Small airports to be Centre’s aim

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry under its new minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju has now begun work on a list of priorities including restoration of the top category ranking for India by the US Federal Avia-tion Authority (FAA), more air-connectivity to towns and smaller cities, smaller airports in towns, and establishment of a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in place of current regulator DGCA.
The current state of loss-making national carrier Air India is also expected to be a top priority, with the Minister expected to discuss the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Privatisation could also be on the cards if the situation does not improve.
Allegations of freebies in the form of air-tickets to families of Air India employees could also be examined and rules and regulations permitting these could be reviewed by the new Minister.
31/05/14 Asian Age

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AirAsia Finds Wings to Fly out of City's Coop?

Chennai: When AirAsia India announced that it would be running its India operations from Chennai last year, the southern aviation industry was ecstatic. One year down the line, the city’s love affair with the carrier seems to be standing at the brink of a chasm. Signs indicate that the low-cost carrier may well shift its base of operations elsewhere.

Despite affirmations of the carrier’s continued belief in Chennai, AirAsia India CEO Mittu Chandilya admitted today that while Chennai remains the home base as of now, the next month may well see the city losing that status. “Chennai will remain our base of operations for now. But I think what happens in the next month will go a long way in determining whether that remains the case,” he stated.

The admission, coming in the wake of the announcement that the first flight of the carrier would fly the Bengaluru to Goa route, seems to reinforce rumours of the carrier’s disillusionment with the Chennai airport and high Air Turbine Fuel prices. Chandiliya went so far as to admit that he was quite “dissatisfied” with the infrastructure at the newly built Chennai airport.

AirAsia India’s rather large facility at the domestic airport terminal has remained largely vacant for the last six months. And highly placed sources within the airport management say that the carrier has been raising complaints about the facilities they have leased for quite some time.
31/05/14 New Indian Express

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Storm damages 5 parked planes, 25 flights diverted

New Delhi: High-speed winds travelling at 114 kmph kicked up a dust storm in the city, which brought down visibility at the Indira Gandhi International Airport to a mere 200 metres around 4.54 pm on Friday.
Five planes parked at the airport were damaged and authorities were forced to divert 25 flight to nearby destinations. One man was reported killed at the airport. Airport officials said a section of the roof at Terminal 1D was also blown away by the squall.
According to sources, a cleaning staff, Pradeep, was killed during the squall. Police hasn’t yet ascertained the exact cause of his death, and has sent his body for a post-mortem examination.
31/05/14 Indian Express

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First superjumbo Airbus A-380 plane lands in Delhi

New Delhi: The first superjumbo Airbus A-380 plane landed here today from Singapore with Singapore Airlines becoming the only global carrier to launch commercial flights of the 'big birds' to India.
The landing of the long-haul, wide-body and fully double -decker aircraft that can carry a total of 471 passengers, at the Indira Gandhi International Airport was preceded by a thunder storm and high-velocity winds that led to the diversion of 21 flights to nearby airports.
On landing, the superjumbo was given a 'water-salute' by the fire brigade at the airport run by the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) which made special arrangements to handle the large number of passengers and their baggage.
The passengers were welcomed by the SIA staff with gifts and bouquets.
The SIA's aircraft has a total seating capacity of 471 seats with 399 in economy, 60 in business class and 12 first class suites.
Immigration and customs departments had made special arrangements for handling such a large number of passengers.
30/05/14 Times of India

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Get clearances, go ahead: Kerala CM on Aranmula airport project

Thiruvananthapuram: The proposed Rs.2,000-crore KGS Aranmula international airport project in Kerala can go ahead if its promoters get the required environment clearance, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said Friday.
The proposed project suffered a huge setback Wednesday when a tribunal cancelled its environment clearance.
“The state government is not going for an appeal against the verdict but if the promoters go ahead and get all the needed environment clearances then we will not stop it,” Chandy told reporters here.
After a legal battle between the airport’s promoters and five organisations based in Aranmula, the Chennai bench of the National Green Tribunal ruled that the agency which conducted the study was not competent to give an environment clearance for the airport.
The airport complex, said to be the first private international airport in the country, is based in Aranmula in Pathanamthitta district in an area of 700 acres.
30/05/14 India.com

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Sonia's son-in-law Robert Vadra may lose frisking immunity, hints Aviation Minister

New Delhi: On his first day in office, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati on Thursday indicated that Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra could lose the privilege of not being frisked at airports.
When asked whether Vadra would continue to be in the VIP list and not be checked at airports, Raju said, "Security should be meaningful and not ornamental. It will depend if the Home Ministry feels there is a threat perception, and I am not talking about Vadra, we'll have to see."
Ever since Narendra Modi-led NDA swept the polls, rumour was rife that Robert Vadra would be deprived of the powers he njoyed while the grand old party was in power.
Interestingly, Vadra, the husband of Priyanka Gandhi, is the only civilian who is not frisked at airports.
After Narendra Modi-led government took charge, a senior BCAS official had said, "We are expecting the list of those exempted from frisking to get trimmed under the new NDA government."
30/05/14 Hemant Abhishek/Zee News

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Farmers agree to part with land for Bareilly airport

Barelly: With the district authorities completing the procedure for acquiring land earmarked for the civilian airport in Bareilly, and local farmers agreeing to sell their land, the wish of local people for a domestic airport is set to come true.
Talking to TOI, officials said the final decision in the matter was taken by the divisional commissioner, and the procedure for undertaking civil work would be started soon.
"The main hurdle in the project was that farmers were earlier not ready to sell their plots at rates we proposed. But now they have agreed to hand over their land at double the circle rate," said Land Acquisition Officer Laxmi Shankar Singh.
Nearly 83 farmers have written letters accepting the proposed rate for their lands, so officials can acquire the 10-hectare plot at around 29.65 crore.
31/05/14 Priyangi Agarwal/Times of India

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Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Asks for Special Privileges at Airports to be Withdrawn

New Delhi:  Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has written a letter to the Special Protection Group or SPG, asking for special airport exemptions provided to her family, when they are travelling together, to be withdrawn.

Priyanka and her husband, Robert Vadra, are currently on a list of VIPs which lets them skip security checks at airports within India.

42-year-old Priyanka, who is the daughter of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, has written to SPG chief Durga Prasad that she and her husband would go through normal channels where they are frisked. The SPG looks after the security of the prime minister, former prime ministers and their families.

"Since the government is now reportedly considering the removal of his (Robert Vadra) name, I would like to inform you that I do not feel it will be correct for my children and me to avail of the facility of exemption of these checks while entering or exiting the airport when we are all traveling together," her letter says.
30/05/14 Abhinav Bhatt/NDTV

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Turkish Airport Stake Sale Props Up GMR Profit

Hyderabad: GMR Infrastructure reported nearly two-fold increase in its profit after tax  (after minority interest) at Rs 1,170 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 as against Rs 579 crore during the same quarter a year ago. The rise in profit was a result of its 40 per cent stake sale in the Turkish Airport to Malaysian Airports Holdings BDH, which fetched the company Rs 1,659 crore.
Gross revenue for the fourth quarter increased by 12 per cent to Rs 2,961 crore from Rs 2,638 crore.
PAT for the financial year ended March 2014 dipped to Rs 10 crore as against Rs 88 crore a year ago. Gross revenue increased to Rs 10,653 crore from Rs 9,975 crore during the same period.
“We are now on a stable path with the right mix of assets, reduced debt levels and optimum cost utilisation. With our assets becoming operational and stabilising, we expect the performance to improve in the coming year. We are optimistic that there will be resurgence in the infrastructure sector and we are well poised to participate in this phase,” said GM Rao, Chairman, GMR Group.
Meanwhile, the company, which operates 8 power units, said gross revenue from power business stood at Rs 3,343 crore in FY14 as against Rs  2,430 crore during 2012-13. GMR is in the process of developing seven more power projects.
31/05/14 New India Express

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30 minute Havoc at the IGI airport

Have you ever heard an aircraft standing stationary at the parking bay turn nearly 90 degrees owing to heavy winds ? Unbelievable as it may sound but that's  exactly what happened at the airport in the national capital.
An Air India plane at the parking bay could not take the might of the gusty wind with the result that the wings turned to a side hitting the step ladder resulting in extreme damage to the outer layer of the engine.
An A 330 is a huge body but because of the heavy winds it suffered damage.
Headlines Today is in the exclusive possession of these pictures that show how a big plane has been damaged.
Air India officials confirm that the plane has been damaged and that the aircraft is being looked into.
Airport sources tell Headlines Today that Around  4:30 pm when the city was taken totally unaware with huge gush of winds and the sky turning dark there was chaos at the airport. Visibility turned zero and at the peak traffic hour flights had to be diverted.
This huge plane much to the horror of many turned to its side and hit the step ladder. Sources also tell us that there were two other planes of other airlines that suffered damages. DIAL refused to comment further on the issue.
31/05/14 Pankaj Upadhyay/India Today

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Gold bars worth Rs 11 lakh seized at Hyderabad airport

Hyderabad: Customs officials today seized gold bars worth Rs 11 lakh from a passenger at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here.
Officers of Customs Air Intelligence Unit intercepted Shaik Chan Basha of Proddutur who arrived from Jeddah by an Air India flight after they found his demeanour suspicious.
30/05/14 PTI/Business Standard

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Mangalore: Gold recovered from dustbin at airport, accused caught red-handed

Mangalore: In an innovative way of smugging gold, in perhaps the first case of its kind, the officials of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Mangalore branch on Friday May 30 night caught a passenger red-handed placing gold bars in a dustbin at Mangalore International Airport.
The passenger, Sameer Mohammed, a resident of Kasargod, arrived at the airport by Air India Express flight from Dubai at around 10 pm.
The officials also seized two gold bars, each weighing one kg, altogether worth Rs 50.96 lac.
Sameer had brought the gold bars wrapped in papers, and before going through security check, he went to the toilet of the airport and placed the package in the dustbin. As per Sameer, he was directed by someone to place the gold bars in the dustbin, from where it would be collected by an accomplice.
31/05/14 daijiworld.com

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Another Major Gold Haul at Kochi International Airport

Kochi: The Customs Department has confiscated 1092 grams of gold that was being smuggled in the form of nuggets from four passengers at the Kochi Airport.
The passengers, who arrived from Kuala Lumpur by a Malindo Air flight at 10.30 pm on May 27, had swallowed the nuggets which were in the shape of buttons, said officials of the Air Intelligence Unit.
Three of  the intercepted passengers hail from the Ramananathapuram district in Tamil Nadu, and the fourth passenger hails from the Sivagangai district.
The passengers, who were intercepted at the exit gate of the arrival hall, had not declared the possession of the gold. However, a personal search using a metal detector revealed the presence of gold in their stomachs.
On further questioning, the passengers admitted that together they had swallowed 43 gold nuggets, each weighing approximately 25 gm. Two of them had swallowed 10 gold nuggets each, one had swallowed 11 nuggets, and the fourth one had swallowed 12 nuggets.
31/05/14 New Indian Express

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Airport privatisation: Authority seeks fresh requests

Lucknow: The proposed privatisation of Lucknow airport has moved a step further with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) seeking fresh request for qualification (RFQ) by May 31.
Sought by May 31, the RFQ comes up categorically with detailed requirements a private party will have to undertake in renovating the Lucknow airport.
According to the document, the private company will have to spend around Rs 500 crore to renovate the existing terminal building which got constructed in 2009 at an estimated cost of around Rs 200 crore.
The RFQ document goes on to say that the concessionaire will be required to re-carpet the runway, construct three additional hangars, expansion of terminal building, construct boundary wall, a new cargo terminal and relocate the car park. Besides, the private company will also be required to construct a perimeter road and strengthen the existing perimeter road inside operational area. Also, a new fire station, an administrative block and an CISF barrack will also be required to be constructed by the company.
29/05/14 Times of India

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IGI Airport gets ready for world’s largest aircraft

Delhi: Twelve suites, LCD screens, food prepared by one of India’s top chefs and 471 seats. No, it’s not a luxury hotel we are talking about. These are the facilities onboard A380, the world’s largest aircraft, which will begin operations in India on May 30.
The size and scale of the aircraft being brought to India by Singapore Airlines has had the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) undertake a series of measures to facilitate its arrival.
On April 7, Singapore Airlines became the first airline to announce the double-decker A380 services to the country, after the Central government gave the green signal in January this year. The aircraft is scheduled to land at 8.05 pm on May 30 at the IGI airport’s Runway 29 and will take off at 10.20 pm. The landing and takeoff will be streamed on the Delhi Airport’s YouTube ID.
The super jumbo jet will take over from the Boeing 777s and fly daily to New Delhi and Mumbai airports. In all, 14 flights will be operated from each city a week.
29/05/14 Shalini Narayan/Indian Express

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Prakash Raj and co-passenger argument delays Air India flight

Hyderabad: A Chennai-bound Air India flight was halted for about 10 minutes by the staff following a tiff between popular actor Prakash Raj and a fellow passenger at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on Wednesday night.
Prakash Raj and a co-passenger had an heated argument after the latter allegedly made some derogatory remarks about the actor over his phone. The duo reportedly man-handled each other. The Central Industrial Security Force and other officials intervened and sorted out the issue.
29/05/14 Deccan Chronicle

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Will Expedite Airport Works: Siddeshwara

Bangalore: Newly appointed Minister of State for Civil Aviation G M Siddeshwara said that his priority would be to expedite expansion works of various airports and complete pending airport projects in the state.
The Davangere MP told Express that there are many projects, including the expansion of Hubli and Mysore airports which are yet to be completed. Steps will also be taken to commence operations from Bijapur, Bellary and Shimoga and other airports. “I will meet officials concerned on Friday and discuss the matter with them,” he said.
On the pending flying permit approvals, he said that private sector will be given preference but all proposals will have to be discussed at the top-levels of the ministry.
29/05/14 New Indian Express

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Aranmula Airport Can't Get Past Green Tribunal

Chennai: The National Green Tribunal on Wednesday set aside the environmental clearance granted to the proposed Aranmula International Airport near Kerala’s renowned Sabarimala Temple, halting the controversial `2,000-crore project.
The verdict is seen as a major victory for local residents and activists who strongly oppose the proposed airport as it involves large-scale illegal conversion of 211 acres of paddy fields and alleged ecological impact in the region.
Pronouncing its verdict on a batch of petitions filed against the project, the southern bench of the tribunal consisting of Justice M Chokalingam and expert member R Nagendran observed that there were procedural lapses in the grant of environmental clearance for the airport by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. The tribunal said that Enviro Care India Private Ltd, the private agency that conducted the environment impact assessment for the project, was incompetent to conduct the study. There were also violations in the public hearing condcted with the local residents over the project.
For the above reasons the tribunal restrained KGS International Airport Limited, a Chennai-based company that is executing the project, from carrying out any activity, constructional or otherwise, with respect of the proposed airport on the strength of the environmental clearance granted by the Union ministry.
The tribunal had already issued an interim stay on the greenfield airport in January.
29/05/14  J Santhosh/New Indian Express

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Achuthanandan hails NGT order on Aranmula airport

Thiruvananthapuram: Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan has hailed the verdict of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) cancelling the environmental clearance for the Aranmula airport project.
A pressnote quoting him said here on Wednesday that the verdict was recognition of the popular sentiments against the project and a blow for the UDF government headed by Oommen Chandy that had gone out of its way to support the promoters, KGS Group.
“It is also a strong warning to corporate forces and the land mafia seeking to make profit by reclaiming wetlands and paddy fields as well as a call to the public to maintain vigil against such moves,” he said.
Mr. Achuthanandan urged the government to desist from making amendments to the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetlands Act in the light of the NGT order.
29/05/14 The Hindu

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Now, Naidu wants airport to be named after NTR

Hyderabad: Telugu Desam president, N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday revived his party’s demand that the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport be named after former Chief Minister, N. T. Rama Rao.
Paying tributes to NTR on his 91st birth anniversary at the party’s annual conference, Mahanadu, here, Mr. Naidu said the party was confident of achieving its goal of renaming the airport as its Lok Sabha MP, Ashok Gajapathi Raju was now the Civil Aviation Minister. He also raised the party’s old demand that Bharat Ratna be conferred on NTR.
His comment on the Shamshabad airport near Hyderabad is bound to kick up a row as it is part of Telangana now where the party’s arch rival, TRS holds sway and its government would be in place on June 2. TDP is not sure how the Chief Minister-designate, K. Chandrasekhar Rao would react to its renaming demand.
TDP had been consistently making this demand before the inauguration of the airport in March 2008 by AICC president, Sonia Gandhi and even organised protests. The party’s argument was NTR’s name was already there when the airport was at Begumpet.
29/05/14 The Hindu

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Airlines asked to provide small baggage trolleys in post-security area at airports

New Delhi: Air travellers will no longer be required to lug heavy hand baggage in the post security area of Indian airports. The directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) has directed airlines and airports to make available small hand bag trolleys in post security check areas too. This order will be particularly helpful for flyers at sprawling terminals like Delhi's T3.
This is among a host of services that the DGCA has made mandatory to be provided to flyers at India airports. Now automated buggies (read golf carts) will have to be provided free of cost to all senior citizens, expecting mothers and disabled passengers in terminal buildings of big airports. "This facility may be extended to other needy passengers on demand basis free of charge," the DGCA order says.
In addition, airlines and airport operators have been asked to devise passenger grievance redressal mechanisms. "Airlines/airport operators shall ensure that all complaints are acknowledged immediately to the complainant and redressed at the earliest but not exceeding one month. In case of non-redressal of the matter within the stipulated time frame, the complainant has the option to take up the matter with DGCA," the order issued by DGCA chief Prabhat Kumar says.
29/05/14 Times of India

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After slowdown, passenger movement takes off at Ahmedabad airport

Ahmedabad:  Introduction of new routes and more flights, along with a spur in the passengers flying on international routes from the city, has led to 9.6% growth in passenger movement in 2013-14 at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport here. Last year, city airport had witnessed a reduction of 11.3% mainly due to economic slowdown and non-availability of flights on preferred routes.
According to the latest data, the biggest contribution in the growth has come from international passenger movement which saw an increase of 21.9% in 2013-14, making it the highest in last five years and more than double the last year when the airport recorded growth of 9.8%.
"Before 2012, the major chunk of passenger movement was on domestic routes. After premium airlines introduced direct flights to Dubai and Doha, the transit points for the US and the UK, passenger movement on international routes is on a roll," said an airports authority of India (AAI) official. On an average, six flights arrive daily from middle-east, including places like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Kuwait and Sharjah.
29/05/14 Piyush Mishra/Times of India

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Gold worth Rs 25 lakh hidden in man's rectum recovered

Kozhikode: Eight hundred grams of gold, worth Rs 25 lakh, concealed in the rectum of a male passenger who arrived here from Dubai, was recovered by Customs officials at the International Airport in Kozhikode.
The man, identified as Asharf from Malappuram, arrived here from Dubai by an Air India flight and was taken into custody after a metal detector check revealed the gold hidden inside his rectum, Airport Customs Intellgience officials said.
29/05/14 Deccan Chronicle

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Four gold smugglers arrested at airport

New Delhi: Four alleged gold smugglers, including a staff member of a private ground handling company and a foreign national, were arrested at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here on Tuesday, leading to the seizure of 1.2 kg of gold.
According to a Central Industrial Security Force statement, its surveillance staff noticed a loader of the Bird Worldwide Flight Services, Chandan Kumar, “roaming suspiciously at the international arrival pier of Terminal-3 in the early hours of the day. He was also seen interacting with a passenger who had arrived from Bahrain.
“They both walked into a bathroom and then went into another continuing their conversation. The CISF personnel followed the passenger up to the Customs area and requested the officials concerned for thorough checking of the passenger and his belongings. However, nothing was found initially,” said a senior CISF officer.
29/05/14 The Hindu

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AAI to build solar power plants at 30 airports

New Delhi: In a bid to tap alternative sources of energy, Airports Authority of India (AAI) has decided to build solar power plants at about 30 of its airports across the country.
AAI plans to install 50 MW capacity plants in the first phase, which would be enhanced to 150 MW over a period of time, an AAI spokesperson said today.
The plants would be established on surplus land available with it at these identified airports or on the large roof tops of the airport structures.
In all about 30 airports have been identified by AAI for establishment of these solar power plants, which would not only meet its own requirements but also feed the surplus power to the local grid.
An MoU for construction of these plants was signed between the state-run airports body and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) here earlier in the day.
28/05/14 PTI/Business Standard

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DGCA Issues Five-Point Mandatory Courtesies at Airports

In what is being touted as a first, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a comprehensive guideline on facilities and courtesies, which are to be compulsorily extended to air passengers.
The DGCA - a regulatory body under the Ministry of Civil Aviation - released the circular on Tuesday.
"In first of its kind, DGCA has issued comprehensive guidelines on 'facilities/courtesies to esteemed travelling public at airports' in the form of Air Transport Circular 1 of 2014. The Circular lays emphasis on standardized passenger complaint redressal and courteous behaviour of airline/airport staff dealing with passengers," the circular stated.
Here are the five-point guideline put out by the DGCA:
Provision of automated buggies free of charge for all senior citizens, expectant mothers and disabled and needy passengers in the terminal building to facilitate their access to boarding gates located beyond reasonable walking distance at all airports having annual aircraft movements of 50,000 or more;
Provision of small trolleys after security check for carriage of hand baggage up to the boarding gate;
Airlines/airport operators to display the details of their Nodal Officer and Appellate Authority in a conspicuous manner at key areas of the airport indicating their names, contact number and email addresses;
Ground handling staff of Airlines/airport operators engaged in passenger handling to undergo periodic soft skill training for sensitization, courtesy, behaviour and procedures for assisting the passengers; and
Airlines/airport operators to report every month on passenger complaints and any incident of misdemeanour, discourteous behaviour and harassment, to DGCA along with the action taken.
27/05/14  Johnlee Varghese/IBT

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Two Delhi-bound diverted planes land in Jaipur

Jaipur: Two Indigo flights were diverted from Delhi to Jaipur due to congestion at Indira Gandhi International Airport on Monday. The congestion in Delhi's aerial route was due to arrival of heads of nations, foreign delegates and other invitees attending the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister.
Jaipur airport authorities said that two Delhi-bound flights from Ahmedabad and Kolkata landed in Jaipur airport at 10.50 am and 11.10 am. "These flights, after an hour's stop-over, left for Delhi," said officials. Meanwhile, the airport was kept on high alert anticipating diverted flights from Delhi.
According to sources, the civil aviation authorities had categorically asked Jaipur, Lucknow, Ahmedabad and other airports to remain alert in case of any sudden diversion due to the rush at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Monday.
27/05/14 Times of India

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Dial registers 7.3% traffic in 2013

The largest infrastructure development project in India post independence, the Delhi International Airport, witnessed a growth of 7.3 per cent in traffic over the previous year. The airport handled a total of 36.7 million passengers in 2013. The airport’s terminals collectively boast of a total capacity of a whopping 62 million passengers annually, including the 34 million passengers that the state-of-the-art T3 caters to individually.
“We credit this boost to our airline partners. Domestic carriers have added several new routes and accentuated frequencies on existing metro and non-metro routes. Existing international carriers have also increased frequencies. Besides, we had new carriers starting up service as well from Delhi,” said I Prabhakara Rao, CEO, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL).
Several new international airlines, such as Mihin Lanka and Kyrgyz Air among others, have added Delhi in their network. Melbourne, Sydney and Birmingham, are some of the new points now connected to Delhi. Besides, a host of new domestic routes have also been added, including flights to Imphal, Trivandrum, Khajuraho, Dibrugarh and Varanasi.
27/05/14 Shayan Mallick/T3

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Burney in search of family of sick Pakistani stuck at Delhi airport

Karachi: The human and civil rights organisation Ansar Burney Trust International in Pakistan is in search of family of a reportedly mentally sick Pakistani national stuck at Delhi Airport in India.
 Director of Ansar Burney Trust International, Shagufta Burney said that a little bit abnormal Pakistani national Lal Sham Passport number: B4527114 was travelling from Delhi Airport to come to Karachi on 26th May by PK273 even after getting flight boarding card, refused to enter the plane and also refused to travel while starting saying rubbish things, says a press release on Tuesday.
 The Trust was in search of his family in Pakistan so that it would be able to save him from any arrest or criminal case in India, since apparently he was looking mentally sick.
27/05/14 The News

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Bial hosts inaugural edition of Pinnacle award

Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru celebrated six years of operation with the inaugural edition of the BIAL Pinnacle Awards held at the J W Mariott in Bengaluru. The awards were held in the presence of Sanjay Reddy, MD, BIAL, senior management from BIAL and various stakeholders. Aimed at acknowledging and awarding star performances amongst the various airport stakeholders in several capacities, the idea of the award is to perpetuate a culture of competition and excellence amongst all stakeholders at the airport, which eventually would have a telling impact on the performance of the airport as a whole.
“Our stakeholders have contributed to the progress, business intent, values and objectives of BIAL and these awards are a way of recognising their excellence. Our partners are an integral part of our Airport; they engage with our passengers, strive for customer delight and make an impact that leaves a lasting impression on them. We are immensely proud of our collaboration and take this opportunity to recognize and thank all our stakeholders for their unhindered support.” said Reddy.
27/05/14 Travel Trenbds Today

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Baggage scales at 1D under scanner

New Delhi: Ever since airlines reduced free check-in baggage allowance to 15 kg and decided to impose a hefty fee for every extra kg, domestic flyers look at the weighing scales at airline counters with much trepidation to see if they are in the "safe zone" or not. But people flying out of Delhi's low-cost terminal 1D will do well to weigh their check-in bags before heading to the airport.
The aviation regulator has cast doubt at the weighing machines stationed at the check-in counters at terminal 1D. A directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) team did a complete 'surveillance' of the terminal on Sunday (May 25) and found that the machines did "not have certificate of calibration". With the regulator itself pointing a finger at the weighing machines' calibration, flyers may not be sure if they are showing the right weight.
The DGCA team, led by joint DG Lalit Gupta, has submitted the findings of its surveillance to DGCA chief Prabhat Kumar who has asked Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL) to take all corrective steps within a month.
27/05/14 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Acquisition of Land for Airport Begins

Jharsugda: The land acquisition process for much awaited extension and development of Jharsuguda Airport began on Monday. Both government and private land identified at Charmal under Durlaga panchayat and Malimunda mouza under Jharsuguda Municipality were notified earlier by the Revenue department and district administration.
While the process of land acquisition started at Talmal village, land owners have demanded their conditions to be fulfilled before acquisition.
27/05/14 New Indian Express

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Polio immunisation for air passengers at Mangalore

Mangalore: Mangalore International Airport has made arrangements to give polio vaccination to passengers who travel to or from Mangalore Airport to seven endemic countries in the world.
A press statement by the Director of Mangalore International Airport, JT Radhakrishna, said here arrangements have been made to immunise passengers who travel to countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Kenya.
27/05/14 Business Line

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Jeweller was abducted by 3 cops from airport

New Delhi:  The abduction and murder of a 30-year-old man by cops in southwest Delhi on Monday is not the first such incident this year. A similar incident took place a few weeks ago where a jeweller was abducted from IGI airport allegedly by three cops, who were from Mayapuri and Khayala police stations in west Delhi. The victim was later released in mysterious circumstances.
Senior officers learnt of the incident after the three cops were accused of extorting Rs 10 lakh from the trader. The cops were suspended and an inquiry was started. Head constables Mahipal and Suresh were posted in Mayapuri, while their accomplice, Rajender, from the Khayala police station, is of the same rank. Officials said the team functioned as "special staff" and conducted operations beyond their jurisdiction.
27/05/145 Times of India

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112kg of mephedrone seized at Larnaca airport

Authorities have seized 112 kilos of mephedrone at Larnaca airport that was meant to be re-exported to the EU, reports said on Tuesday.
Two men from Larnaca aged 35 and 50 were arrested to be brought before court on Wednesday.
Reports said the drug was found in containers stored at Larnaca airport.
State broadcaster CyBC said the substance came from India and was meant to be re-exported to the EU.
No other information was immediately available.
Mephedrone is a synthetic stimulant related to amphetamines and cathinone class drugs.
27/05/14 Cyprus Mail

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Upgrade of airports, reviewing curbs on carriers key tasks: Aviation Minister

New Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati and his Minister of State Gowdar Mallikarjunappa Siddeswara would have tasks cut out for them when they assume office tomorrow.
They would have to address crucial issues facing the aviation sector including construction and upgrade of airports including low-cost ones across the country, reviewing the 5/20 rule to allow Indian carriers to launch global operations and the issue of downgrade of India’s safety ranking by US regulator Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
While Raju is a veteran leader, Politburo member of the Telugu Desam Party and a seven-time legislator, Siddeswara is a senior BJP leader elected from Davangere constituency of Karnataka for the third successive term since 2004. Raju, known for his philanthropic activities, belongs to the titular family of Vizianagaram.
Among the critical issues the two leaders would have to address is the turnaround of cash-starved Air India, whose financials have lately started looking up.
28/05/14 PTI/Indian Express

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Emirates To Start A380 Mumbai Services In July

Emirates will start eagerly awaited A380 services to Mumbai from July 21.
EK500 and EK501 between Dubai and Mumbai will be up-scaled to a three-class A380 aircraft, with a capacity increase of 2,127 seats per week in each direction.
In addition, Emirates will deploy larger B777 aircraft to Delhi and Hyderabad to serve growing demand. Delhi will have 980 additional one-way weekly seats while Hyderabad will increase its capacity to add 672 one-way weekly seats.
The moves follow lengthy bilateral discussions between the governments of Dubai and India, which provide a phased increase of 11,000 seats for Dubai carriers. Emirates flew a ‘one off’ A380 to India in 2010, to mark 25 years of flights, and has been knocking on the capacity door ever since.
28/05/14 Dominic Ellis/Gulf Business

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Second international flight lands in Odisha capital

Bhubaneswar: A chartered flight with four passengers landed at the Biju Patnaik International airport here today. Operated by Ligare Aviation Ltd, the Falcon 7 X type aircraft bears registration no VT-RGX.
Biju Patnaik International AirportThe flight, which originated from Luton Airport near London (UK), reached Bhubaneswar International Airport after 10 hours of non stop flying.The passengers were greeted warmly by Airport staff.
Custom and Immigration facility were provided as per rule at the Airport.Ground Handling facilities were provided by Saxon Air Services Pvt. Ltd.
The 15 seater chartered plane would leave Bhubaneswar International Airport for Mumbai at 8 pm today.
28/05/14 Chinmaya Dehury/Odisha Sun Times

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Free buggies for elderly, pregnant and disabled at key airports

New Delhi:  Airports such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata will have to provide free automated buggies for elder, pregnant and disabled passengers.
This is part of first ever comprehensive guidelines on ‘facilities/courtesies to esteemed travelling public at airports’ issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The guidelines lay emphasis on standardised passenger complaint redressal and courteous behaviour of airline and airport staff dealing with passengers. Violation of such guidelines will result in penalty.
The guidelines prescribe “Provision of automated buggies free of charge for all senior citizens, expectant mothers and disabled and needy passengers in the terminal building to facilitate their access to boarding gates located beyond reasonable walking distance at all airports having annual aircraft movements of 50,000 or more.” Airport operators will also have to provide small trolleys after security check for carriage of hand baggage up to the boarding gate.
27/05/14 Business Line

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Mumbai airport cabbies trained to be more courteous

Cab drivers operating from the swanky Terminal 2 of Mumbai airport shall be more courteous and cooperative with passengers, thanks to a new initiative by the airport authorities and tourism department, officials said Tuesday. The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) and Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (MIAL) organised a training session for 25 cab drivers to emphasise soft skills, appearance, language and behaviour with passengers. The initiative covered cab drivers plying the regular non-airconditioned and cool-cabs outside the Mumbai airport. "A passenger's travel experience begins the moment they hire a cab at the airport and this training session would enhance the quality of service provided by the cab drivers," a MIAL spokesperson said.
27/05/14 IANS/Mid Day

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Covered drains close to Mumbai airport spark flood fear

Mumbai: The covering of vast stretches of nullahs passing through the airport area has local residents worried.
In a letter to municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte, local NGO Watchdog Foundation said that desilting the Krishna Nagar and Lelewadi nullahs, which pass along several five-star hotels on the airport land and further adjacent to Terminal 2, may be problematic.
The airport and adjoining areas were amongst the worst affected during the 2005 deluge.
"The nullahs have not only been diverted for the convenience of the hotels, but also covered and converted into parking lots. Unless they are cleaned end to end, where is the guarantee that there will be no flooding," said Godfrey Pimenta, convenor, Watchdog Foundation.
28/05/14 Times of India

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Actor Prakash Raj Slapped on Flight

Hyderabad:  Actor Prakash Raj, who had arguments with a passenger in a flight was allegedly slapped on-board a flight.  The airport authority, however, stated that there was mild argument between the actor and another passenger.
According to sources, Prakash Raj was taunted by the fellow passenger. Later, both boarded the same flight from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA).  The duo allegedly had some arguments on board, during which the passenger slapped the actor.
29/05/14 New Indian Express

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Survey on 'village servants' near Navi Mumbai airport

Mumbai: City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) today said it has identified 300 "bara balutedars" in 10 villages in the vicinity of upcoming Navi Mumbai international airport and has joined hands with Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS) to conduct a survey on steps to be initiated for their economic and social welfare.
"There are around 300 'bara baluterdars' or village servants in the 10 villages which fall in the vicinity of the Navi Mumbai airport. TISS will conduct a survey of these villages and analyse the steps needed to be taken for their upliftment," a release issued by CIDCO said.
The Bara Balutedar System was a servant-cum-caste systems in Maharashtra during the old Maratha rule.
"On the basis of the survey, CIDCO can decide what kind of training should be imparted to these people or how much financial assistance can be provided under which programme of the state government, and even on providing them bank loans for starting their own business," it said.
28/05/14 PTI/Business Standard

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4 Passengers Detained on Suspicion of Concealing Gold in their Stomach

Nedumbassery: Four passengers who arrived in Kochi from Kuala Lumpur on the newly-introduced airliner Malindo Air on Wednesday have been detained as they were found to be carrying gold in their stomach.
The gold concealed inside their stomach was detected by the Air Intelligence Unit of the Customs Department when they passed through the metal detector. All four were immediately intercepted and taken into custody for examination. But the officials said that the passengers have not yet admitted to carrying gold inside them.  On interrogation, one passenger accidentally vomited a one-sovereign coin.  The officials reportedly admitted all four to a private hospital at Angamaly. Sources said that one passenger was from Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu and the other three were from Ramanathapuram.
29/05/14 New Indian Express

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Five kg gold seized at Guwahati airport

Guwahati: Gold bars weighing five kgs were on Wednesday seized from two persons at the Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport here, Excise Department officials said.
The gold bars valued at over Rs one crore were seized from the two accused identified as G Soni and Y Soni after they arrived from Kolkata, the officials said.
28/05/14 PTI/Zee News

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Baggage loader held at IGIA for smuggling gold

New Delhi: CISF has apprehended a baggage- loader for allegedly conniving with a few others to smuggle 1. 2kg of gold at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here.
Officials said the incident occurred yesterday when Central Industrial Security Force sleuths detected the suspicious movement of the loader employed with a private logistics firm at Terminal-3 of the airport when he was seen meeting a passenger, who arrived from Bahrain, inside two bathrooms of the airport.
The loader has been identified as one Chandan Kumar and 1.2kg gold was recovered from him, they said.
28/05/14 PTI/Business Standard

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2 directors of gem firm arrested for Rs 1.3cr duty evasion

Mumbai:  Customs officials at the airport on Wednesday arrested Yogin Jhaveri and Jayendra Jhaveri, directors of Ronak Gems, for evading Rs 1.3 crore duty in its import of precious stones.
The company mis-declared processed pearls as raw ones to evade 10% duty, officials said. The company declared the value as Rs 57 lakh. The department is also investigating the company's import of 130 consignments in the past five years. "We believe they have mis-declared the goods in these consignments too," an official said. The imports were made through the Precious Cargo Clearance Centre, formed for expeditious clearance of gem and jewellery meant for import and export. In another case investigated by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, the partners were issued a showcause notice around seven months ago for Rs 18 crore evasion.
28/05/14 Times of India

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Travelling by business or cattle class, at CSIA you'll get the royal treatment

Mumbai: Irrespective of whether you are travelling by the business/first class or the economy class, the Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) has decided to pamper you with a royal treatment.
It has opened, in phases, its new lounge, Pranaam, to both domestic and international passengers. Its services have also being extended to the domestic terminal. The airport authorities say the services offered through the new initiative will be a boon to passengers who don't travel in the expensive business/first class.
The services are available for as little as Rs 1000 for domestic, and Rs 2,200 for international passengers, and go up depending on the benefits availed. The initiative won the reputed Golden Peacock Innovative award on Friday.
"It has been designed to provide guests at the state-of-the-art terminal T2 and domestic terminal T1 a seamless and stress-free experience," said an airport official. "It simplifies passenger travel, right from arrival at the airport, independent of the airline or class travelled," he added.
25/05/14 Shahkar Abidi/Daily News & Analysis

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New steps against waste disposal near Thiruvananthapuram airport

Thiruvananthapuram: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will launch an awareness campaign against dumping of waste around the Thiruvananthapuram international airport.
The decision was taken at the Airfield Environment Managing Committee that met here on Thursday under the chairmanship of Additional Chief Secretary (Transport) V.J. Kurien. The city Corporation and revenue officials will be roped in for awareness programme and waste management.
The committee took stock of the situation arising out of the dumping of waste, opening of illegal slaughterhouses and meat shops, and sale of fish in the open in the vicinity of the airport and the approach path.
Airport Director and convener of the committee V.N. Chandran said the distribution of leaflets to local people and other awareness measures would be intensified. More hoardings would be put up.
26/05/14 The Hindu

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IndiGo, Emirates bag BIAL Pinnacle awards

Domestic air carrier IndiGo has bagged the BIAL Pinnacle Awards as Airline of the Year domestic. Emirates has won the award under international category.
Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), which operates Kempegowda International Airport, Bangalore celebrated its six years of operation with the inaugural edition of the BIAL Pinnacle Awards.
“Aimed at acknowledging and awarding star performances among various airport stakeholders in several capacities, the idea of the award is to perpetuate a culture of competition and excellence among all stakeholders at the airport, which eventually would have a telling impact on the performance of the airport as a whole,” a BIAL release said.
Others who bagged awards were: Airline of the Year (Cargo) AeroLogic. On Time Airline (Domestic) Jet Airways, On Time Airline (International) Thai Airways, Excellence in Safety (Airline) Emirates, Fastest Growing (Airline) Indigo, Flyer's Favourite Airline (Domestic) Spice Jet, and Flyer's Favourite Airline (International) Dragon Air.
Commercial category: Outperforming Commercial Partner (Terminal) Shoppers Stop, Outperforming Commercial Partner (Kerb Side) Chai Point, Outperforming Partner (Car Rentals & Taxi Services) Meru Cab, and Excellence in Green Practices (F&B) Café Coffee Day.
26/05/14 Anil Urs/Business Line

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Man Held for Smuggling 3 Kg Gold at Airport

New Delhi:  A man has been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle into the country gold bars worth about Rs. 77 lakh.
The accused was intercepted by customs officials at the international airport here after his arrival from Bahrain on Thursday.
"During his personal search, he was allegedly found carrying three kgs of gold. The recovered gold is valued at Rs. 76.44 lakh," a customs official said.
The passenger was arrested and gold bars were seized, he said. In another incident on the same day, an employee of a sub-contractor firm engaged by Delhi airport was arrested with two kg gold valued at Rs. 50.96 lakh.
26/05/14 NDTV

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Customs strikes gold in May, seizes 104kg yellow metal at Mumbai airport

Mumbai: On the second level of the international terminal 2 of Mumbai airport is a strong room that could be arguably called the present day Ali Baba's cave. Currently, the strong room is stocked with seized gold bars.
In May, the customs officials of the Mumbai airport reaped a bumper harvest of sorts—104kg of the yellow metal. "For the first time ever, the gold seized from smugglers landing at the city airport has crossed 100kg in a month," said Kiran Kumar, assistant commissioner of customs, air intelligence unit. "It is a remarkable achievement."
The seized gold is packed, sealed, labelled, registered and guarded in the strong room along with other confiscated goods such as currency, diamonds and drugs.
25/05/14 Times of India

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Man held for smuggling 3 kg gold at airport

New Delhi:  A man has been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle into the country gold bars worth about Rs 77 lakh.
The accused was intercepted by customs officials at the international airport here after his arrival from Bahrain on Thursday.
"During his personal search, he was allegedly found carrying three kgs of gold. The recovered gold is valued at Rs 76.44 lakh," a customs official said.
The passenger was arrested and gold bars were seized, he said.
In another incident on the same day, an employee of a sub-contractor firm engaged by Delhi airport was arrested with two kg gold valued at Rs 50.96 lakh.
Earlier on Wednesday, three persons were arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle in 933.12 grams of gold bars worth Rs 24 lakh.
26/05/14 PTI/Business Standard

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Customs strikes gold in May, seizes 104kg yellow metal at Mumbai airport

Mumbai: On the second level of the international terminal 2 of Mumbai airport is a strong room that could be arguably called the present day Ali Baba's cave. Currently, the strong room is stocked with seized gold bars.
In May, the customs officials of the Mumbai airport reaped a bumper harvest of sorts—104kg of the yellow metal. "For the first time ever, the gold seized from smugglers landing at the city airport has crossed 100kg in a month," said Kiran Kumar, assistant commissioner of customs, air intelligence unit. "It is a remarkable achievement."
25/04/14 Times of India

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Thiruvananthapuram airport readies more facilities for new airlines

The Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is upgrading its facilities to meet future challenges and cater to seven airlines waiting in the wings to begin flight operations to the capital city.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is building a parallel taxiway, isolation bay, aerobridge and an apron at the terminal and two ‘turning pads’.
The work, estimated to cost Rs.120 crore, is on in full swing. Airport Director V.N. Chandran told The Hindu that the work would continue during the monsoon and be completed in 24 months.
The Rs.52-crore parallel taxiway will facilitate faster clearance of aircraft from the runway. Runway occupancy of aircraft is now eight minutes. The 1,595 metre-long parallel taxiway is being constructed in addition to the existing 543-metre parallel taxiway from the runway to the new terminal on the city side.
Two ‘turning pads’ are being constructed on both sides of the runway so that medium aircraft do not have to go to the end of the runway to reach the parking bays.
25/05/14 The Hindu

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'Airport Security Check Time to be Halved for Fliers'

New Delhi:  In order to enhance passenger comfort, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has decided to cut security checks and frisking time at the airports by almost half.
The force has prepared a four-point, new standard operating procedure for its security personnel who are deployed at the country's 59 civil airports, to identify genuine travelling passengers and scan their baggage.
"We have decided to cut the security check time for air fliers at the airports by half. At present, our officials take 7-8 minutes to complete the frisking and identification of passengers but now we plan to cut it down by half which is about 4 minutes," Chief of CISF airport security unit O P Singh told PTI.
Mr Singh said new modules and Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) have been developed to enable the CISF security men to achieve this target.
"We have initiated a new profiling mechanism by which the security person will intelligently identify between a genuine, a fake or suspicious passenger. Once that is done, the security personnel will being trained to quickly go through three details in the air ticket which is checking the correct flight number, date, time and the valid Identity-card of the passenger," Additional Director General (CISF) Mr Singh said.
25/05/14 PTI/NDTV

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Fly Buy India, Chant Retailers

Indian realty pricing may have gone through the roof in recent times, but downtown costs pale in comparison with rentals at airports. Nevertheless, given the “quality retail outlets” available in the swanky new terminals, lifestyle brands, restaurants and duty-free operators are making a beeline for them in their quest for global visibility.
Fortunately, there’s no shortage of space. The capital’s T1/T3 terminals offer over 320,000 sq ft of retail space; the new Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (T2) has 700,000 sq ft up for grabs. More importantly, Indian airports handle 121 million domestic and 41 million international passengers annually. In the first three months of 2014, over 35 lakh international passengers travelled on Indian carriers alone.
The cost of setting up shop at the new airports is $1,000-1,200 per sq metre, according to Nuance group. But the high costs are no deterrent, when you consider the huge potential involved. No wonder, all the big local players–from electronic retailer Croma to leather brand Hidesign to Lite Bite Foods and Shoppers Stop—can be found at the new Indian airports. For the elite traveller, there are Hugo Boss, Bose, Burberry, Prada, Emporio Armani etc.
25/05/14 Sharan Poovanna/New Indian Express

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Bhubaneswar-Bangalore from August

Bhubaneswar: : The Bangalore-based ABC Airways will start domestic operations from here this August. ABC will fly to Bangalore, airport sources said.
At present, there is no direct flight to Bangalore after Jet Airways withdrew its carrier in October. "In November, ABC airways had evinced interest to fly from here. Recently, it has sought space at the terminal building to operate its office," said airport director Sharad Kumar.
He said that the flier would offer cheap fares to passengers compared to that of other airlines. "The airline has agreed to charge less than Rs 5,000 per passenger for flying to Bangalore. We have discussed all the modalities including parking fee of aircraft, providing offices and check-in counters, with the private airlines," said Kumar.
25/05/14 Times of India

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Shut runway for shorter duration: AAI to Indian Navy

Panaji: The Navy's decision to shut down the runway at Goa airport for eight hours over a fortnight for the pre-monsoon annual maintenance has not gone down well with Airport Authority of India (AAI).
The AAI officials have sought an appointment with the naval officials here in the coming week to request them to extend the timing of operations from eight to twelve hours during the fortnight-long maintenance period.
"We have written to the Indian Navy asking them for a meeting on Tuesday. We are still waiting for their response. The closure for such a long duration will affect the operations on the airport," Director Goa airport M Suresh told PTI.
The annual pre-monsoon maintenance by the Indian Navy is generally undertaken in mid-May.
25/04/14 PTI/Economic Times

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AI refuses to take off in Jorhat, Tezpur

In yet another setback for the state’s aviation sector, the Indian Airlines will pull out of Tezpur and Jorhat within a few days.
According to sources, a team of the country’s premier domestic career has decided to stop its operation in Lakhimpur after the receipt of the assessment report prepared by a special team. The assessment of the Jorhat and Tezpur operations are underway to pave the way for the closure in Jorhat and Tezpur.
25/05/14 Assam Times

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Baggage not safe at IGI airport, ground staff under lens

New Delhi: Keep valuables in hand baggage is a suggestion offered by all airline operators to flyers. Implicit in it is the real risk their check-in baggage is subject to as may be vouched for by several who ignored it at their own peril.
Five months into 2014, 58 thefts at Indira Gandhi International Airport have already been registered with police. Last year, the number of such cases was 68, and two years ago it was 52, suggesting a rising trend. Most of these thefts have taken place inside the domestic and international terminals, say police.
On Friday, a member of the cleaning staff belonging to a private agency was nabbed stealing a laptop from the luggage of a passenger onboard an international airline. A fortnight ago, a staffer of a ground handling agency was arrested for stealing an iPhone from a piece of registered baggage that was on its way to a flight.
25/05/14 Suhas Munshi/Times of India

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HC lets off NYPD cop held after bullets were found in baggage

New Delhi: A policeman from the New York City Police Department (NYPD), arrested at the Delhi airport in March for allegedly carrying three bullets in his luggage, has been let off by the Delhi High Court, which observed that he was not aware of the presence of the bullets in his baggage.
Manuel ‘Manny’ Encarnacion was arrested under the Arms Act for allegedly carrying live bullets in his baggage, soon after the diplomatic spat between India and US over the arrest of an Indian diplomat.
Manuel had approached the High Court with a plea to quash the FIR registered against him, claiming that he had not been in conscious possession of the bullets. He was granted bail soon after his arrest, but his passport had been impounded. During arguments before the court of Justice Sunil Gaur, Encarnacion’s lawyers argued that he had attended an official shooting training the day before his departure from New York to New Delhi and had packed his jacket in his luggage without being aware that the bullets were still in its pocket.
The court initially adjourned the hearing in the case to July, but later agreed to hear the plea earlier on the ground that Manuel could not be away from work for long.
25/05/14 Aneesha Mathur/Indian Express

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Gold worth Rs 29.38L Seized from Passenger at CIAL

Nedumbassery: Officers of the Air Customs at Cochin International Airport, on Saturday morning seized 1,049 grams of gold (nine biscuits) worth `29.38 lakh from a passenger who arrived here on a Jet Airways flight from Sharjah.
S A S Navaz, Deputy Commissioner of Customs (Air Intelligence Unit), said that the passenger Jauhar, 30, of Koduvally, Kozhikode, was suspected to be carrying something illegal and was stopped for checking. Upon thorough screening, he was found to be carrying gold concealed in a rechargeable fan.
25/05/14 New Indian Express

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AI Dreamliner attempts take-off from Frankfurt twice, in vain

New Delhi:  The Boeing 787 Dreamliner's unending trouble with spoilers — speed retardation devices on the wings that move up and down — saw over 200 passengers supposed to fly from Frankfurt to Delhi on Thursday night taxiing out of the airport twice only to return to the aerobridge minutes later each time. The aircraft had to be finally grounded in Germany on Thursday night as by the time the problem was sorted, night curfew had kicked in at Frankfurt.
The problem started when AI 123 on Dreamliner (VT-AND) first taxied out of Frankfurt and a problem was detected with the spoilers. This device acts as a speed breaker on an aircraft and its actuators make it go up or down on wing tips during takeoff to alter drag and during landing to increase rate of descent. Without this important device perfectly functional, an airplane can't be allowed to get airborne.
"The problem was sorted out in about 90 minutes. By this time, the flight time duty limitation of the crew (maximum time that a crew is allowed to operate for) got keeping in mind the time spent on ground and the remaining flying time to Delhi. An exemption from the FTDL was obtained. And then the aircraft was ready to fly to Delhi. But it was not allowed to take off as the 9pm airport curfew time at Frankfurt may have been breached," said an official.
24/05/14 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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‘Fatigue’ among ATC staff leads to mid-air collision scare

Mumbai: Two aircraft carrying a total of 850 passengers ended up on the same flight level on Thursday morning, sparking a mid-air collision scare. However, the flights, one operated by Etihad Airlines and the other by Ethiopian Airlines, managed to get away from each other's path in the nick of time.
Top officials in the Airports Authority of India (AAI) blamed poor coordination between the air traffic controllers in Mumbai and Chennai for the incident.
The Etihad Airlines flight 413 was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Abu Dhabi, while the Ethiopian Airlines flight 685 was travelling from Shanghai to Addis-Ababa. The flights did not have a stopover in India and were merely flying through the Indian airspace. The Mumbai ATC was coordinating with the Etihad flight, while the Chennai ATC was in touch with Ethiopian Airlines pilot.
The Mumbai ATC officer concerned has said in his report that he was severely fatigued and also the flight traffic was high, which resulted in "an error of judgement". AAI officials, however, said that it was a major lapse as the two planes came dangerously close to each other.
The incident took place around 5.45 am on Thursday. AAI officials said that the Mumbai and Chennai air traffic controllers failed to coordinate as the two planes crossed each other's airspace.
24/05/14 Bipin Kumar Singh/Mumbai Mirror

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Karnataka makes a fresh move to complete Gulbarga airport project

Gulbarga: The State government has approached Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) Ltd. to complete the remaining 20 per cent of work on Gulbarga airport and operate it.
The work on the greenfield airport has remained suspended for more than a year following disputes among the partners of the joint venture company Regional Airport Holdings International (RAHI) Ltd.
Minister for Infrastructure Development R. Roshan Baig told presspersons here on Friday that the State government, after exhausting all efforts to persuade RAHI to resume construction, had started discussion with IL&FS on completing the remaining work and operating the airport.
The Minister said a high-level executive team of IL&FS would visit the Gulbarga airport site next week and study the possibility of taking over the work.
24/05/14 The Hindu

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Jet Airways Starts Third Delhi Flight From Kathmandu

Kathmandu: Indian private carrier Jet Airways has increased its frequency on the Kathmandu-Delhi sector by launching a third daily flight, the airline announced here.
The carrier now operates three daily flights on the Kathmandu-Delhi sector effective Friday and two daily flights on the Kathmandu-Mumbai sector.
Kathmandu is becoming an important market for Jet with ever growing number of migrant workers to the Gulf and other countries who use it for connecting flights to their destination countries.
"Nepali workers going abroad are the largest passenger base for us, but the number of corporates, tourists and passengers visiting friends and relatives flying with us are also growing," Samir Chada, country manager of Jet Airways in Nepal, said.
"Around 900 passengers from Kathmandu fly with the airline daily on an average. The five daily flights from Kathmandu are a landmark achievement for us," he added.
24/05/14 IANS/New Indian Express

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Bijapur airport work to be taken up soon, Baig

Bijapur: Work on Bijapur airport would soon be taken up, Minister for Infrastructure and Information Roshan Baig said here today.
Speaking to reporters after inspecting the airport area near Madhabhavi, 12 km from here, he said the Airport Authority of India has agreed to build it at Bijapur at an estimated cost of Rs 100 crore.
The Centre has requested the state government to share 50 per cent of the cost he said, adding that the state had already earmarked Rs 50 crore for the project.
An action plan would soon be formulated and sanction taken to commence the work, he said.
24/05/14 PTI/Business Standard

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CM: Tender for Mopa airport in July

Panaji: A global tender for the construction of the new greenfield airport at Mopa will be floated by the end of July, chief minister Manohar Parrikar said on Friday. The airport will be constructed on a public private partnership (PPP) model.
The state has acquired 74 lakh sq metres of land for the airport in Pernem taluka. "The tender should come within 60 days from the date the Union government is sworn in," Parrikar told TOI. He said he is planning to target 6 million tourists by year 2016.
"If I am targeting 6 million tourists, the airport capacity requirement will be 8 million and Goa has already crossed 4 million in the current year," he said.
Parrikar said around 15,000 flights operates a year to and from Goa and the state requires another airport as the existing one is congested.
24/05/14 Times of India

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GMR plea for power distribution licence at Hyderabad airport rejected

Hyderabad: Efforts by the GMR Group, which operates the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Hyderabad, to reduce the airport’s power bills and garner additional revenue by securing an electricity distribution licence for part of the sprawling airport have hit a road-block.
Last week, the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission nixed an application made by the airport operator for grant of an electricity distribution licence under the Electricity Act, 2003.
This comes after objections raised by the Central Power Distribution Company of Andhra Pradesh (APCPDCL).
The Commission has, among other things, noted that if granted a licence, the airport operator “may not generate competition, but merely result in creation of a monopoly”.
APCPDCL had objected to the grant of licence on the ground that the applicant did not have a minimum three-year track record in the distribution business.
23/05/14 Amit Mitra/V Rishi Kumar/Business Line

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Airports Authority of India to provide free Wi-Fi access at Trivandrum Airport

Thiruvananthapuram:  Free Wi-Fi facility will soon be available at the Trivandrum International Airport (TIA), a senior airport official said here on Thursday.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) decided to provide free Wi-Fi access after its earlier attempt to provide it on a commercial basis did not yield the desired result, airport director V N Chandran said.
In a survey conducted for the first quarter of 2014, the TIA was adjudged the best AAI-run international airport in country. The Airports Council International (ACI), in collaboration with AAI, conducted the Airport Service Quality (ASQ), in which TIA scored 4.26.
"The award inspires us to perform better. But there are some issues, such as providing free internet access, that need to be addressed. The AAI has decided to provide passengers with Wi-Fi facilities immediately at its cost," Chandran said.
24/05/14 Times of India

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Man dies due to lack of med care at airport

Pune: Thousands of passengers walk in and out of Pune International Airport every day, but God help them should they have a medical emergency. With medical facilities non-existent at the airport, which handles over 10,000 passengers of over 60 flights daily, this issue has assumed a new importance all over again following the sudden death of a 29-year-old airport newspaper vendor, who convulsed and fell silent at the airport premises on Thursday morning.
He was rushed to the Sassoon General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. He died of cardiac arrest, police said. The deceased person has been identified as Laxman Pirappa Natekar, a resident of Lohegaon.
This is the second incident this year. Meanwhile, distraught over the death of Natekar, his family said, and the Airport police also agree, that his life could have been saved, if he had been able to get medical attention on time. After the tragic incident, Airport police have take up the issue with authorities highlighting the imperative need to set the ball rolling by setting up an emergency medical facility at the airport without delay.
24/05/14 Sandip Dighe/Pune Mirror

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Ministry to propose scrapping of 150-km clause for airports

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry is set to propose to the new government led by Narendra Modi to do away with the policy of not having an airport within 150 km of an existing airport as part of its plan to set right the wrongs of the UPA regime.
The process is part of an exercise wherein all the ministries have been asked by the cabinet secretariat to make presentations listing out their priorities, as also the policies they think have gone wrong
in the past.
“Not allowing airports to run within 150 km of an existing airport is certainly an erroneous policy which needs to be reviewed,” said a senior civil aviation ministry official in the know of the developments. This will be part of the civil aviation ministry's presentation that it will be making before Modi.
23/05/14 Rishi Raj, Santhosh Tiwari/Financial Express

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Air India put on cash-and-carry mode by Mumbai Airport over Rs 450 crore dues

New Delhi/Mumbai: Air India has been put on cash-and-carry mode by Mumbai Airport authorities after its dues mounted to Rs 450 crore, even as the airline said it has paid about Rs 40 crore and certain outstandings were yet to be reconciled.
The GVK-led Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), which runs the city airport, had on Wednesday communicated its decision to the Air India management, MIAL sources said, adding that the airline has been "put on cash-and-carry mode as it has failed to clear the dues in the required time".
The dues relate to various airport charges like those for landing, navigation, parking and other services, which an airline has to pay to the airport operator.
Air India, the sources said, has been told to pay at least Rs 200 crore by June if it wanted to be taken off from the cash-and-carry mode. "As of now their cumulative dues stand at Rs 450 crore," they said.
Discounting this, senior Air India officials told PTI that the airline had paid Rs 650 crore to GMR-led Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) and over Rs 100 crore to MIAL in 2013-14 to clear its backlog.
On top of this, about Rs 40 crore was paid to MIAL only on Wednesday, they said, adding that dues to MIAL and DIAL are "yet to be reconciled since they have charged us interest on certain outstanding heads, which is not acceptable to Air India."
22/05/14 Business Today

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Air India defaults on Rs 450cr dues, faces sanctions

Mumbai/Delhi: Cash-strapped national carrier Air India has run into trouble with airport operators of Mumbai and Delhi. The airline is being hauled up for non-payment of pending dues and now faces a situation that the erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines had found itself in a few years ago.
The airport operator collects aircraft landing/ parking charges, terminal rentals and so on from airlines. In this regard, Air India owes Rs 450 crore to Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL), said a source.
"On May 16, MIAL sent a letter to the AI chairman and the joint secretary, ministry of civil aviation, where it asked the airline to clear the dues and set a deadline of June 1 for payment of a portion of the amount. If Rs 200 crore is not paid by then, the airline will be put on 'cash and carry'," said a source. With cash and carry, the airline loses the privilege of getting a credit and would have to pay cash upfront when it needs to land, park its aircraft or use the services and facilities of the airport.
22/05/14 Times of India

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Relief likely for Navi Mumbai airport aspirants

Mumbai: Cidco, the nodal body overseeing the planned Navi Mumbai airport plans to extend by more than a month, the time for companies to respond to the request for qualifications (RFQs) for the project. The date has been extended to July 30 from June 18, so that the interested companies can submit their audited accounts for the last financial year ended March 31.
"The proposal is one among several proposed by companies at the pre-bid meeting for the airport project," Cidco's managing director Sanjay Bhatia told ET. He said it has been approved by the project monitoring and implementation committee and has now gone to the civil aviation ministry for approval.
In all 20 companies, including GMR, Mumbai International Airport, Tata Realty and Infrastructure Projects and Spanish airport operator Ferrovial, were part of the pre-bid meeting which happened on April 2.
Separately, Cidco has also floated a tender for interested contractors to prepare the land for construction of the airport. The site currently has small hills that need to be cleared and a river that is to be diverted. Planned as an alternate to the clogging Mumbai airport, the Rs 14,573-crore Navi Mumbai airport project is likely to be completed in four phases.
23/05/14 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times

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CSIR, IMD join hands to ensure safe aircraft landing even in low visibility

New Delhi: A milestone has been achieved in the field of aviation safety when CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL), Bangalore and India Meteorological Department (IMD) signed a partnership agreement for joint production of Drishti system; a sophisticated instrument for assessment of Runway visual range, which is a critical parameter for safe landing and takeoff of aircraft in poor visibility.
This is a fine example of collaboration between two government sector entities leading to indigenisation of a technology which so far was the exclusive domain of few developed countries.
The indigenous production of this high-end instrument will not only result in substantial saving of foreign exchange but will also make the country self-reliant in the field of front-end technology.
The agreement which was signed by Dr Shyam Chetty, Director, CSIR-NAL and Dr LS Rathore, Director General of Meteorology, IMD; encompasses a wide range of research & development activities for further development of various meteorological sensors.
The agreement paves the way for operational deployment of Drishti system at different airports where IMD provides aeronautical meteorological services. A mega project for installing nearly 70 such systems at various Airports of the country is being jointly undertaken by the two organisations.
22/05/14 Shobhit Kalra/Parda Phash

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Day after mid-day report, employers ask T2 guard to report to work again

Yesterday, mid-day had reported that a security guard was browbeaten into not showing up for work at Terminal 2 of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, because she complained to the police about the apathy of her seniors over a torn and tattered tricolour being flown atop the mast.
Close on the heels of the report, officials of the company approached the 22 year-old woman yesterday and tried to coax her into rejoining work (‘I was fired for complaining about torn flag at T2,’ May 23). According to the complainant Shahina Pathan, representatives of Tops Security made repeated attempts to woo her back to work, assuring her that she would not suffer in any way if she did. Unconvinced, Pathan asked them to make the assurance in writing. No such letter was issued, however, and the security guard was asked to return on Friday for the document.
Pathan said, “After the matter was reported in mid-day, my branch manager Ravi Ranawat kept calling me. When I was heading to the Sahar police station to find out what was being done about my complaint, he accosted me.”
She added, “All day, the Tops officials asked me to re-join the job, but I refused, because I have lost faith in them. They can do anything. I wanted everything in writing. I visited the airport office twice to collect the letter, but they asked me to visit them on Friday.”
23/05/14 Shiva Devnath/Mid Day

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Mumbai airport guard banned for complaining about torn tricolour

New Delhi: A 22-year-old security guard at Terminal 2 of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport has claimed that complaining about a torn tricolour has cost her job.
The lady guard, who was working with Tops Security for the past five months, had been stationed at T2 in the women’s security cell.
But for the past two days, she has not been coming to work at the orders of her superiors.
Shahina Abdul Aziz Pathan approached various authorities to save her job but all in vain.
Later she approached Sahar police station and filed the complaint in writing.
22/05/14 India TV News

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'Drishti' to Make Take-off, Landing of Aircraft Safer

New Delhi:  Major airports across the country will soon be equipped with indigenous hi-tech instrument ‘Drishti’ that will help in the safe landing and takeoff of aircraft in poor visibility.
The production of this high-end instrument will result in substantial savings in foreign exchange as the product, until now, was purchased from other countries at expensive rates.
The National Aerospace Laboratories and India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday signed a partnership agreement for the joint production of the system for the assessment of runway visual range, which is a critical parameter for safe landing and take-off of aircraft when faced with unsatisfactory visibility.
It is a first-of-its-kind innovative, indigenous product designed and developed by the NAL to cover the wide span of lowest to highest visibility (<25 to="">2000 metres), aiding pilots in landing and taking-off safely.
This cost-effective product is a mandatory system required at all airports as per International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
23/05/14 Richa Sharma/New Indian Express

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Thiruvananthapuram police to get new building at Trivandrum International Airport

Thiruvananthapuram: The state police will get a new building at the Trivandrum International Airport before July end.
The building, constructed on Airports Authority of India (AAI) land, can be used as a police aid-post to deal with law and order incidents having a city connect.
"A few documents from the planning department need to be in order before the building can be handed over to the state police," an AAI source said.
AAI had, two years ago, sanctioned 700 sq ft space near the flyover leading to the international terminal.
23/05/14 Times of India

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15 years on, CIAL continues to fly high

Kochi: The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) – the airport that introduced the path breaking concept of public-private partnership in India’s aviation sector — is all set to achieve another milestone. On May 25, CIAL will celebrate 15 years of operations.
From a project initiated in a remote village of Nedumbassery on the city outskirts, it has now grown leaps and bounds to earn a place in the global aviation map. Starting on an initial cost of Rs.283 crore, the company achieved its break within four years, and recorded a cumulative annual growth rate of 20 per cent in the initial eight years and 12 per cent thereafter.
The airport — a pioneering venture in attracting NRI investment in infrastructure development — has improved upon its infrastructure. It has now mooted a development plan that targets to achieve a turnover of Rs.3,000 crore by 2023 - with 20 per cent aero revenue, 30 per cent non-aero revenue and 50
percent non-aviation revenue.
23/05/14 The Hindu

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Air India Employee to be Shown the Door for Smuggling in Gold

Chennai: In a shocking revelation, Customs officials arrested a man for trying to smuggle 4.5 kg of gold from Singapore, only to discover that he was an Air India employee. According to a communique from the Customs Department at the Chennai airport, P Chandran (53), had arrived on IndiGo flight  at 7.30 am.
On suspicion, they had checked his baggage, only to find 4.5 kg of pure 24 carat gold bars stacked inside.
Coming just a day after Customs officials began looking at a nexus between smugglers and airport employees, it came as a shocker that a man with a tarmac-access ID card, was smuggling gold.
23/05/14 New Indian Express

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Gold worth Rs 1.45 crore seized from two passengers at Chennai airport

Chennai: : A day after gold was found dumped in a dustbin, air customs seized gold bars weighing 4.9kg, worth Rs 1.45 crore, from two passengers who arrived here in different flights from Singapore on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
In a statement, air customs said 4.5kg gold bars were seized from P Chandran, a passenger who arrived in an Indigo Airlines flight from Singapore at 7.30am on Thursday. He had hidden the gold in his check in baggage. He was arrested and remanded in judicial custody.
22/05/14 Times of India

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22 kgs of sandalwood seized at Hyderabad airport

Hyderabad: Atleast 22 kilograms of sandalwood was today seized from a passenger at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Shamshabad here, GMR officials said.
GHIAL security staff during checking at Hold baggage screeners detected 19 packets of sandalwood weighing 22 kgs which was being carried by a passenger who was travelling by Qatar Airways to Doha at around 3 am, they said.
22/05/14 PTI/Business Standard

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Man held with gold worth Rs 36 lakh at Ahmedabad airport

Ahmedabad:  The customs department on Thursday arrested a man with gold worth Rs 36 lakh at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport here. This is the first gold smuggling case in May and 27th incident since January 2014.
Kerala native Aliaskar Bendichal Motta was caught with 1,234 grams of gold concealed in the pocket of his trouser. As soon as Motta arrived from Doha in Qatar Airways flight QR-534, the officials detained him and took him to the red channel for detailed examination of his baggage.
"Motta had concealed three gold bars in his trousers, which were duly packed in two separate packets and wrapped with silver adhesive tape. One packet contained two gold bars weighing 233.36 grams and another had one gold bar weighing 1 kg," said an official.
23/05/14 Piyush Mishra/Times of India

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Cargo handling capacity underutilised at Coimbatore Airport

Coimbatore: Only a tenth of the total cargo handling capacity is being utilised at the Coimbatore International Airport, which witnessed a decline of 163 tonnes in international cargo movement in the last fiscal.
Official sources told The Hindu here on Wednesday that while the Cargo Complex here had the infrastructure to handle 100 tonnes, it was now handling just about 10 tonnes a day.
International cargo movement was 2,537 tonnes (including exports and imports) during 2013-14, while it was 2,700 tonnes in the preceding fiscal. Exports fell from 2,597 to 2,453 tonnes and imports, from 103 during 2012-13 to 84 tonnes in the last fiscal.
Some solace came from domestic cargo movement, which registered a marginal increase, going up to 6,129 tonnes, from 5,866 tonnes in 2012-13.
Senior officials in the Cargo Section said that Coimbatore had tremendous potential for increasing the cargo movement. Garments and engineering sectors alone could drive this growth. These products were now being trucked to Kochi or Chennai, which handled nearly five cargo crafts every day. Bringing in cargo flights to Coimbatore would boost local economy and decongest Chennai Airport.
22/05/14 R. Sairam/The Hindu

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Take up Aranmula airport issue with Modi: George

Pathanamthitta: Government Chief Whip P.C. George has called upon the people of Aranmula as well as the Joint Action Council chaired by social activist Sugathakumari to apprise Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi of the ground realities in connection with the controversial Aranmula airport project.
Mr. George was inaugurating the 100th day of the indefinite satyagraha against the airport project launched by the action council at Aranmula on Wednesday.
The forces behind the private airport project were allegedly a powerful multinational corporate lobby capable of influencing the higher echelons of power, Mr. George alleged.
He said the people’s power should check those who had shown arrogance in openly backing the ‘‘anti-people airport project.’’ The Chief Whip said the local MP had sought police protection for himself. It was worth mentioning that no case of attack had been reported against those who had been supporting the airport project, so far, despite the fact that the indefinite satyagraha had already entered 100th day, he said.
Mr. George said the MP might have sought police protection sensing some danger in the event of the KGS Group abandoning its airport plan at Aranmula.
22/05/14 The Hindu

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Now, 7 kg Gold found in City Airport Bin

Chennai: Customs officials quite literally hit pay dirt on Wednesday, when they found 7 kg of gold in a dustbin, just outside the aerobridge attached to Gate No 13, at the Chennai International Airport. This is the latest in a series of stash-and-recover heists employed by gold smugglers, to escape being detected while clearing immigration and customs.
This particular consignment had six gold bars weighing a kilo each, fastened with white plastic duct tape and 10 small pieces weighing 100 grams each that had been twisted and set to sit inside two Dairy Milk chocolate packs — items that would look innocuous in a trash can. Customs officials are poring over CCTV footage to try and identify who dropped the gold, before they were tipped off and recovered it first.
Last week, the same sleuths had recovered 1,300 grams of gold hidden in a drain, inside the men’s toilet, in the arrival hall. “Once they leave it at a pre-determined or even impromptu hiding place, they can walk out without trouble. Soon, their accomplice would recover the gold and walk out of the airport with it, through other channels,” said Agarwal.
22/05/14  Daniel Thimmayya/New Indian Express

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Robert Vadra likely to be removed from list of fliers exempted from frisking

Robert Vadra's name will most likely be deleted from the list of passengers who are not to be frisked at airports, said officials of the civil aviation ministry and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) on Wednesday. The order for the deletion is expected to be issued by the new government which is scheduled to assume charge on Monday.
Vadra, a controversial businessman and Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law, is the only civilian to be included in the list of those exempted from frisking provided he is accompanied by a person being protected by the Special Protection Group (SPG). Sources said the decision to include his name was taken by the UPA government.
"We are expecting the list of those exempted from frisking to get trimmed under the new NDA government," said a senior BCAS official.
Highly-placed sources within the civil aviation ministry said the earlier government did everything possible to scuttle any RTI application seeking information regarding the official noting made for the inclusion of Vadra's name. "The special exemption made to Vadra was wrong. But we hope things change now," said a senior ministry official.
22/05/14 Daily News & Anaklysis

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Mangalore: Four years since air crash - District administration pays homage

Mangalore: In commemoration of the fourth anniversary of the Air India Express crash at Bajpe airport in 2010, the district administration on Thursday May 22 paid a solemn homage to the victims of the crash at Kenjar.
The air crash, one of India's worst aviation disasters, had claimed 158 lives and spared eight passengers.
District incharge minister Ramanath Rai, mayor Mahabala Maarla, deputy commissioner A B Ibrahim and airport officials and others placed wreaths to pay their respects to the departed souls.
Expressing his condolence, Ramanath Rai said, "Four years ago Mangalore witnessed a massive disaster and it is still fresh in our minds. No Mangalorean can erase that tragedy from memory. I extend my deepest sympathies to the families of those who lost their lives in the tragedy."
22/05/14 Daijiworld

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Airport Customs in wait for a ‘golden’ century

Mumbai: Tuesday evening, the Air Intelligence Unit of the Customs was busy scanning its list of international flights, one of which landing in the city from Dubai, Bangkok or Singapore would likely lead them to an unlikely achievement — one that is more than 20 years in the making.
Customs at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport is poised to complete a seizure of 100 kilos of gold in a month for the first time since the early 1990s. With 10 days still to go in May, they have already seized 98.4 kilos of gold in the month so far.
“In anticipation of crossing the 100-kilo mark, we have increased surveillance on ground and on aircraft. Before the clock strikes 12, we should have our record. But then again, it is only a number,” said a senior Customs officer.
The AIU began to revise its own internal estimates as the weeks have worn on this month. After two Filipino passengers were caught with a total of 25 kilos of gold last week, hopes of a 100 strengthened.
21/05/14 Financial Express

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Will Aranmula airport plan hit an air pocket?

Kochi: Now that the BJP is going to be in the saddle at the Centre, the country’s first greenfield private international airport at Aranmula faces huge political barriers as the BJP’s Kerala unit opposes it on the ground that the airport will violate the sanctity of the famous Parthasarathy Temple.
“We are totally against the airport,” BJP State general secretary AN Radhakrishnan told Business Line on Wednesday, the day the Aranmula Airport Protest Committee crossed 100 days of its campaign against the airport being built by the Chennai-based KGS Group at an estimated cost of ?2,000 crore. Radhakrishnan hinted that the party would press the Narendra Modi Government to stop the project in its tracks.
The Aranmula airport, which will come up close to the Parthasarathy Temple and which is located around 100 km equidistant from Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi, was a key campaign issue for the BJP in the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency. The substantial number of votes BJP candidate MT Ramesh secured in the Aranmula segment of the constituency is believed to be because of the party’s opposition to the airport.
The BJP, pandering to the sentiments of the faithful, had played up the fear that the airport would violate the sanctity of the Parthasarathy Temple, where a large number of pilgrims on the way to Sabarimala stop over to offer prayers.
21/05/14 KPM Basheer/Business Line

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CSIR, Met dept join hands to facilitate aircraft landing in very low visibility

New Delhi: Drishti system, an instrument to facilitate safe landing of aircraft in very low visibility conditions in civilian airports, will be produced jointly by CSIR and the Met department.
Terming it a ‘milestone’ in the field of aviation safety, the Ministry of Science & Technology said the partnership between CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL), Bangalore and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) will pave the way for a sophisticated instrument for assessment of runway visual range.
“This is a fine example of collaboration between two government sector entities leading to indigenisation of a technology, which so far was the exclusive domain of few developed countries,” the Ministry said in a release.
21/05/14 Aditi Nigam/Business Standard

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Chennai airport to get advanced landing system

Chennai: The city airport will soon have a new ground-based augmentation system (GBAS) to navigate aircraft during landing and take-off.
The technology is an alternative to the instrument landing system (ILS), which will support the full range of approach and landing operations at Chennai airport.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) sources said the new system would be installed within the next six months, after which it will be tested for another six months for obtaining certification.
Explaining the facility, a senior AAI officer said GBAS has more than three antennas, a central processing system (a computer), and a VHF data broadcast transmitter, all of which will be located near an airport.
20/05/14 P Oppili/The Hindu

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New Govt to decide on Chennai airport privatisation

Chennai: The privatisation of the Chennai airport has been deferred pending the formation of a new government at the Centre, according to airport sources.
It was expected to be finalised by April but was deferred by a month due to the Lok Sabha election. “Now, it is has been postponed indefinitely till further orders,” said an airport official who did not want to be named.
The request for the qualification process to operate, manage and transfer of Chennai airport through private-public-partnership started on September 3. However, the bidding was postponed a number of times due to delay in finalising the Concession Agreement.
19/05/14 Business Line

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Chennai airport to get advanced landing system

Chennai: The city airport will soon have a new ground-based augmentation system (GBAS) to navigate aircraft during landing and take-off.
The technology is an alternative to the instrument landing system (ILS), which will support the full range of approach and landing operations at Chennai airport.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) sources said the new system would be installed within the next six months, after which it will be tested for another six months for obtaining certification.
Explaining the facility, a senior AAI officer said GBAS has more than three antennas, a central processing system (a computer), and a VHF data broadcast transmitter, all of which will be located near an airport.
20/05/14 P. Oppili/The Hindu

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IBS Software tooling up Gatwick airport operations

Thiruvananthapuram: IBS Software, a leading IT solution provider to the global air transportation industry, has implemented a series of airport collaborative decision-making (A-CDM) tools at London’s Gatwick Airport.
They will improve collaboration between airport partners, which will maximise capacity and service even while reducing emissions and operating costs.
They include an intelligent alert generator, alert distributor, departure planning information (DPI) message generation and processing and flight monitoring.
DPI messages supply the network operations centre with airport situational information direct from the A-CDM systems in order to update the real-time flight situation before take-off.
The tools complement software solutions from IBS that are already functional at the airport, a company spokesman said here. These cover areas such as departure control systems, ground handling, resource management, and baggage services, which help plan, manage and track flights and airport resource usage.
19/05/14 Business Line

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AAI redflags Akola airport extension

Nagpur:  The state government may have issued a GR (government resolution) for procuring land from Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth (PDKV) on March 4 for extension of Akola airport, but the fate of the airport is far from certain. In a letter dated May 15, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) stated that the Akola airport is unlikely to get an aerodrome license due to non-fulfilment of DGCA and civil aviation requirements. The letter also ascertains that there is no demand for an airport from any scheduled airline for operating flights from Akola.
The letter, shared with TOI by a source in the university which received it on Monday, has been addressed to the Maharashtra additional chief secretary of General Administration Department (GAD), PS Meena. The Akola airport expansion plan has been facing stiff opposition from all quarters such as PDKV authorities, former university staffers and vice chancellors as also society at large. The expansion would mean a loss of 60.68 hectare of land including research fields, many buildings, irrigation pond, etc which are vital for running of the university.
20/05/14 Snehlata Shrivastav/Times of India

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