submit plan for clearing the balance by Friday, it would put the Maharaja on cash-and-carry from June 1.
26/05/11 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Read More

Rain grounds flight to Mumbai

Chandigarh: Where it lifted the Tricity's flagging spirits, Wednesday's downpour left air travellers fuming. More than 150 passengers, who were stranded at the city airport, created a ruckus after a Go Air Mumbai-Delhi-Chandigarh flight could not land due to bad weather.
After the plane was denied permission to touch down, it was routed back to Delhi. But the 167 passengers who were scheduled to fly on it reacted strongly to flight cancellation.
Officials of Airport Authority of India were summoned to pacify the agitated travellers. It took more than an hour before the chaos at the airport could clear.
26/05/11 Times of India

Read More

Delhi airport's cargo handling capacity to rise

Istanbul: Delhi airport's cargo handling capacity is set to witness a major jump by 2012-end with the total overhauling of its existing infrastructure. Celebi Holding, the Turkey-based company that enjoys monopoly rights of cargo handling in Delhi at present, is working to completely modernize facilities with addition of automated systems, efficient equipment and systematic storage.

The company, which also provides ground handling services to some airlines in both Delhi and Mumbai, has bid for the same at Kochi and Ahmedabad airports . Announcing its intention to invest an additional around $100 million in India, Celebi Holding chairman Can Celebioglu said: "The company has already invested about $140 million in Delhi and Mumbai till the end of 2010. We have been in talks with several airlines for ground handling and will add Thai Airways to our list of customers this year. India has tremendous potential for growth in the aviation sector and while we are handling mostly international flights right now, we would also like to work for the domestic sector."

25/05/11 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

Read More

Soon, biometric pre-paid taxi service at Delhi airport

New Delhi: Possibility of an outsider being harassed or looted while commuting by a pre-paid taxi from Indira Gandhi International Airport to his destination at the national capital will soon be a matter of past. On the lines of London and Singapore international airports, Delhi government is going to put biometric pre-paid taxi operation system in place in the airport. The system — first of its kind in India — that has been designed by IT firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) would be put in place by end of this month.

The biometric cards issued to the taxi drivers contain all details of the drivers including contact numbers, driving licenses and details of vehicles and would be pasted on the back of the driver's seat so that in case of any unpleasant incident the victim can contact police with specific details of the driver.

The project, which was planned a couple of years ago, though did not materialise so far for certain reasons, would soon be a reality, if Ranjan Mukherjee, officer on special duty (OSD) to the lieutenant governor Tejendra Khanna.

He said that following reports of some untoward incidents L-G recently had ordered Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) to immediately introduce the system with the help of Delhi Traffic Police in a bid to ensure safety and security of the flyers.

25/05/11 Subhendu Ray/Hindustan Times

Read More

Air passenger dies, officials in blame game

Chennai: A 53-year-old passenger who landed in Chennai on Sunday died at the airport. While some officials claim that medical assistance was not renedered to the passenger in time, airport authorities maintain that the passenger was declared dead on arrival.

Jai Sheikh Hussain, a Bangladeshi national, came on the Jet Airways flight from Kolkata accompanied by his brother. The pilot had declared a priority landing owing to the medical emergency and when the flight landed at 6.30pm, Sheikh Hussain was attended by an airport doctor who declared that he was already dead.

Officials at the airport said that Sheikh Hussain could perhaps have been saved had the airport doctor arrived on time which didn’t happen. “We were told that in spite of the pilot’s paging in earlier, the doctor was not available on landing. He arrived only 10 minutes later. In such situations every minute counts,” a police constable said. On their part, the airport authority officials maintained that the doctor was made available and that the passenger was already dead on board. “The mistake could be blamed on the pilot also for he didn’t declare the pan-pan medical emergency as it should have been done. He just sought a priority landing,” an AAI official revealed.

24/05/11 The New Indian Express/IBN Live

Read More

AI plane makes emergency landing, no one injured

Mumbai: Minutes before its scheduled landing at Nagpur airport on Tuesday morning, an Air India (AI 627) aircraft from Mumbai carrying 144 passengers developed a technical snag, and requested an emergency landing.

The plane had taken off from Mumbai airport at 6.40 am, but before landing at Nagpur, the pilot detected a hydraulic failure. The aircraft, an A-319, was given priority landing and touched down at 8.15 am. All passengers were deplaned safely.

25/05/11 Times of India

Read More

Baby monkey causes havoc at international terminal of Ahmedabad airport

Ahmedabad: An injured baby monkey created quite a scene at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Sunday evening for more than three hours. The monkey appeared at the airport's international terminal gate number-8 and was so terrified that it refused to go away. After hours of drama housekeepers somehow managed to trap the monkey in a cage and on Monday morning Kankaria zoo authorities took it away.

But what surprised airport officials was the lack of response of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and the forest department. They did notrespond even after several requests from the officials.

It is to be noted that there is a committee comprising AMC, forest department and Airports Authority of India (AAI) which is making efforts to free the city airport from animal menace.

24/05/11 Satish Jha/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Check-in at New Delhi metro station from June 1

New Delhi: Passengers of the three full cost domestic carriers - Air India, Jet and Kingfisher - may finally be able to check in at the New Delhi metro station by June 1. The civil aviation ministry took a review meeting on Tuesday and said that work on coordinating trials and implementing security apparatus was going on as per schedule.

"After our last meeting, work has moved at a fast pace and it seems like Delhi Airport Metro Express (P) Ltd will be ready to start check-in by June 1. A final review will take place on May 30," said a senior ministry official.

The metro line became operational on February 23 against the original plan of having it functional before the Commonwealth Games in October 2010. Check-in has also missed several deadlines, the last one set for May 1.

Airlines will start their operational readiness and airport transfer trials by Wednesday. Sources said that Air India will be the first to conduct trials while other airlines would join in as and when they had sufficient staff.

25/05/11 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

Read More

Canadian pilot arrested in India after live ammo round found in luggage: report

New Delhi: A Canadian pilot working for a private air charter company in India has been arrested after airport screeners allegedly discovered a live round of ammunition in his baggage.

Local media reports say the pilot, identified as Rafael Jose Hubbard, was scheduled to fly a group of politicians from New Delhi to Nagpur, in the state of Maharashtra.

The Hindustan Times newspaper says security officials at Indira Gandhi International Airport detected a 7.62 mm shell in Hubbard's hand baggage during a routine security check.

The report says Hubbard has been living in India for the past 18 months and was working for Euro Charter Company.

25/05/11 The Canadian Press

Read More

Special terminal for low-cost airlines at IGI

New Delhi: Come autumn and Delhi will become the first Indian city to have an integrated domestic-cum-international terminal exclusively for low-cost carriers (LCC), like London's Stanstead. The GMR-backed Delhi airport management has decided to have customs and immigration facilities at terminal 1D in the next four to five months.

While the aim is to make Terminal 1D fit for international operations in time for the biggest Indian LCC, Indi-Go, to launch international flights from here by September or October, the terminal is all set to grow bigger by 2013. "At the current rate of traffic growth, we estimate that the 1D-1C (arrival) combine will be able to handle budget fliers for the next two years. Beyond that we will restart terminal 1A by integrating 1A-D-C and create a big LCC hub," said a senior airport official.

Interestingly, the decision to allow LCCs to operate international and domestic flights from the budget terminal 1 hub is causing heartburn to full service airlines. "People flying in and out of T3 feel they have to walk long distances at the new terminal. While the fare difference between LCCs and us is not significant, many people choose budget fliers simply because they can fly out of 1D where they don't need to walk long. Now, we will face a similar disadvantage for foreign destinations too where LCCs will start flying," said a senior official of a full service airline.

24/05/11 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Read More

Planes tank up in Chennai as fuel is cheapest

Chennai: It can be said that it's cheaper to fly a plane than drive a car in Chennai! Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) in Chennai costs Rs 51 per litre, while petrol is priced at Rs 67.

The economics of flying a plane may be far different from using a car, but airlines may prefer Chennai to fuel their aircraft because ATF is priced lesser than it is in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.

ATF costs Rs 59 (Rs 59,602 per kilolitre) per litre in Mumbai, Rs 66 (Rs 66,909 per kilolitre) per litre in Kolkata and Rs 58 (Rs 58,779) per litre in Delhi.

Aviation sources say that this would not see airlines flying their planes to Chennai to refuel, but every flight that originates from Chennai may carry fuel for return flight also to avoid fuelling in other expensive destinations. ATF contributes 40% of the operation cost of a flight.

The procedure, which is popularly knowing as tankering in aviation parlance, is normally done on flights that fly short routes from an airport. For example, an aircraft scheduled to fly from Chennai to Kochi or Bangalore and back will take fuel for its return trip also if the load permits. Pay load, landing weight at the destination airport and the altitude at which the flight would be flying are factors that would be taken into account before tankering is done.

24/05/11 V Ayyappan/Times of India

Read More

Low visibility during rain? Flights won’t be diverted

Mumbai: This monsoon, even if the visibility level is low on the runway at the city airport, your flight might not be diverted or even forced to abort landing. To ensure that flights can land safely using the autopilot control in the cockpit even on gloomy days, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is correcting the glide angle on one end of the main runway.

Currently, city-bound flights operating during low visibility are either forced to abort landing or are diverted to a nearby airport.

“Currently, the glide slope is 0.3 degrees higher than the angle that gives the best runway view to pilots. We will make the correction before monsoon sets in,” said a senior AAI official requesting anonymity, as he is not authorised to talk to the media.

The AAI’s move is based on the recent recommendations made by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the apex body that frames safety rules for air travel globally.

The organisation had suggested a glide slope of three degrees for Mumbai airport's runway, making it more suited for most Boeing and Airbus manufactured aircraft used in India.

While the difference in the angle might appear negligible, it makes a huge difference to the pilot’s view of the runway, said air safety experts.

24/05/11 Soubhik Mitra/Hindustan Times

Read More

Air passenger dies before landing in Chennai

Chennai: A passenger died on board a flight which landed at Chennai airport on Sunday evening. Fifty-three-year-old passenger Jai Sheikh Hussain, a Bangladeshi national, was travelling with his brother from Kolkata on a Jet Airways flight.

Airport sources said the passenger or his brother complained of Hussain feeling uneasy. The matter was reported tot the pilot who preferred a priority landing owing to the medical emergency. As soon as the flight landed at 6.30 pm, an airport doctor was brought in to check on Hussain, but it was too late. The doctor said he was already dead.

24/05/11 Times of India

Read More

Bodybuilder detained for smuggling women''s clothes; let off

Mumbai: A man, who claimed to have participated at various bodybuilding contests including Mr Universe, was detained at the airport here while trying to smuggle women''s clothes worth nearly Rs 1.5 lakh, an official said today.

Vikas Singh (30), who claimed to have won Mr India, Mr Maharashtra, Mr Jammu and Kashmir and Mr North India titles over the years, was intercepted while he was passing through the green channel on Friday at around 11.30 pm, the customs official said on condition of anonymity.

Upon checking Singh''s luggage, women apparel, that were not declared by him, were found in his possession, the official added.

Singh, who is a resident of Khar and works as a trainer in a gymnasium, was questioned in this regard when he confessed to have smuggled clothes for shopkeepers in Lokhandwala area, he said, adding Singh had been to Bangkok and was returning from there when he was caught.

23/05/11 PTI/MSN.com

Read More

Bangalore airport expansion starts in June

Bangalore: The Bangalore airport's expansion of its passenger terminal building will begin next month and is expected to be complete by December 2012. Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has won the bid for the Rs 1,000-crore project.

The expansion has become necessary as the current terminal is operating at full capacity.

"With the commencement of the terminal expansion, we hope to alleviate any hurdles being faced by passengers today. At completion, we envision an enhanced airport that befits the city of Bangalore, enhances its business opportunities, complements its culture and welcomes its visitors," said G V Sanjay Reddy, managing director of the airport.

24/05/11 Times of India

Read More

AI to take Chicago-bound passengers to Newark first

Ahmedabad: Due to a volcano eruption in Iceland, Air India has decided to take its Chicago passengers to Newark first and then will provide the passengers local connectivity there depending on the conditions, officials said.

Earlier the route for Chicago-bound passengers was Ahmedabad-Delhi-Chicago will now be changed to Ahmedabad-Delhi-Newark-Chicago.

24/05/11 Ahmedabad Mirror

Read More

Passengers stranded for 6 hours, airline announces refund

Bangalore: Red-faced after its passengers were stranded at the Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) for six hours on Saturday, Jet Airways has announced ticket refunds.

Flight 9W486, scheduled to take off for Chennai at 5 pm, was delayed for over six hours, and then finally cancelled at 11 pm without prior notice to the 90 stranded fliers.

"Passengers can avail refunds on their tickets at our registration desk. We'll try to avoid such complications in future," said Pavitra, an attendant with the airline. Many people however, had to cancel business assignments and weekend plans because of the cancellation.

According to the airlines, the flight was apparently delayed because of 'technical snag', and failure to inform the stranded passengers led to an uncertain wait throughout the night for them.

23/05/11 NDTV.com

Read More

Pune, Nagpur airport projects stuck

Mumbai: While the Navi Mumbai airport project has been cleared for take off, two other big-ticket projects in Maharashtra — a cargo hub in Nagpur and an international airport at Rajgurunagar near Pune — are grounded because of delays in land acquisition.

Owing to protests over acquisition of agricultural land and other concerns, state government officials feel the Rajgurunagar site may not be feasible. Also, large portions of the land are undulated and require levelling. This will push up costs, an official said. "We are exploring alternate land in the vicinity,'' said Nandkumar Jantre, the state government’s secretary (civil aviation).

Shifting of the location would mean technical feasibility clearance from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) would have to be taken afresh and this could cause more delays. Jantre said private and government owned land near Rajgurunagar is being examined.

Maharashtra Airport Development Committee officials said they were looking to acquire 2,500-3,000 hectares for a second airport in Pune. It is to be capable of handling 20 million passengers annually and the total estimated cost, including commercial development and land acquisition, was Rs 7,000 crore

A second Pune airport has been on the drawing board for over five years. After discarding a couple of locations, the Union civil aviation ministry gave its nod for an airport at Rajgurunagar, 35 km from Pune.

23/05/11 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

Read More

Rising private jets on Mumbai airport radar

Mumbai: The soaring number of chartered planes and private jets are now jostling with commercial flights for the attention of aviation experts and airport operators.

The aviation industry has been on its toes with the ever-rising number of commercial flights and the burgeoning passenger traffic. Now, the officials also have to deal with the rising general aviation (GA) flights, which refer to all flights other than military and scheduled operations.

A look at the GA flight movements at Mumbai and Delhi indicates why airport officials and experts are mulling over creating special or separate facilities for those who want to fly out on their private jets or chartered planes. While Mumbai airport saw a rise of 61.18% in GA movement from 2005-06, its Delhi counterpart witnessed a growth of 31.33% in the past four years.

The growth has been similar in Delhi and Mumbai as the financial capital of the country witnessed 33.55% more GA flights during the past four years.

Mumbai, which handled 8,245 non-scheduled flights in 2006, deals with 13,290 of them in 2010-11. Every day, an average 38 GA planes take off and land in Mumbai, though the number was 22 a few years ago. Last year, Mumbai airport handled 30,000 passengers who flew in and out through private or non-scheduled flights.

23/05/11 Chinmayi Shalya/Times of India

Read More

Mangalore airport to witness major changes

Mangalore: Close on the heels of the air crash, Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council was set up to strengthen aviation safety environment.

A review of recommendations made by Court of Inquiry of Mangalore crash headed by retired Air Marshal BN Gokhale, has revealed that action had been initiated on issues raised in the report by the DGCA. Post the crash, Mangalore Airport has been tagged like Patna and Calicut Airports as 'critical aerodrome.'

Many airport users assert that the critical status will do more harm than good to the airport poised for expansion.

As the illfated aircraft landed far beyond the touchdown point, Mangalore Airport took corrective measures by having markers installed on either side of the runway in the pattern of the Air Force at a cost of Rs 10.5 lakh.

Observations by the Court of Inquiry on the inadequacy of Runway End Safety Area (RESA) is being redressed, Mangalore Airport director MR Vasudeva informed Express.

The works aimed at elevating the paved area of 237 metres at a cost of Rs 3.5 crore, is likely to be completed by Mayend.

With the DGCA undertaking a special drive for licensing of AAI airports, Mangalore Airport too received its licence which had remained elusive until the time of aircrash. After the crash, the airline has two doctors in Mangalore Airport to conduct premedical flight checks on crew.

23/05/11 The New Indian Express/IBN Live

Read More

Karambaru turns into valley of tears

Mangalore: At Karambaru valley in Kenjar village where the crash took place, villagers, airport officials, Air India officials, relatives of passengers who died and all the survivors got together and lit candles on a decorated platform built for the occasion in the backdrop of the crash site.

The prayers were led by Mangalore station manager of Air India Chellam Prakash and airport director MR Vasudeva at 6.20 am, the time when the plane had burst into a ball of fire after plunging 300 feet into the valley.

Air India chief operating officer S Chandrakumar said Maravoor grama panchayat has been asked to build a community hall with a reading room to commemorate all the passengers who died in the crash. The Air India will fund the construction up to 90%, he added.

MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, state assembly deputy speaker, Yogish Bhat, additional deputy commissioner, Prabhakar Sharma, attended the ceremony.

Chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, who was here to kick off the Janandolana, placed a wreath at the far end of the airport.

22/05/11 M Raghuram/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Stormy Delhi forces 10 international flights to land in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad: It was an unusul day at the new international terminal, when Air Bus 320, Air Bus 330, Boeing 747, Boeing 777 and several other huge, colourful aircraft touched down at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Sunday morning.

Air traffic control officials (ATC) said 10 international, including Austrian Airlines, Asiana Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Air China and Lufthansa and two domestic flights were diverted to Ahmedabad from Delhi due to heavy storm there.

For Ahmedabad airport officials the scene was something that they have long desired to watch at the new Rs 350-crore terminal which currently has just a handful of international flights. On Sunday, these flights from foreign destinations landed at Ahmedabad between 12 am to 6 pm and had to wait for hours before they could take off for Delhi again.

However, passengers inside two Cathay Pacific aircrafts which were diverted to Ahmedabad early Sunday morning were waiting for the flight to take till late on Sunday evening. The diversion and bad weather in Delhi also delayed arrival and departure of several flights from the city airport.

23/05/11 Ankur Jain/Times of India

Read More

The flight that never took off

Bangalore: Passengers of Jet Airways, who were stranded at the Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) on Saturday after a flight was cancelled, were put through the ultimate test of patience.

Flight 9W486, scheduled to take off for Chennai at 5 pm, was delayed for over six hours, and then finally cancelled at 11 pm without prior notice to the 90 stranded fliers.

According to the airlines, the flight was apparently delayed because of 'technical snag', and failure to inform the stranded passengers led to an uncertain wait throughout the night for them.

"We were issued boarding passes at 5 pm on Saturday and till about 11 pm we didn't know what was happening.

They announced that the flight had been delayed and kept us waiting all night. At 10.30 am yesterday morning, a few passengers were provided seats on a different carrier," lamented Tyagarajan, an entrepreneur from the city.

When contacted, a Jet Airways flight attendant claimed that they did not inform passengers of the cancellation because they themselves were unaware about it.

23/05/11 Sheetal Sukhija/MiD DAY

Read More

Travellers stranded at Umroi

Shillong: Passengers from Shillong to Calcutta had a harrowing time at Umroi airport here over the past two days after they were stranded because of a technical snag in the 48-seater aircraft of an Alliance Air India flight.

Annoyed over the undue delay, the passengers called up newspaper offices, narrating their plight.

“We were supposed to board the flight at 1.35pm today from the Umroi airport after we were brought in a bus from Shillong, but we are stranded here because of a technical snag,” a passenger said.

There was a technical defect yesterday too, causing harassment to the passengers.

According to a passenger, Alliance Air should have given information about the status of the flight through its website or by sending texts to the passengers.

22/05/11 The Telegraph

Read More

Five airlines tie up with pvt groundhandling agency at Chennai airport

Chennai: The Federation of Indian Airlines may still be battling the new groundhandling policy of the ministry of civil aviation but airlines have begun signing agreements with Bhadra International for ground-handling operations at Chennai airport.

Groundhandling operations include shuttling passengers, supplying check-in and ground staff for airlines, moving flights using pushback vehicles and loading and unloading cargo among others.

Sources said about five airlines had signed contracts with Bhadra and that many others were in talks with the company that had brought in modern equipment.

The airlines who have signed the agreements have also informed the existing agencies about their plans to shift.

The existing agencies as many as 14 of them could be on the way out unless the Supreme Court takes a decision in favour of the airlines.

The passes of employees belonging to the existing ground-handling agencies are set to expire by May 30. The ministry is expected to carry out a review and decide whether the agencies can stay on for a while longer, said an airport official.

Meanwhile, officials of Bhadra International are busy setting up the equipment, offices are other facilities as part of the efforts to begin handling passenger aircraft. The company has already started operations in the cargo terminal.

23/05/11 Times of India

Read More

Newark flight finally leaves after two days

New Delhi: Passengers of a Continental Airlines flight to Newark spent over 44 hours in the city after their flight got delayed due to a technical snag. The delayed flight CO83 was scheduled to depart from Delhi's IGI Airport at 10.50pm on Friday but finally departed around 6 on Sunday evening.

Dr Yog Raj Sharma, a passenger on the flight, said he and his family had been made to board and sat in the aircraft for about three hours before airline officials told them that the flight had been rescheduled for the next day. "The crew kept telling us that we would take off shortly but when even the air-conditioning stopped working, we were told that we would be shifted to a hotel as there was a technical problem with the aircraft. At 4am, we were shifted to a hotel in Vasant Kunj," said Sharma.

Ashish Pradhan, who had come to India with his wife for his sister's wedding and was scheduled to join work on Monday, said there was complete mismanagement on the airline's part as it kept lying to them about the flight's departure.

By this time, passengers were quite upset with the airline staff and a heated argument broke out between passengers and staff. At 2.30am, they were finally served refreshment and at 5am, they were given their luggage and sent back to the hotel.

"Around 3.30pm, we finally left for the airport again as the flight had been scheduled to leave at 6pm. For a day we went without clothes and even our toothbrush as the airline refused to give our luggage. We were made to go in for immigration and security several times and it was quite a frustrating experience," said Marissa Vaish, a US national who had travelled to India for the first time.

22/05/11 Times of India

Read More

A dog squad just for airport

Ahmedabad: With increasing threat perceptions at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPI), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has decided to have a dog squad here. The special squad of six canines will be trained for anti-sabotage, anti-hijacking and explosive detection duties.

The decision was taken in a recently held meeting at CISF headquarters in Delhi. Earlier, Airports Authority of India (AAI) has announced plans for posting dog squads at all major airports across the country. Currently, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has sniffer dog squads at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Srinagar airports to detect explosives.

Sources at CISF, Delhi office, said that the officials in Ahmedabad have been intimated about the approval and asked to find breeders and trainers for dogs.

According to the sources, a kennel will be built at Ahmedabad airport to house the canines. At present security agencies use Gujarat police dog squad for security checks at the airport. But with state police dog squad ailing due to lack of trained canines, there is a need for separate force at Ahmedabad airport.

23/05/11 Ankur Jain/Times of India

Read More

Mangalore airport to get new ATC tower, safer runway

Mumbai: A year after the Air India Express Boeing 737 crash at the Mangalore Airport which killed 158 people, the airport is set to get a new air traffic control (ATC) tower and a safer runway.
The court of inquiry by air marshal (retd) B N Gokhale, which probed the May 22 crash, has recommended the construction of a new ATC tower for a better view of the airport. Other upgrades include improved runway markings and elevation of the runway-end safety area.
The current ATC tower at the Mangalore Airport is situated at one end of the 2,450-metre long runway. Since the height of the tower is low, it does not offer controllers a good view of the airport. The court of inquiry said on May 22, 2010, the on-duty air traffic controller was unable to see the Boeing 737 at the end of the runway, and according to standard practice, had radioed the plane to backtrack on the runway.
The AAI has now drawn up plans for to construct an ATC tower and a radar control room at a distance of 2,000 feet from the point where runway 24/06 begins.
"We have floated tenders for the ATC tower. It would cost about Rs 26.5 crore, and would be completed in eighteen months after the bid is finalised,'' said Mangalore airport Director, M R Vasudeva. He claimed there were no concerns regarding the view of the runway from the current tower.
However, the construction of an approach radar, which can track planes within 50 miles, would take more time. The airport currently has only a route surveillance radar, which tracks planes beyond 50 miles.
21/05/11 /Aneesh PhadnisBusiness Standard

Read More

Reports of near-misses in Delhi untrue: Airport authority

New Delhi: Slamming recent media reports of alleged lapses committed by the air traffic control (ATC) at the international airport here, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) Friday said aviation operations in the national capital were the safest in the world.
The reaction by AAI came after reports that the Delhi ATC had given permission to a Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to land even though an aircraft was present on the same runway it was supposed to land on.
'It was far away and had not received permission to land as we knew there was another plane on the runway. We are not blind or out of our mind to give this sort of permission,' a senior ATC official told IANS.
According to senior AAI officials, the two incidents on Wednesday and Thursday were caused by strong winds which prevented the landing of Jet Airways flight 9W309 from Mumbai and the Emirates flight EK516 from Dubai.
'If there is strong wind on the runway, we deny the approaching aircraft permission to land as it would cause major technical problems. This is all procedure which ensures safety, I do not understand why media is saying that by denying them landing we jeopardised the passengers safety,' V. Somasundaram, board member of the air navigation service (ANS) told IANS.
The senior ATC official said that all such reports were part of a malicious campaign run by private airlines.
20/05/11 IANS/Sify.com

Read More

Highway in the sky

New Delhi: On Wednesday and Thursday, the Delhi airport could have been mistaken for Delhi roads. On these two days, around 300 passengers narrowly escaped serious mishaps. On Wednesday, a mishap was averted at the Delhi Airport, after a Jet Airways aircraft — with nearly 150 passengers on board — had to abort landing at the last moment because another aircraft was present on the runway.
The incident happened around 9pm, when the Jet Airways flight from Mumbai (9W 309) was descending to land on the runway of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. The airport at that moment was witnessing heavy congestion due to bad weather conditions caused by strong wind movement.
As the aircraft was preparing to land, the pilot found movement on the runway and informed the Delhi Air Traffic Control (ATC). The ‘movement’ was another aircraft, of an international airline, which was supposed to take off from the runway but couldn’t do so because of strong winds. It was trying to vacate the runway.
With the runway not clear, the ATC asked the Jet pilot to abort landing and make a 'go-around'. The aircraft climbed up again and landed later after hovering for some time.
Meanwhile, an Emirates flight carrying 153 passengers could not land at the IGI airport due to unstable wind, which resulted in air pressure on Thursday. Flight EK516, from Dubai, was scheduled to land at 2.40 pm.
19/05/11 Hindustan Times

Read More

LGBI airport to get regional hub status

New Delhi: In what could mean fulfilment of a long-pending demand, the Civil Aviation Ministry has given its nod to set up its regional hub of operation at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati. The proposed hub is expected to become operational early next year.
The plan was finalised at a meeting between Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Bijoy Krishna Handique, and Civil Aviation Minister Vyalar Ravi. The meeting assumes significance in the backdrop of the recent incidents involving the civil aviation sector in the North-east. Passenger helicopter service is currently under suspension following back-to-back accidents involving Pawan Hans copters. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and 17 passengers were killed at Tawang in two separate accidents last month. The Alliance Air operation in the North-east has also drawn a lot of flak.
Emerging from the meeting, Handique told this newspaper that several important decisions were arrived at in the meeting on Friday morning.
20/05/11 Assam Tribune

Read More

Delhi airport's cargo handling capacity set to rise

Istanbul: Delhi airport's cargo handling capacity is set to witness a major jump by 2012-end with the total overhauling of its existing infrastructure. Celebi Holding, the Turkey-based company that enjoys monopoly rights of cargo handling in Delhi at present, is working to completely modernize facilities with addition of automated systems, efficient equipment and systematic storage.
The company, which also provides ground handling services to some airlines in both Delhi and Mumbai, has bid for the same at Kochi and Ahmedabad airports. Announcing its intention to invest an additional around $100 million in India, Celebi Holding chairman Can Celebioglu said: "The company has already invested about $140 million in Delhi and Mumbai till the end of 2010. We have been in talks with several airlines for ground handling and will add Thai Airways to our list of customers this year. India has tremendous potential for growth in the aviation sector and while we are handling mostly international flights right now, we would also like to work for the domestic sector."
The company is providing ground handling services for Kingfisher Airline's domestic operations in Mumbai, and for some Jet Airway's and Air India's international flights in Delhi. Celebi also services Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa and Air France flights in Delhi and Mumbai. It is handling 32,000 flights out of the two cities at present, excluding the few AI flights from Delhi. Other than India, Celebi is handling cargo and warehousing facilities at major airports in Hungary and Germany, including 37% of the entire cargo market in Turkey.
20/05/11 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

Read More

FIEO calls for meeting with airlines, ground handling agency

Chennai: The Federation of Indian Exports Organisation (FIEO) has called for a meeting with all airlines and ground handling agency to sort out delay in cargo clearances at the city’s airport.
The FIEO Southern Region Chairman Mr Walter D’Souza has requested the Airport Authority of India Chairman to conduct a meeting with all the airlines, ground handling agency and the traders to sort out the issue which according to him was increasing day by day, a statement from FIEO here said.
Exporters of leather, engineering and electronic components products were facing serious problems in their inventory as they depended on instant delivery schedules, Mr D’Souza said.
He said besides lack of infrastructure, the airport was also facing acute shortage of trained manpower for handling the cargo operation. He requested the AAI to appoint an efficient ground handling services.
21/05/11 PTI/Business Line

Read More

Airport set for international flights

Chandigarh: Tricity residents can now expect to board international flights from here itself as the matter of who would handle immigration facility at the local airport has finally been resolved. Airports Authority of India (AAI) has entrusted the task to Chandigarh police. International flights are expected to start here in June.
Management of immigration was the biggest hurdle for international flights in the city as AAI was unable to decide who would handle it.
In July 2010, the proposed Chandigarh-Dubai had to be cancelled as security staff and immigration facility was not available here. At present, people from Tricity either have to travel to Amritsar or Delhi or take international flights. Senior officials in Chandigarh police said usually it was the Intelligence Bureau (IB) that looked after immigration work at Indian airports, but it was not able to do that here as it was short of staff.
A senior police official said Tricity residents would directly benefit from this because details of people holding passports and visas from the area were already with foreign registration office (FRO) branch of UT police. The decision of giving UT cops this task was taken last week at the meeting between senior officials from Chandigarh and Punjab police, IB, customs and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and local officials of AAI.
21/05/11 Saurabh Prashar/Times of India

Read More

10 new domestic flights to take off from Ahmeadabad

Ahmedabad: Soon, you will be spoilt for choice at Ahmedabad airport. Private airlines will be adding up to 10 new flights to existing and new destinations in the monsoon and winter schedule at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. New flights will connect Ahmedabad to Nagpur and Trivandrum and increase the number of daily flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. This is good news especially for business travellers who have been on the receiving end due to the complete closure of runway between 10.30 am and 5 pm at city airport till June 15.
Airports Authority of India's (AAI) recently released air traffic figures state that domestic flyers in Ahmedabad moved up from 26,717 in 2009-10 to 28,445 in 2010-11, an increase of around 6.5 per cent.
21/05/11 Times of India

Read More

Air safety radars to be operational soon

Mumbai: Minor paperwork is the only formality left before the Mumbai airport’s air traffic managers begin tracking every airfield movement without straining their eyes. The surface movement radar (SMR), critical for congested airports such as the city airport, was being run on an experimental basis. This t
rial run ended successfully earlier this week.
Air safety experts feel that a SMR would make the air traffic control’s (ATC) work simpler by ensuring proper coordination between ground and air traffic. At congested airfields such as Mumbai, these radars are necessary to avoid accidents. The ATC radars can trace flights above 500 metres but there is no device to monitor their movement as soon as they come close to the ground.
In addition to this, there are flights taxiing for take-offs and about 500 vehicles comprising catering vans, oil tankers and airline coaches plying on the airfield.
Registration numbers of these vehicles would be fed in the radar system, which will throw digital images of their airfield movement on the ATC official’s monitor.
20/05/11 Soubhik Mitra/Hindustan Times

Read More

Amritsar girl being trafficked rescued at IGI

New Delhi: A girl from Amritsar being trafficked to Bahrain was rescued by the CISF outside the IGI airport on Wednesday evening.
Simar (name changed) was being forced to travel to Bahrain by her grandmother and an agent and was discovered by CISF officials as she stood crying outside Terminal 3. This was the third time that she was being forced to travel to the Gulf. She had already worked as a bar dancer in Dubai last year. Three months back when she was being taken to Bahrain, the two men with her were arrested and she was sent back to Amritsar.
"The girl was spotted by security officials outside departure gate no 7 at T3. She had been crying and there was nobody around her. When officials questioned her, she said she was being forced to travel to Bahrain on Gulf Air GF-137. The police was then called and a case was registered," said airport sources.
Police sources said that the girl was an orphan and had been living with her maternal grandmother in Amritsar. In 2010, she was accompanied by an agent to Dubai where she was forced to work as a bar dancer. Officials added that she was promised Rs 40,000, but was never paid. Simar told the police that to escape her fate, she consumed acid and was extradited to India. In Delhi, she was jailed for about three days as the immigration department found her papers amiss.
20/05/11 Times of India

Read More

Complicated duty laws confuse flyers

Mumbai: Minissha Lamba might be the latest in a long line of celebrities caught carrying undeclared valuables through the airport's green channel, but the infraction is not limited to the glamorous set. Even the common man in India is frequently stumped by the rules on how much cash, jewellery or liquor one is allowed to bring back from abroad or permitted on domestic flights.
There is an upper limit on the currency passengers can take with them when travelling abroad. A flyer can at the most carry $5,000 besides Rs 15,000 in cash; the rest must be in the form of traveller's cheques. When returning, the limit is $5,000 and anything above has to be declared to customs officials.
There are rules on jewellery too. Jewels purchased in India can be taken out of the country free of duty, provided the Indian flyer first gets them evaluated at the Diamond Plaza Clearing Centre. Before flying out, the passenger should declare these valuables to the customs, which in return gives an export certificate.
20/05/11 Chinmayi Shalya/Times of India

Read More

Air safety radars to be operational soon

Mumbai: Minor paperwork is the only formality left before the Mumbai airport’s air traffic managers begin tracking every airfield movement without straining their eyes. The surface movement radar (SMR), critical for congested airports such as the city airport, was being run on an experimental basis. This trial run ended successfully earlier this week.
“It would be operational soon after the necessary paperwork at the Delhi headquarters is completed,” said an Airports Authority of India (AAI) official requesting anonymity.
Air safety experts feel that a SMR would make the air traffic control’s (ATC) work simpler by ensuring proper coordination between ground and air traffic. At congested airfields such as Mumbai, these radars are necessary to avoid accidents. The ATC radars can trace flights above 500 metres but there is no device to monitor their movement as soon as they come close to the ground.
In addition to this, there are flights taxiing for take-offs and about 500 vehicles comprising catering vans, oil tankers and airline coaches plying on the airfield.
Registration numbers of these vehicles would be fed in the radar system, which will throw digital images of their airfield movement on the ATC official’s monitor. “At night and during cloudy days when the visibility drops, the radar would ease our pressure,” said an ATC official requesting anonymity.
20/05/11 Soubhik Mitra/Hindustan Times

Read More

Chopper still grounded, Himachal to dump Jagson

Shimla: With Jagson Airlines buying more time from the state government to provide helicopter for operating VVIP and emergency flights, the Himachal Pradesh government has decided to dump the company and invite fresh offers from a reputed Indian company to take a reliable chopper on lease.
Highly placed sources said the company sent its reply on Wednesday to the notice served on it, seeking more time to provide the helicopter, which was grounded by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) after it was sent for maintenance two and a half months ago.
General Administration Department Secretary Ajay Bhandari said: “We have received the reply from the company. The government is not convinced with the reasons given by the company. No further time can be given/or wasted as the state government is in urgent need of a helicopter. In fact, the company has taken a very long time to respond to the state’s demands.”
20/05/11 Ashwani Sharma/Indian Express

Read More

Jet Airways flight made to go-around

New Delhi: A Jet Airways flight was forced to make a go-around at the IGI airport on Wednesday night when the pilot spotted another aircraft on the runway as 9W-309 was preparing to land. The aircraft on the runway had landed just before the Jet Airways flight and had not been able to clear the runway on time.
An Emirates flight also made a go-around on Thursday afternoon. While airport sources said that this too was due to the runway being occupied, airline sources said that it was due to strong winds on the approach path.
"The Jet Airways flight from Mumbai was approaching to land on the new runway at 9pm. The pilot spotted another aircraft on the runway and informed the air traffic control. The flight did a go-around and landed at 9.25pm," said an airport official.
Sources said that the number of go-arounds due to runway being occupied by other aircraft was a recurrent problem at the IGI airport. At a meeting held recently with the civil aviation ministry, airlines, air traffic control and Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd among other stakeholders, it was discussed that more rapid exit taxiways were required at the new runway as aircraft were taking too long to vacate the runway.
20/05/11 Times of India

Read More

Air India Express IX 812 debris stored in Kenjar valley

It took not less than three months to fully clear the debris of the ill-fated Dubai-Mangalore Air India Express IX 812 from the valley where it had plunged on May 22 , 2010. The remains have been stored in a corner of the Kenjar Valley, just 900 metres away from Mangalore airport and about a kilometre away from the crash site. It (the debris) lies there like a big junkyard, well-guarded behind strong walls and gates.
There could be thousands of parts of the aircraft exposed to the saline weather of the coastal area on a plot that belongs to the Airport Authority of India (AAI).
“The work of the Boeing (manufacturer of the plane) inspectors was long over with the debris but it still bears thetestimony to the horrific accident and will be stored there for we do not how many more years,” said an AAI official on duty at the yard of the twisted wreck of the plane.
It is mandatory to create a ‘memorial of the wreck’ in the nearest point of the crash. The wreckage of Air India Kanishka Flight 182 is stored in Vancouver even today, 20 years after the crash as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is still investigating the case and it is still needed for a future trial.
20/05/11 M Raghuram/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Tardy airport works trouble passengers

Chennai: Air passengers are being put to hardship as the airport expansion and modernisation works are dragging on at a sluggish pace.
The Air Passengers Association of India said it has received several complaints from passengers about poor facilities be at the airport. Inadequate parking, long queues at departure terminals and non-availability of cabs top the list of problems. That passengers have to take a long walk from the terminal to areas designated for vehicles make it worse.
"The Chennai airport advisory committee that was re-constituted by the Union civil aviation ministry in July, 2008 has not met so far. Member of parliament T R Baalu is the chairman and representatives from airlines, trade, passenger association and prominent citizens are the members of the panel. The committee would have helped speed up the works," said passengers association president D Sudhakara Reddy.
In a communication to the association, the Airports Authority of India said the meeting could not be held because of the chairman being preoccupied.
Works are underway to build two new terminals with modern amenities and a flyover before the terminals to connect them. The project that was supposed to be completed by June this year is likely to be completed only by early next year.
20/05/11 Times of India

Read More

DGCA halts Deccan's inter-city flights

Ahmedabad: The grand plan to connect Gujarat's cities by air has developed a snag even as hoardings have appeared all over Gujarat towns and cities announcing the launch shortly. Deccan Charters Ltd (DCL), which charted out air connectivity of Gujarat towns with Ahmedabad and Surat as twin hubs, has been told that the lease agreements under which the aircraft had been procured were not acceptable to the Director General of Civil Aviation. The inter-city flights were initially scheduled for launch by April-end but the matter could not be resolved even after a late evening meeting between DCL chief Capt G R Gopinath and senior aviation officials in New Delhi on Wednesday. Sources close to the developments said the airline had got three 60-seater aircraft on 'wet lease' for three months from Denmark, but the planes remain parked in Muscat pending DGCA's clearance for flying them into India.
Apparently, the rules do not allow an airline to operate aircraft sourced on 'wet lease' — an arrangement where an airline provides aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance cover to another airline (lessee), which pays the lessor on basis of number of hours of operations. The lessee covers fuel, airport fees, and other duties etc. Import of aircraft on wet lease are permitted in India in exceptional cases and not to run a full-fledged airline under the garb of running daily but non-scheduled flights. DGCA chief E K Bharat Bhushan told TOI, "There are certain conditions which have to be met under the country's aviation norms." Sources further said clearance was possible only if the company was forced to switch over to a 'dry lease', where only the aircraft is provided by the lessor. Surprisingly, sources said, the DGCA had initially recommended to DCL to get non-scheduled flights cleared from the aviation ministry. It was only later that the rule book was shown to them.
19/05/11 Ankur Jain/Times of India

Read More

Airport cargo unit lacks facilities: FIEO

Chennai: Federation of Indian Export Organisation has expressed serious concern on the congestion and delays in clearance happening at Chennai’s airport cargo complex.
Exporters in the southern region complain that they are facing inordinate delay in clearance of cargo at the Chennai Airport for the last two months.
According to Walter D’Souza, regional chairman, FIEO - Southern Region, exporters of leather, engineering and electronics and components products are facing serious problems in their inventory as they are depending on just-in-time delivery schedules of production.
“Apart from the issues related to non-availability of adequate space for cargo handling due to renovation works, there is acute shortage of trained manpower for handling the cargo operation as well as shortage of handling equipment.”
“It has been noticed that import cargo is not stacked properly, dumped all over and there is no segregation of cargo, which has affected the traceability of consignments,” the letter from the federation said.
The federation also said that the newly appointed private agency is not capable of handling due to inexperienced manpower and lack of adequate handling equipment.
D’Souza has urged upon the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to take immediate steps to reduce the day-to-day traceability issues and appoint efficient ground handling agencies for handling Air Cargo operations with adequate handling equipment immediately.
19/05/11 ExpressBuzz

Read More