Central team inspects ALGs at Pasighat & Aalo

An official team of Airport Authority of India (AAI) and Indian Air Force (IAF) along with Director, Civil Aviation R. Ronya, East Siang Deputy Commissioner In-charge Bani Lego, Group Captain (Rtd) Mohonto Panging and officials from district administration on Tuesday inspected feasibilities of Civil Terminal at the Pasighat ALG to operationalize commercial flights in future.
DCA Ronya held a detail discussion which was participated by the DC Bani Lego, DLRSO Ojing Nangkar, O.P. Chugh (Engg), Varun Kr Lal, DGM (ARCH), Vishnu Ram PV, AD (OPS) DGCA, S.M.F. Rahman i/c RD (BACS), Wng-Cdr. A Jakhalu, T.P. Subbaiah and Sqdn-Ldr. Premjith (Dibrugarh) and L.K. Sharma (Jorhat) of IAF and sought supports from the central team to resolve all pending issues. Later he made a field visit with DGCA, AAI, BCAS and Indian Air Force officers.
During the discussion and field visit, DC In-charge Bani Lego asked the visiting team to start domestic flights immediately with the existing infrastructure with minimum facility up-gradation wherever feasible.
Group Captain (Rtd) Mohonto Panging opined that Pasighat ALG has full potentials to introduce Civil Terminal. Planning has been an integral part of the AAI and all departmental processes has to be undertaken immediately, be it airport feasibility studies, design of passenger terminals, car-parking facilities etc to fulfill the long pending demand of Pasighat.
Meanwhile, the official team of Airports Authority of India, Indian Air Force, Director General of Civil Aviation and Bureau of Aviation Security led by State Civil Aviation Director Repo Ronya visited Advance Landing Ground (ALG) at Aalo on Tuesday.
30/11/16 The Arunachal Times

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Global bidding to select O&M partners for airports: Jayant Sinha

Airports Authority of India (AAI) will come out with a global competitive bidding process for selecting partners to carry out operation and maintenance works at some airports, the government said on Tuesday. “AAI has decided for selection of O&M (Operation & Maintenance) partners through a global competitive bidding after obtaining approval of the competent authority,” Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha told the Rajya Sabha.
The transaction documents for O&M process are in place, he added.
He was responding to a question on whether the government is considering international bidding process for choosing entities to operate and maintain some of the domestic airports.
To a query, Sinha said the proposed partnership with Singapore’s Changi Airports International for O&M contracts for Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports “could not materialise as the fee demanded by them was not found financially viable to AAI”.
The national airports’ operator has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore Cooperation Enterprise for cooperation in various areas of the civil aviation sector.
29/11/16 PTI/The Indian Express

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Security in and around airports beefed up

As road and rail routes have been cordoned off by the police and Income Tax Department following the demonetisation move of the government, some of the wealthy and clever, who had stashed black money, are pondering the idea of boarding chartered flights to evade the risk of getting caught.
However, security has been tightened after passengers were caught ferrying cash at some of the domestic airports of the country. In all incidents, the culprits used charted flights to ferry the cash.
Sources said after the seizure at the airport, high alert was sounded at the relatively non- operational airports only being used for charted flights.
While speaking to The Tribune, Human Resources Department employee of the Sahnewal Airport said “Like other airports, here too x-ray machines have been installed and the Punjab police have been deployed for the checking of the languages.”
Another employee of the airport stated that the charted planes did not frequently fly from the Sahnewal Airport. Sources said the Income Tax Department was collecting details of how many persons had flown from the Sahnewal Airport following the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.
29/11/16 Mohit Khanna/The Tribune

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‘Low-risk’ flier? Security at airports will now be a breeze

Do long queues at airports worry you? Breeze through security check if you are able to prove to the government in advance that you are a “low-risk” passenger.

The Centre is mulling over a risk-based pre-screening plan to enhance passenger convenience, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha says. “We are examining a secure traveller notion. Under the system, a passenger will be pre-screened and those who are low-risk will be able to get through the airport queue faster. There might be a few trade-offs or concerns, but we are examining this proposal,” Mr. Sinha says.

The Centre had received suggestions from various airports and agencies to make travel easier and expedite the check-in process. “These systems do exist around the world. The goal is to improve security and raise passenger experience,” Mr. Sinha told The Hindu.
29/11/16 Somesh Jha/The Hindu

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Approval For Second Airports In Metro Cities

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has given 'in principle' approval to Government of Maharashtra for construction of a new airport at Navi Mumbai which is intended to serve as the second airport for passengers of Mumbai. Besides, MoCA has also granted 'in principle' approval to develop a second airport at MoPA village in Goa and 'site clearance' for setting up of Greenfield Airport at Bhiwadi (Rajasthan) in NCR, which can act as second airport to Delhi.
29/11/16 Business Standard

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Heavy fog in city affects flight ops

The advent of foggy weather conditions has started affecting flight operations at city's Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport (JPNIA). None of the flights could land at the airport before 11am on Tuesday owing to poor visibility. Several morning flights were delayed, but none cancelled.
On Monday as well, flight operations commenced after 10:30am after the visibility requirements were met. "We are allowed to operate flights only when the visibility is at least 1200 metres. However, these days the visibility is less than even 400 metres till 9am. The visibility was less than 200 metres till 8am on Tuesday," said an executive of a private airlines at the airport.
29/11/16 The Times Of India

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Memo to route Pondy-Bengaluru flight via Trichy

In order to boost the city's regional connectivity, Trichy international airport authorities have met Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Kiran Bedi and discussed ways to route the proposed Puducherry- Bengaluru Air India flight via Trichy to make it viable.
Since the number of domestic passengers at Trichy airport had doubled in the last few years, fliers from the district have been appealing to the carriers to operate services to Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. According to available data, domestic passenger traffic at Trichy was 86,356 in 2010-11, 96,944 during 2014-15 and touched 1.50 lakh now. The airport has recorded a 55% surge in domestic passengers despite handling only two carriers and that too flying only to Chennai.
Though Jet Airways, the only domestic flight that has operated on Trichy-Chennai sector, increased its daily frequency to three from two, others have been reluctant. Air India Express touches Chennai en route to Singapore from Trichy. The long-pending demand for a flight to Bengaluru has been remaining unaddressed. Kingfisher Airlines and Spice jet had operated to Bengaluru and Chennai from here sometime ago.
30/11/16 The Times Of India

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Chennai flight schedules hit due to fog

Flight services from Chennai airport to New Delhi airport and vice versa were affected due to the dense fog in Delhi on Wednesday.

The arrivals from Delhi have been delayed by 15 to 30 minutes, said an Airport Authority of India (AAI) official. Similarly, some flights en route to Delhi
in the morning were diverted to Jaipur due to the weather condition.
30/11/16 The New Indian Express

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Parking fees at airport to go digital from jan 1

Pune airport officials’ new year resolution is to make digital payment compulsory for all those parking their vehicles on the premises. Come January 1, 2017, cash will not be accepted for parking fees; instead, those using the airport parking lot will have to use amobile wallet for payments.

Free parking services, provided by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) from November 14, is to end at midnight on November 28 at all operational airports. The digital payment or mobile wallet has already been implemented at Pune airport, but cash is still available as an option.

Parkings fee for two-wheelers is Rs 20 for two hours and Rs 10 per subsequent hour. For cars and SUV, charges are Rs 85 and Rs 90 for two hours and Rs 20 after two hours, respectively.

JB Singh, general manager and spokesperson for AAI, New Delhi, said, “The AAI is planning all transactions at the parking lot to be conducted through e-payment. The current facility— cash and digital payment — will be available till December 31. When asked about those who do not have the mobile wallet facility, Singh shrugged it off, saying, “We will be implanting the e-wallet facility as it is the parking contractor who makes this decision.”
30/11/16 Sushant Ranjan/Pune Mirror

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American tourist quizzed for carrying satellite phone at Udaipur airport

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) detained an American citizen on Tuesday  at Udaipur airport for carrying a satellite phone, banned in India. He was taken to the Dabok police station for interrogation and later released. Robert Foreman was about to board a flight to Mumbai on Tuesday noon but the CISF officials caught him with a satellite phone.
30/11/16 Udaipur Kiran

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Tourism potential of North Malabar takes wings

With the Kannur airport all set to be commissioned next year, the tourism sector is betting big on tapping the potential of the place. Lack of transport infrastructure and other facilities often prevented the tourists, especially the foreigners from exploring the region. "Though North Malabar has all types of tourist destinations ranging from beaches and hill stations to pilgrim centres and heritage tourist spots, the irony is that only 1.2% of foreign tourists reaching Kerala come to this part of the state and we want to change it," said T K Mansoor, managing director of Bekal Resorts Development Corporation (BRDC), an independent body under the tourism department.
"Once the Kannur airport begins commercial operations in August-September next year, and the roads are improved, the infrastructure constraints would be taken care of and this way the virgin territories unexplored so far would gain attraction," he said.
"However, to make it a reality, more small and medium entrepreneurs should come to the fore and also the hotel and other accommodation facilities should improve," said Mansoor.
"Though the state government has several initiatives giving priority to small and medium entrepreneurs to boost tourism in the region, many people are still ignorant of this, and hence the BRDC has decided to organize a two-day workshop for the aspiring tourism entrepreneurs at Nileshwaram on December 11 and 12," he added.
30/11/16 The Times Of India

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Foggy weather hinders flight ops at BPIT

Flight service has been severely hit at the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIT) here due to foggy weather.

According to information a plane, which was scheduled to fly to Kolkata, could not take off due to fog layer spread over the airfield.  The smog-layer has hindered visibility to a 50 to 100 metra distance at the airport, according to reports.
30/11/16 Prameya News7

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AERA plan on tariffs unilateral: IATA

No policy direction has been given to the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) by the Centre for switching to hybrid-till model of determining tariff at Airport Authority of India (AAI) airports, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
IATA said the National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) 2016 had specifically mentioned that AERA may adopt the hybrid-till model for determining tariff at airports developed by state governments, private sector or in public-private partnership (PPP) mode. “It clearly excludes the AAI airports, which is addressed independently in the following section,” said IATA.

“If AERA decides to deviate from its regulatory philosophy solely with the objective of bringing alignment with the NCAP, then such deviation could of course only be applied to those airports specifically covered under Section 12 of the NCAP viz airports developed by State governments, private sector or in PPP mode,” IATA said in its submission to AERA, which has sought stakeholders’ view to adopt a hybrid-till approach for calculating airport fees.
28/11/16 Somesh Jha/The Hindu

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Indian MoCA grants approval to construct 18 Greenfield Airports

The Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has granted 'in-principle' approval for the construction of 18 Greenfield airports in various states of the country.

MoCA Minister Jayant Sinha said that the new airports will be built in the states of Sikkim, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh (AP), West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) will modernise existing airports based on various factors, such as land availability, traffic demand and operational requirements.

“Airports Authority of India (AAI) will modernise existing airports based on various factors, such as land availability, traffic demand and operational requirements."

With an independent project monitoring and quality assurance (PMQA) mechanism, AAI will ensure regular monitoring through periodic site inspection visits and project reviews.
28/11/16 Airport- Technology

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Demonetisation: Car parking charges at airports to resume via digital payments at midnight today

The Airports Authority of India said it had withdrawn the free parking provision it had introduced to facilitate the Centre's initiative.
At midnight on Monday, the Airports Authority of India will stop the free car parking provision it had introduced at all airports in view of the Centre’s demonetisation programme, ANI reported. The panel will introduce a digital payment mechanism to facilitate the government’s initiative to transform India into a cashless economy and curb black money.
28/11/16 Scroll.in

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Demand for regional airport in Jamshedpur

There have been several demands made for an airport in Jamshedpur which houses some of the biggest corporate houses in the country.

Jamshedpur which is also known as the steel city or industrial town has seen local trade and industry bodies urging the state and central government several times to set up an airport in the region.

In a recent context, vice-president of Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), Vijay Anand Moonka has written to union minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha for establishing a regional airport in Jamshedpur.

According to the traders associated with the chamber, there has been a persistent demand from the citizen as well as representatives of trade, commerce and industry bodies for better air connectivity in Jamshedpur and to develop airport in Jamshedpur.

Absence of an airport in Jamshedpur or Adityapur has kept several industrialists away from the steel city despite their urge to invest. This has resulted in slow growth of the region. Moonka requested the union minister to issue departmental order on priority for setting up an airport in Jamshedpur.
28/11/16 The Avenue Mail

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AAI’s land conversion hits an ‘air pocket’?

Stressing on the need to construct various projects planned earlier as part of the expansion of Dabolim Airport, the director of Airport Authority of India (AAI) Goa airport BCH Negi on Monday claimed that AAI has not received any communication from the state government rejecting AAI’s proposal for conversion of land acquired for parking under survey number 9/1-A.
According to Negi,  at the time of implementing expansion plans for Dabolim Airport, AAI had requested for over 16 acres of land for the construction of a parking lot and other allied infrastructural facilities for the airport,  including barracks to accommodate Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), besides armoury/ammunition stores, dog kennel, aviation tanks, refuelling stations, warehouse etc.
He said the former state government had identified the land in three different patches; under survey numbers 8/1, 9/1-A, however a major portion of the acquired land under survey number 8/1 was de-notified in February 2011.
“After this de-notification, we were left with only two patches of plot and both these properties are located besides the railway line. Also, at the time of forwarding our proposal for land requirement on city side, we had clearly mentioned that we would be constructing other allied amenities for the airport besides the parking lot, however,  when the notification for the same was issued, they wrongly mentioned it for "parking" and thus before going ahead with the proposed project on the land available with us, we decided to ask for conversion of land so that we could construct important amenities, including CISF barracks, armory, aviation fuel tanks, refuelling stations, warehouse, cargo house etc” Negi said.
29/11/16 Herald

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Laser beams pose danger in the air

While approaching runway 29 of Indira Gandhi International Airport on Saturday night, the pilot of a Pune-Delhi Vistara flight reported distraction in vision.
Around 10pm, the pilot of the UK 922 flight told Air Traffic Control that a green laser light approximately 6 nautical miles away from his location had caused the distraction. Following this, Airport Operation Control Centre informed airport operator DIAL. Police too were informed.
This is not the first time that such an incident was reported from the airport. In August, two pilots—one from Air Asia and the other from Jet Airways—had complained that their view was disrupted while landing by a green laser beam. Both the flights were preparing to land on runway 29. Officials said that the runway is surrounded by farmhouses, banquet halls, hotels and restaurants that use laser lights during functions.
28/11/16 Anvit Srivastava/The Times Of India

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Centre awaits DPR clearance from State Govt

The proposed expansion of the runway at the Shillong Airport in Umroi has been hit by a roadblock in the form of the detailed project report (DPR) which is yet to be cleared by the State government.
Sources on Sunday informed that the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation has already given the go ahead to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and is waiting for the State government to clear the DPR.
The North Eastern Council (NEC) has already written to the AAI to clear the detailed project report.
It is learnt that the State government is in a fix over the DPR since a hillock dots the proposed approach of the runway. The hillock has to be flattened and some trees have to be axed to pave way for expansion of the runway.
According to the sources, the matter has already been conveyed to the State Transport department and the AAI.
The sources, meanwhile, informed that Alliance Air which is operating a flight between Shillong and Kolkata is scheduled to operate flights from the airport till December 31.
28/11/16 The Shillong Times

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Runway length for Karaikal Airport reduced

The runway length of the country’s first fully private greenfield airport, proposed to be set up here, has been scaled down for the first phase, with a view to complete the project soon.

Super Airport Infrastructure (India) Private Limited (SAIIPL), entrusted with the construction of the airport, has reduced the proposed runway length from 1.8 km to 1 km for the first phase, a top company official said.

Speaking to reporters here on Friday, chairman of SAIIPL, JV Chowdhary said the company had obtained necessary clearances from regulatory agencies, including permission from the Union Civil Aviation Ministry and No-Objection Certificate from the Puducherry government and has begun making preparations for establishing the airport.

"In the first phase of construction, the airport will have a 1-km runway, which could accommodate small aircrafts like Dornier 228 and 328. Up to 30 passengers could travel in such aircrafts," he said.
27/11/16 PTI/News Today

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Parking lots at airports to go cashless

Starting Tuesday, airports will accept vehicle parking charges through e-payment in support of the government’s digital payment campaign, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said here on Sunday.

Free-of-cost parking services provided by at airports with effect from November 14 midnight will end on the midnight of November 28 at all operational airports, and a digital payment facility will be made available immediately after that, the country’s largest airport operator said.
28/11/16 The Hindu

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Kerala BJP projects its opposition to airport as part of struggle for landless

The state BJP leadership’s opposition to the proposed Erumeli airport might give its CPM counterparts a feeling of deja vu. The BJP is projecting its protest against the airport as an agitation for the landless people - once perceived as a CPM strong area.

The government maintains that the airport would be beneficial for Sabarimala pilgrims, but the detractors pointed out that the project undermined the very spirit of pilgrimage while making Sabarimala another tourist destination.

It was mentioned to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan that Erumeli is located in the buffer zone of the Periyar Tiger Reserve, but he downplayed the point saying the project should not be objected even before identifying the site.

“The BJP is not against airport but it should come in government land,” BJP national executive member V Muralidharan told ‘Express’.
28/11/16 N V Ravindranathan Nair/The New Indian Express

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UDAN set to give Mysuru airport wings again

With Mysuru airport figuring in the list of “unserved” airports notified by the Centre for promotion under its Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) — also called UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagarik) — hopes have soared again on the resumption of flight operations from the heritage city.

According to informed sources, the State government is awaiting Cabinet clearance to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Civil Aviation to finalise the modalities for subsidised air travel from Mysuru to different destinations across the country.

Under UDAN, the willing air operator will have to offer a pre-determined percentage of seats in the aircraft flying on the RCS routes. The subsidised airfare will have to be fixed at the rate of Rs. 2,500 for a one-hour flight, while the cost of flight operations for the operator will be subsidised through viability gap funding under the scheme.
25/11/16 Laiqh A.Khan/The Hindu

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Construction and Up-gradation of Airports Approved

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has granted 'in-principle' approval for setting up of 18 Greenfield Airports, namely, Pakyong in Sikkim, Navi Mumbai, Sindhudurg and Shirdi in Maharashtra, Mopa in Goa, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Hasan and Shimoga in Karnataka, Kannur in Kerala, Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh, Dholera in Gujarat, Dagadarthi (Nellore), Bhogapuram (Vizianagram) and Oravakallu (Kurnool) in Andhra Pradesh, Durgapur in West Bengal, Gwalior and Karaikal in Madhya Pradesh. Up-gradation and modernisation of existing airports is a continuous process which is undertaken by Airports Authority of India (AAI) from time to time depending upon various factors such as land availability, traffic demand, operational requirements, demand from airlines, etc.

During the years 2014 to 2016, MoCA has received following proposals for setting up of Greenfield Airports: Ankleshwar in Gujarat, Bhiwadi in Rajasthan, Dagadarthi (Nellore), Bhogapuram (Vizianagram), Tadepalligudem (West Godavari), Oravakallu (Kurnool) and Kuppam (Chittoor) in Andhra Pradesh, Chingleput near Chennai in Tamil Nadu, Gwalior and Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh, Hisar in Haryana, Kothagudem (Khammam) in Telangana, Noida International Airport near Jewar and Saifai (Etawah) in Uttar Pradesh. Out of the above proposals, Government of India has granted 'in-principle' approval to the projects at Bhogapuram, Tadepalligudem and Oravakallu in Andhra Pradesh and 'site-clearance' to Government of Rajasthan for setting up of airport at Bhiwadi and Govt. of Telangana for setting up of airport at Kothagudem.
24/11/16 Business Standard

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AAI reiterates its pledge for'Green Future'

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has added another feather to its cap by signing an MOU with Ministry of Finance for recycling waste paper of the Ministry of Finance. This will take place at the AAI's Paper Recycling Unit (a CSR initiative by AAI), Vasant Kunj, New Delhi with a view to promote waste paper recycling as part of 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' and to supply the recycled paper back to the ministry. On behalf of AAI, Chairman, Dr. Guruprasad Mohapatra signed the MoU with Ms. Annie G. Mathew, Joint Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance.
24/11/16 Sify News

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Development of Airports Through Public-Private Sector Partnership

In the newly approved National Civil Aviation Policy, 2016, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has made provision for promotion of regional connectivity by way of revival of un-served and under-served airports and airstrips. Revival of such airports is to be "demand driven", depending on firm demand from the airline operators and where the state government agrees to provide various concessions envisaged in the Policy. State Governments can explore possibilities of developing these airports through Public Private Partnership (PPP) also.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation formulated the Greenfield Airport Policy to develop airports across the country. State Government or any other entity can submit application for setting up of a Greenfield airport. A Steering Committee is constituted to examine & recommend the proposal before grant of requisite approvals viz. 'site clearance' and 'in-principle approval'.
24/11/16 Business Standard

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Revival And Development of Small Airports

National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) provides for promoting regional connectivity by way of revival of un-served and under-served airports/airstrips of state governments and Airports Authority of India (AAI). However, selection of cities under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) is to be 'demand driven', depending on firm demand from the airline operators and where the State Government agrees to provide various concessions envisaged in the Policy. There are approximately 16 under served and 394 unserved airports/airstrips in the country.

The NCAP envisages the Government to facilitate the development of at least four heli-hubs initially, across the country to promote regional connectivity. Ministry of Civil Aviation is to coordinate with MoF, MHA, NHAI, Indian Railways, insurance companies, hospitals, Pawan Hans Limited and other helicopter operators to facilitate Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS). Airport charges for helicopter operations are to be suitably rationalized. Further under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), operations through helicopters would be permitted among the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh & Uttarakhand, North Eastern Region of India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep islands.
24/11/16 Business Standard

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Aeronautical Services Tariffs and Airport Charges at Major Airports Reviewed and Revised From Time To Time

The Government of India has established Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) in 2009 under an Act of Parliament viz. AERA Act, 2008 to determine the tariffs in respect of aeronautical services provided at major airports in the country. AERA determines the aeronautical tariff in respect of major airports based on stakeholder consultation. The tariffs are reviewed and revised by AERA every five years considering the investment and expenditure incurred by the airport operator, improving efficiency and viability of the airport with a view to rationalize the charges.

The airport charges are allowed to airports operators as mean to provide fair rate of return on the investment made by the airport developer. Since huge investments are made by the developers while construction of the airport, the charges are comparatively higher during the initial period of the airport commencement. However, the charges gets substantially reduced once the investment for the development is recovered.
24/11/16 Business Standard

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Crowdsourcing for airport upgrade

The spartan Lohegaon airport could soon get a much-needed upgrade in facilities.
With the Airports Authority of India soon to take possession of over 15 acres of defence land for the existing airport, the Pune Airport Advisory Committee is toying with the idea of crowdsourcing to know what people want.
Anil Shirole, committee chairman and Pune MP, said the existing airport will be expanded with a focus on proper passenger amenities, and welcomed the views of the public.
"Groundwork, in terms of surveys, is on at Purandar for the new airport, which will take three to four years to come up. During this time, the existing airport at Lohegaon needs to be developed properly, with a focus on passenger amenities. A system of getting opinions from people - crowdsourcing - will be developed in which the people can give their suggestions and ways to make it more passenger-friendly. For now, people can log on to www.anilshirole.in and give feedback," Shirole told TOI.
25/11/16 Joy Sengupta/The Times Of India

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Congress netas trade blows near airport

Supporters of Jyotiraditya Scindia, who reached Bhopal airport on Thursday evening to receive the senior Congress leader, scuffled, triggering tension for some time.
Party workers reached the airport in two groups and after some time fought with each other, resulting in injuries to some. Upon learning about it, a heavy police force was rushed to the spot, which brought the situation under control. Gandhi Nagar police took trouble makers to the police station.
25/11/16 The Times Of India

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Aeronautical Services Tariffs and Airport Charges at Major Airports Reviewed and Revised From Time To Time

The Government of India has established Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) in 2009 under an Act of Parliament viz. AERA Act, 2008 to determine the tariffs in respect of aeronautical services provided at major airports in the country. AERA determines the aeronautical tariff in respect of major airports based on stakeholder consultation. The tariffs are reviewed and revised by AERA every five years considering the investment and expenditure incurred by the airport operator, improving efficiency and viability of the airport with a view to rationalize the charges.

The airport charges are allowed to airports operators as mean to provide fair rate of return on the investment made by the airport developer. Since huge investments are made by the developers while construction of the airport, the charges are comparatively higher during the initial period of the airport commencement. However, the charges gets substantially reduced once the investment for the development is recovered.
24/11/16 Business Standard

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More banks allowed to open counters at Chennai airport

Airports Authority of India has allowed nationalised and scheduled commercial banks to operate currency small exchange counter on a temporary basis at the Chennai airport ‘free of cost’ up to December 31. No levy will be charged for space and electricity at the airport.

As part of facilitating airport users and air travellers, AAI has allowed nationalised and scheduled commercial banks to open and operate on a temporary basis the small counters, says a press release from Chennai airport.
24/11/16 The Hindu Business Line

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5 flights land at Srinagar airport, 12 cancelled due to fog

Srinagar:  The flight operation resumed partially at Srinagar airport today after remaining disrupted for last six days with five flights operating this morning while all 12 afternoon flights were cancelled due to fog.
An Airport official said that the first flight landed at Srinagar Airport at around 9 a.m.  from Leh. He said that the Indian airline Leh flight was followed by another Air India flight from Delhi and it was followed by  GOAir, SpcieJet and Jet Airways flights from Delhi. He said that 12 other afternoon flights were cancelled due to poor visibility.
This is for the seventh consecutive day that the air traffic was disrupted at Srinagar airport.  On Thursday around a dozen afternoon flights were cancelled due to poor visibility, on Friday no flight landed at Srinagar airport, on Saturday only two flights managed to operate and on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday all the flights were cancelled.
Hundreds of people are stranded at Srinagar, Delhi and Jammu due to flight disruptions at Srinagar Airport. However, some passengers travelled to Jammu from Delhi and Srinagar.
In the meantime, night temperature went up and stayed above the freezing point in entire Kashmir even as the Valley continued to witness foggy weather today.
Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of 1.8 degrees Celsius, down from the previous night’s 1.9 degrees Celsius.  Kupwara, in North Kashmir, registered a low of 2.1 degrees Celsius compared to the previous night’s minus 0.8 degree Celsius, while the minimum in Kokernag town in South Kashmir settled at 0.8 degree Celsius.
Gulmarg in North Kashmir registered a low of 1.0 degree Celsius, three notches up from the previous night’s minus 2.0 degrees Celsius. Pahalgam in sSouth Kashmir recorded the minimum of 1.6 degrees Celsius as compared to 0.2 degree Celsius yesterday.
24/11/16 Daily Excelsior

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T2 bets on food delivery to regain lost footfalls

The long walk from the food court to the departure gates and an even longer wait for their order to be delivered has played villain to food outlets operating from the Mumbai airport’s integrated terminal T2, which is a no-announcement zone, for some time now.

But no more as the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) has introduced personalised food delivery using Segways –a two-wheeled, self-balancing, battery-powered electric vehicle – to reach customers.

“Customers at these outlets no longer have to wait at the food court for their food. They can move onto the departure zones where our staff will reach them,” said a spokesperson for MIAL.

The airport operator has purchased five Segways, three of which are stationed at the international departure area and two at the domestic departure zone.

“Currently, food joints like Subway, Burger King, Baker Street, KFC and Pizza Hut Delivery are utilizing the Segways to reach their customers,” the airport spokesperson added.
24/11/16 Aditya Anand/Mumbai Mirror

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Now, board a Kerala houseboat from airports

Thiruvananthapuram: Experience an exhilarating houseboat ride through the backwaters of Kerala...from an airport! Strange as it may sound, people will be able to do exactly that, thanks to virtual reality, which the Kerala Tourism is providing through its ‘The Great Backwater Experience’ zone. The zone would be rolled out at departure terminals of airports in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. It allows passengers, waiting to catch their flights, get an iconic Kerala experience via special interactive stalls in the zone. It is a part of the tourism department’s ‘Out of Home’ marketing campaign to promote Brand Kerala and is targeted at high net worth individuals in the domestic market.
One such zone is up and functional at terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. It allows visitors to feel the experience of sitting in a ‘kettuvellam’, the traditional Kerala houseboat, as it floats on the tranquil backwaters of the state.
24/11/16 New Indian Express

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MDC demands new airport at Thiruvambadi

Kozhikode: With the Airport Authority of India (AAI) reiterating that operation of Code- E aircraft is not possible due to present infrastructure constraints from the Karipur Airport, trade organisations and a section of the people representatives are mooting for a greenfield airport project at Thiruvambadi. The Malabar Development Council (MDC) has submitted a preliminary request for the new airport to the state government.
"AAI has suggested in response to our letter that the state government may apply for setting up a new airport and we have presented the preliminary request for an airport at Thiruvambadi to AAI and the state government," C E Chakkunny, president of MDC said.
Acquisition of 485 acres of land for expansion of the runway at Karipur airport is unlikely due to the stiff opposition from the local residents," he added.
He also said that around 1854 acres of land belonging to the Thiruvambadi Estate was available for setting up the new airport. He added that the land can be acquired without displacing a single family.
"Also we have received interest from three companies who are ready to participate in the project either on a build operate transfer (BOT) basis or on the model of CIAL," he said.
24/11/16 Times of India

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Amritsar-Delhi-Birmingham flight extended to Toronto, says Malik

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has extended the Amritsar-Delhi-Birmingham flight to Toronto, said Rajya Sabha MP Shwet Malik, who is also a member of the Aviation Consultative Committee.
Malik told the Amritsar Tribune from New Delhi that he had shot off questions regarding the dwindling flights from Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport to Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha.
He said today Sinha announced that the flight from Amritsar was being extended to Canada. Malik said he was assured that one direct international flight would also be made available to Amritsar airport after the government procured new aircraft.
The MP has been claiming that a conspiracy was hatched during the Congress government in 2012 after which all major international flights were diverted to the privately run Delhi airport, causing a steep fall in the Amritsar airport’s revenue. He added that post-2012, a bad phase for the Amritsar airport started, as its revenue from cargo and farm-fresh cargo plummeted.
Earlier, the rise of the Amritsar airport had started with the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government elevating it to the status of an international airport in 2004 and sanctioning about Rs 500 crore for its development.
23/11/16 The Tribune

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Devendra Fadnavis raises hope for Kolhapur airport

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said the state government has taken all necessary steps to clear hurdles for development of Kolhapur Airport and it will be the first airport in the state to become operational under Central government's Regional Connectivity Scheme.
The ministry of civil aviation released National Aviation Policy 2016 (NCAP 2016) with an objective to enhance regional connectivity through fiscal support and infrastructure development.
The ministry has started regional connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagarik) with an objective of civil aviation's significant growth that in turn would promote tourism, increase employment and lead to a balanced regional growth.
As per the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) of the ministry, the government plans to develop airports at 398 cities, including 29 in Maharashtra. Fadnavis has stated that Kolhapur's airport will be first to become operational in the state.
24/11/16 Vivek Waghmode/The Times Of India

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Karnataka govt keen on developing airstrips: Industries Minister Deshpande

Asserting state government’s commitment to develop regional airports, Industries Minister R V Deshpande on Wednesday said there is a proposal to develop airstrips in different parts of the state. “We understand the importance of regional air connectivity and its benefits in the development of tourism sector in the state,” Deshpande said in the Assembly.
Pointing out at a few airports that are in different stages of development, he said, “We have planned airstrips in Chikkamagaluru, Kodagu, Uttara Kannada and other places.” Deshpande was replying to a query by Govinda Karajola (BJP) on the delay in completion of Vijayapura airport. Stating that the state government was awaiting central government’s response on the Vijayapura airport project, the Minister said 727 acres had been acquired for the purpose.
23/11/16 PTI/The Indian Express

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Kullu airport inducted under UDAN scheme

The Kullu-Manali Airport at Bhuntar has been included under UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) scheme by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). UDAN was launched by the government last month and it seeks to connect small cities by air as well as make flying more affordable for the masses.
Kullu Airport Director AN Sharma said the AAI had called for open bidding from all interested stakeholders, including airlines, on the government’s regional connectivity scheme UDAN. The Kullu Airport and many other airports throughout the country having less than seven flights a week were included under the scheme. Airfare of Rs 2,500 or lower is to be offered for flights of less than one-hour duration.
The scheme is a market-based mechanism in which airlines bid for seat subsidies through auctioning. Operators will assess demand on routes and submit proposals for operating and providing connectivity on such routes and seek Viability Gap Funding (VGF), if any, while committing to certain minimum operating conditions, Sharma stated.
So far only national carrier Air India was plying daily flights from Delhi to Kullu. With the inclusion of Kullu Airport under UDAN scheme, other airlines would be encouraged to conduct operations on this sector. Air India would also offer lower airfares after other operators start scheduled operations and offer UDAN seats, AN Sharma added.
23/11/16 Abhinav Vashisht/The Tribune

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Govt. withdraws permission for Aranmula airport

The State government has snapped all its links with the proposal for setting up a greenfield airport at Aranmula in Pathanamthitta district by withdrawing the in-principle clearance it had given for the project.

The decision to wash its hands of the controversy-ridden project was taken by the State Cabinet at its weekly meeting here on Wednesday. The Cabinet also decided to scrap all the orders the government had issued in relation to the airport project.

From the beginning, the project was ridden by controversies. Mooted in 2009, the project had received in-principle clearance on February 2, 2010, which also declared Aranmula and surrounding areas as an industrial area. The project hit the first stumbling block when environmental activists, religious groups, and political parties launched an agitation against it.
23/11/16 The Hindu

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Free temporary currency exchange counters at Chennai Airport

As part of extending support to the central government's demonetisation campaign and facilitating air travellers, Airports Authority of India (AAI) will now allow Nationalised /any scheduled commercial bank to open and operate currency exchange counter on temporary basis at Chennai Airport.

This step is a part of the implementation of the decision taken by AAI at Central Headquarters at its airports across the country upto 31st December 2016, subject to availability of space, an official statement said.
23/11/16 The New Indian Express

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Taxmen seize Rs 3 cr cash which went missing from airport

After a series of twists and turns, Rs 3.5 crore cash in demonetised currency notes, which had ‘vanished’ from the airport here, was finally seized by the Income Tax Department after frantic searches.
A Bihar-based businessman, who was travelling alone in a chartered jet from Hissar, was yesterday apprehended by the CISF here following a tip-off by the Intelligence Bureau that he was carrying “suspect money”.
The businessman was questioned by the CISF and other security agencies, and the matter was handed over to the local income tax authorities, who let him go after he showed them some “tax exemption certificates”.
Alarm bells began ringing when IB wanted to know about the follow-up action taken by the CISF. On being told that they had handed over the matter to I-T authorities who allowed him to go, the matter was discussed at the top level between the IB and Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), and frantic searches began for the man and the missing money. On getting the details and CCTV footage of the episode from CISF, the CBDT ordered I-T officials to hunt for the missing notes.
23/11/16 PTI/India

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Now experience Kerala through virtual reality at Delhi airport

Now, travellers waiting for flights at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) can experience an exhilarating backwater houseboat cruise in scenic palm-fringed Kerala through a 3D virtual reality device.
Kerala Tourism has rolled out 'The Great Backwater Experience' zone at a special interactive stall set up in departure lounge of the airport's Terminal-3, just before the security point.

Similar zones are also being set up at airports in Mumbai and Bengaluru.

"The zone is up and functional at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi and visitors can get an immersive experience of sitting inside a 'Kettuvellam', the traditional Kerala houseboat, floating on tranquil backwaters in a place situated over 2,000 km away. This has been made possible through the innovative use of virtual reality," said Kerala Tourism Director U.V. Jose.

Kerala's famous backwaters are brought to life for visitors through a two-minute film - specially shot using 360 degree technology utilising six cameras simultaneously - which can be viewed after they don an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.
24/11/16 webindia123

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Tourists struggle as airport forex counters run dry

Tourists arriving in India with foreign exchange find themselves stuck as money changers do not have enough rupees to go around. Airport counters, which are the only dealers allowed to withdraw the Rupee, are drying up before the day is out and money changers outside are not being provided any cash.
Unlike in the past when less than 5% of incoming tourists sought to exchange foreign currency at airport counters because of the high mark up, after demonetisation most foreigners are queueing up at the airport itself as only these counters are currently provided legal tender by banks. But even this is less than 50% of the demand from tourists. Particularly hard hit are budget tourists, who are more cash dependent. For instance, Goa last weekend saw the arrival of 16 chartered flights even as currency counters went dry.
"We are mandated to exchange currency notes at the airport counters based on which banks release funds. Our branches are able to service customers only to the extent of Indian currency notes that we receive by selling foreign exchange," said Madhavan Menon, managing director, Thomas Cook, a popular money changing destination among tourists. Thomas Cook sells the rupees that it has earned through forex sales only to foreigners, but that is not enough.
23/11/16 Mayur Shetty/The Times Of India

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Tiger poop to trap jackals stalking Lucknow airport

Catching jackals at the Lucknow airport is proving to be tougher than the forest department would have thought. And desperate times call for desperate measures. The forest department has now hit upon a unique way to scare the animals away; by scattering tiger and leopard faeces, the scent of which is expected to scare the jackals away. "It might give jackals the idea that big cats are around as the scent would turn them away," said range officer, Sarojininagar, MP Gautam.
The tiger and leopard stool is collected from the zoo and strewn within the boundary of the airport. For the last several months, ten cages and ten sensor-enabled camera-traps have been installed within 400 hectare area of the airport compound to trap a three-jackal pack. But the efforts has been in vain.
Meat put inside the cage is also littered outside to lure the animals, but jackals have not once walked into the trap. Cameras too have clicked the animals only once, on September 19. Officers are hopeful that the 'stool-technique' will work, when all else has failed.
Since the airport is a VIP premises, cages and cameras will continue to remain in place for the time being.
24/11/16 Neha Shukla/The Times Of India

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After 4 days, Srinagar receives first flight

Srinagar: After remaining suspended for four consecutive days, the flight operations resumed Wednesday morning at Sheikh-ul-Alam International Airport Srinagar.

Earlier the operations were hit due to the dense fog and poor visibility. However, due to improvement in the weather conditions, the flights resumed today morning with Air India flight landing at the airport successfully.

Officials said that an Air India flight AI-448 from Leh made a safe landing today at 9:15 AM. This was followed by three more landings at the airport.

“Due to less visibility ranging from 570 – 850 meters, which according to protocol is unsafe for any kind of flight operation, the flights couldn’t operate at the airport,” the official said, adding, “For a flight to land or take off, the visibility should at least be more than 1300 meters.”
23/11/16 Jibran Nazir/Kashmir Gate

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Airport Expansion, Enhanced Regional Air Connectivity & Expansion in Air Traffic is top Priority of Govt.: Ashok Gajapathi Raju

Minister of Civil Aviation, Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, remarked that with new civil aviation policy in place and other associated reforms accompanying it, the civil aviation sector would emerge to serve the un-served at affordable pace.

Minister of Civil Aviation, Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati reassured the Indian civil aviation industry, emphasizing that the government of the day is exploring all possibilities for capacity expansion of leading airports in the country as well doing its best to make sure that the regional air connectivity is accomplished as per its UDAAN initiative.

The Minister also stressed that though the domestic civil aviation industry has been growing at a rate of more than 20% in the last few years, admitting that higher passenger growth in civil aviation sector is still a challenge for the government which could be won with addition of capacities in India's leading airports.

Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati also emphasized that the cargo sector of Indian civil aviation though has developed but needed further expansion and development since the industry as such has been growing over 20% per annum and hoped that this growth rate would even exceed in times to come in view of India's economic potential with its high appetite for higher growth.

Minister of State, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Mr. Jayant Sinha asked civil aviation industry to grow in such a manner so that its passenger traffic, currently estimated at about 150 million for domestic and overseas sector multiplies manifold and catches on pace with the air traffic of China which presently is calculated at 500 million per annum.

In order to achieve this objective, the ministry has been adopting three pronged strategy under its UDAAN commitment which includes expansion of airports capacities, ensure regional connectivity and equip the air passenger with better level of satisfaction and experience under its Air Sewa initiative, emphasized the minister adding that the government would do all possible to transform the civil aviation sector.
22/11/16 Capital Market/Business Standard

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Green signal for 18 new airports expected to ease congestion

The government today gave the green signal for 18 new airports in the country. The greenfield airports, cleared by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), is likely to ease the growing congestion at airports, especially in metro cities.
The growing passenger traffic and inability of airports to expand has led to severe delays and poor on-time performance of airlines in the past two years.
Mumbai is likely to be the key benefactor as a new airport at Navi Mumbai has been given approval. In terms of number of new airports proposed, Karnataka will be the biggest beneficiary followed by Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Surprisingly, the list has no names for projects proposed in Delhi NCR - Jewar and Hisar. The ministry, however, has given 'site clearance' approval to Bhiwadi project (in Rajasthan).
"As per the Greenfield Airports Policy-2008, MoCA accords two stages clearances - 'site clearance' followed by 'in-principle' approval for greenfield airports.  MoCA has granted 'in principle' approval for setting up of 18 greenfield airports across the country," says a ministry statement.
While the airport project at Sikkim belongs to AAI (Airports Authority of India), the three projects at Durgapur, Gwalior and Karaikal will be developed by private developers. The remaining 14 airports were proposed by respective state governments.
The combined cost of these project is estimated to be Rs 31,376.45 crore, out of which over 53 per cent (Rs 16,704 crore) will go into building the Navi Mumbai airport. As per the MoCA, the airport projects at Durgapur and Kannur have been completed.
22/11/16 Manu Kaushik/Business Today

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Plan for ‘bomb-proof’ underpass near Mysuru airport runway

A soil-testing exercise along a stretch of National Highway 212, connecting Mysuru with Nanjangud near here, is under way to explore the feasibility of constructing a ‘bomb-proof’ underpass below the existing national highway and perpendicular to the Mysuru airport runway.

The testing, which has been entrusted to a private agency, follows a decision by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to have IIT-Delhi come up with the design, complete with security features, for an underpass or tunnel to facilitate an highway extension, without realigning the National Highway (NH). The airport is situated between the NH and a railway track.

Soil testing is an elaborate procedure where you have to dig deep into the soil to check the strata and its ability to withstand seismic shocks and other vibrations, said an AAI official familiar with the exercise. The exercise, which began earlier this month, is scheduled to be completed in one month’s time, while the design is to be submitted in three months.
23/11/16 Laiqh A.Khan/The Hindu

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Deoghar airport to be developed in 603.8 acres

The Government of India plans to set up a new airport at Deoghar in Jharkhand in 603.8 acre land. It has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Government of Jharkhand for the same, Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday in reply to a question from Parimal Nathwani.

The minister said that Jharkhand State Government has already started actions for acquisition of 603.8 acre land for setting up airport. He also said that there is a proposal of forming joint venture with the State Government. The government has received total 31 proposals from 15 states for development, expansion and upgradation of airports. The minister’s statement also noted that the development of airport is subject to availability of land by the State Government free of cost and free of all encumbrances, traffic demand and budgetary support.

Nathwani has asked for the information about the number of metropolitan and non-metropolitan airports in the country which are functional, proposal for modernization of all metropolitan and non-metropolitan airports under the Public Private Partnership mode, number of requests received from various States for modernizing/upgrading airports and helipads and steps being taken by Government to upgrade various airports.
23/11/16 The Pioneer

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Delhi: IGI's T2 trial run starts in three weeks

Next time you decide to catch a domestic flight from Indira Gandhi International Airport, you may be in for a surprise. In another three weeks, the spanking new Terminal 2 (T2) will be thrown open for flight operations on a trial basis.
The decision comes in the wake of a survey report, which was submitted by a joint team of intelligence agencies, CISF, Delhi Police and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). If everything goes as planned, the trial run will start from the second week of December while full-fledged operations are expected to begin from January 1 onwards.
Sources confirmed that T2, which had undergone extensive renovations, would be on a par with existing terminals of the airport in terms of facilities, comfort, security and infrastructure. With 600 CISF personnel, a multi-layer security ring will be formed to protect the terminal.
"Quick Response Teams (QRTs), dog squad, bomb detection and disposal teams besides armed commandos will be deployed at the terminal. CCTV cameras, door-frame metal detectors, face recognition cameras and other gadgets will be used to detect suspicious movements, if any," said a CISF officer.
23/11/16 Anvit Srivastava/The Times Of India

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Navi Mumbai airport cost shoots up 250% on expensive land

Not a single brick has been laid but the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) cost is already touching stratosphere.

The airport is now estimated to cost Rs 16,704 crore, a whopping 250% increase over the Rs 4,766 crore in 2006-07 when the plan was first formulated, according to the projections of the Union civil aviation ministry. The rise is primarily on account of land acquisition costs.

The projected cost was revealed by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Shri Jayant Sinha as part of a reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, wherein he stated that the government has given 'in-principle' permission to 18 greenfield airports in the country.

The need for a greenfield airport has become pressing as the passenger numbers at the Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) have already overshot estimates.

But the work on Navi Mumbai airport is moving at snail's pace.

Till recently, the Maharashtra government's deadline of the first flight from the Navi Mumbai airport was December 2017, which was pushed to 2019 and is likely to postponed.
23/11/16 Shahkar Abidi/DNA

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Tourists struggle as airport forex counters run dry

Tourists arriving in India with foreign exchange find themselves stuck as money changers do not have enough rupees to go around. Airport counters, which are the only dealers allowed to withdraw the Rupee, are drying up before the day is out and money changers outside are not being provided any cash.
Unlike in the past when less than 5% of incoming tourists sought to exchange foreign currency at airport counters because of the high mark up, after demonetisation most foreigners are queueing up at the airport itself as only these counters are currently provided legal tender by banks. But even this is less than 50% of the demand from tourists. Particularly hard hit are budget tourists, who are more cash dependent. For instance, Goa last weekend saw the arrival of 16 chartered flights even as currency counters went dry.
"We are mandated to exchange currency notes at the airport counters based on which banks release funds. Our branches are able to service customers only to the extent of Indian currency notes that we receive by selling foreign exchange," said Madhavan Menon, managing director, Thomas Cook, a popular money changing destination among tourists. Thomas Cook sells the rupees that it has earned through forex sales only to foreigners, but that is not enough.
23/11/16 The Times Of India

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Special bank counters at airport for passengers

Three special counters have been opened by different banks at Raipur's Swami Vivekananda Airport terminal base to make exchanging of demonetized currency of Rs 500 and Rs convenient for pasengers.
23/11/16 The Times Of India

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Greenfield airports likely in Rajkot, Surat & Vadodara

The Gujarat government wants three greenfield airports at Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara. The formal proposal for the greenfield airport at Rajkot has already been sent to the ministry of civil aviation and Airport Authority of India (AAI). AAI chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra has confirmed the development.
When contacted, Mohapatra said, "We have received the proposal for a greenfield airport near Rajkot from the state government."
"We are preparing a feasibility report for Rajkot," said Mohapatra, adding, "We are currently expanding existent airports at Vadodara and Surat, and have not yet received any formal proposal from the state with regard to greenfield airports in these two cities." "However, if the state government submits proposals for those cities, we will consider them on merit," said Mohapatra.
An officer from the state government, who is close to the development, said, "The Rajkot collector has already identified around 40 acres of land, 20 km outside the city , on way to Ahmedabad. The estimated project cost is around Rs 700 crore."
23/11/16 Kapil Dave/The Times Of India

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Dabolim airport lacks 24×7 medical inspection service

The medical inspection room at the Dabolim international airport which attends to passengers in the event of any medical emergency is open only from 10 am to 6 pm and then closed till 10 am next day due to non-availability of para-medical staff.As per international airport norms, medical facility is necessary twenty-four hours apart from round-the-clock security and fire and emergency services at an international airport.As per highly-placed sources, a number of emergency cases are reported at the Dabolim airport with the kick start of chartered season, but in absence of medical inspection room, the passengers are referred to a private hospital in the close vicinity.
“There is nobody at the medical inspection room to attend to the passengers in medical emergency,” told a passenger who arrived from Doha to Goa during the wee hours on Tuesday.He disclosed that there were about four to five emergency cases during the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday but they were referred elsewhere.As per highly-placed sources in the Airports Authority of India, the medical inspection room was earlier operated by the Manipal Hospital but the services were stopped about a week ago.
23/11/16 Goa Com

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Good Samaritan helps foreigner stranded at Goa airport with old currency notes

New Delhi: When prime minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 on November 8, people who were travelling that night got hit the most. After reaching their destinations, many people found it difficult to move about because the currency they had were declared unusable.
In such an incident, a foreign woman was stranded at the Goa airport on November 10, with demonetised currency notes and not credit/debit cards with her to pay for extra baggage. Sanjay Yadav, political advisor to Deputy CM of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav as per his Facebook bio, was at the scene and offered to help the woman by paying for the extra baggage, a sum of Rs 1,600, using his card.
As per a Facebook post he made the next day, the woman did not have the new Rs 2,000 notes or Rs 100 notes but just Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. In the post, he said, Indigo airlines ground staff denied to accept the old notes and the woman was reduced to tears.
Yadav wrote that an unidentified "gentleman" came forward to help the woman and exchanged the demonetised currency notes she had with a new Rs 2,000 note. He also said that the Indigo staff were baffled again, this time wondering whether to accept the new note or not. They were surprised to see someone with the new currency note on November 10, the day banks opened to start exchanging old currency notes.
22/11/16 India Today

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Dabolim airport lacks 24×7 medical inspection service

Vasco: The medical inspection room at the Dabolim international airport which attends to passengers in the event of any medical emergency is open only from 10 am to 6 pm and then closed till 10 am next day due to non-availability of para-medical
staff.
As per international airport norms, medical facility is necessary twenty-four hours apart from round-the-clock security and fire and emergency services at an international
airport.
As per highly-placed sources, a number of emergency cases are reported at the Dabolim airport with the kick start of chartered season, but in absence of medical inspection room, the passengers are referred to a private hospital in the close
vicinity.
“There is nobody at the medical inspection room to attend to the passengers in medical emergency,” told a passenger who arrived from Doha to Goa during the wee hours on Tuesday.
He disclosed that there were about four to five emergency cases during the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday but they were referred elsewhere.
As per highly-placed sources in the Airports Authority of India, the medical inspection room was earlier operated by the Manipal Hospital but the services were stopped about a week ago.
22/11/16 Navhind Times

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Free parking at airport till Monday

Mumbai: As people continue to face cash crunch after the scrapping of high-value notes, the government has decided not to levy parking fee at airports for another week, till midnight of Monday.
A civil aviation ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday that the decision to not charge parking fee would be applicable for Airports Authority of India (AAI) as well as privately operated aerodromes.
22/11/16 Times of India

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Flight operations from Srinagar airport to remain suspended till Thursday

Flight operations from Srinagar International Airport will continue to be suspended due to poor visibility until at least Thursday, when the season’s first precipitation is expected. Sonam Lotus, Director of Meteorological Department, has predicted light spell of rainfall between October 24 and 26, along with snow in the higher reaches.
 srinagar airport, srinagar international airport, srinagar airport operation, flight operation srinagar, srinagar airport flight Photo for representational purpose
Flight operations from Srinagar International Airport will continue to be suspended due to poor visibility until at least Thursday, when the season’s first precipitation is expected. Sonam Lotus, Director of Meteorological Department, has predicted light spell of rainfall between October 24 and 26, along with snow in the higher reaches.
Pakistan Violates Ceasefire Violation

“Rainfall is necessary to dissipate the fog and pollution that has accumulated in the atmosphere, creating poor visibility,” said Lotus. He added that pollutants from the burning of charcoal and cow dung and the use
of heating amenities in the approaching cold have combined with vehicular and factory emissions to worsen the situation. There is also a temperature inversion in the lower atmosphere contributing to the fog, he said.
Flight operations at the Srinagar Airport were first impacted on last Thursday. Air traffic has since remained more or less suspended, with the exception of two flights landing and then taking off on Saturday.
“The weather this year was especially dry and there is no wind to dissipate the fog,” said Sharad Kumar, Director, Airports Authority of India (Srinagar Airport). If there are even light spells of rain, visibility shall be restored for the entire winter season.
21/11/16 Kuwar Singh/Indian Express

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India's airport count to double by 2019, says civil aviation minister

The central government is planning to increase the number of airports across the country in the next two-three years. The aim of this expansion is to tap into the largely untapped domestic aviation sector in India, which has witnessed a sharp rise in the number of passengers, Jayant Sinha, the Minister for Civil Aviation said.
Earlier during the year, the BJP government launched a draft UDAN scheme (Udey Desk ka Aam Nagrik) which fixed the fares at Rs 2,500 for one hour flights in a bid to make it affordable to the citizens.
"Our party in its 2014 elections manifesto announced the UDAN scheme, under which, we have to expand the number of airports. The fact is we have 75 airports with scheduled services. We will double it in the next two to three years," Sinha was quoted as saying by Press Trust of India.
The central government aims to increase funds by about Rs 400 crore to run the UDAN connectivity scheme. Some of the leading airlines were asked to bid for the sectors that provide connectivity to other major airports, while carriers who bid with the lowest rates would be awarded the routes. This was aimed at developing regional routes that are "under developed" with increased profitability.
"When bids are finally given out in January 2017, we will create an entirely new regional market," Sinha told PTI.
More people choose to fly when compared to opting for rail journeys every year. India's air passenger growth grew about 10-11 percent during the last decade.
21/11/16 Kalyani Pandey/International Business Times

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Airport parking fee waiver extended

The Airport Authority of India has extended the parking fee waiver at the airport for one more week till November 28, said an AAI spokesperson. The decision to extend waiver of parking charges till midnight of November 28 was taken in view of demonetization of C500 and C1,000 notes. Earlier, AAI had waived parking fee till November 21.
22/11/16 The New Indian Express

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IDBI installs PoS machines at city airport to dispense cash

To help crash-starved travellers, the state-run IDBI Bank has deployed its point of sale (PoS) machines at the Mumbai airport. The PoS machines deployed at both domestic and international airports will allow Visa and RuPay debit card holders of IDBI Bank as well as a few select banks to withdraw cash for urgent needs. A customer can get Rs 2,000 per card.
“We have deployed around 4-5 PoS machines at the Mumbai airport terminals where people can swipe a Visa or a RuPay card and the bank officials present there would give them cash. The intention is to help travellers meet their immediate cash needs,” Deputy Managing Director K P Nair said.
Besides IDBI Bank, Visa and RuPay debit card holders of State Bank, Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Canara Bank and HDFC Bank can also withdraw cash at the IDBI Bank’s PoS terminals at the airports.
Nair said the bank is now deploying such PoS machines at the New Delhi airport also and is in talks with a few more airports.
21/11/16 PTI/The Indian Express

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International Beverage introduces duty free range at IGI Airport, Delhi

Global drinks player International Beverage Holdings Limited (IBHL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thai Beverage Public Limited Company, has introduced three of its finest spirits in the duty free stores at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport. The company will offer two of its flagship Highland single malt whiskies - Old Pulteney and Balblair; and a super-premium handcrafted Scottish gin - Caorunn for consumers travelling through Terminal 3.

IBHL entered India last year through Dhall Foods, a food and beverage distributions partner with a legacy of over 30 years. Its portfolio is present in major Indian cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru and Gurugram, both on and off premise, with its core range of the above portfolio along with its classic Speyside whisky, Speyburn.

“As a company committed to investment in the global travel retail sector, our presence at Indian airports, starting with Delhi, is a fantastic opportunity to seed our brands in the minds of customers travelling to and from India. Through our exclusive range of highly coveted single malts and gin, we offer these travellers a more premium choice to experience a world of fine spirits,” says James Bateman, Director - Travel Retail, IBHL.
21/11/16 Hospitality Biz India

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GMR Airports Submits Bid for New International Airport in Greece

India - Bid submitted in consortium with GEK Terna Group of Greece
- The bid is for Development, Operations and Management of the new airport for a concession period of 35 years

GMR Infrastructure Limited, India's leading Infrastructure Company, today announced that its subsidiary, GMR Airports Limited (GAL), has submitted the bid along with its partner GEK Terna Group of Greece for the Development, Operations and Management of New International Airport of Heraklion at Crete Island, Greece.

The scope of the project involves Design, Construction, Financing, Operation & Maintenance of the airport for a concession period of 35 years.

GEK Terna Group is a leading Greek Infrastructure company having presence in Construction, Energy, Mining, Waste management, Concessions, Real Estatedevelopment & facilities' management. It is understood that this is the sole bid for this concession.

Upon award, GAL will be the airport operator for this project. Under the Bid conditions, it is mandatory for theairport operator to hold a minimum of 10% equity stake in the consortium.

Commenting on the development, a GAL Spokesperson, said: 'The bid submission is in line with the GMR Group's asset light growth strategy with value build up from this project coming to GMR more from leveraging the airport platform, leading to enhanced revenue based services, than just equity.
21/11/16 MenaFn

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DIAL in HC against new aviation policy on airport land use

The restriction on DIAL, which operates the IGI Airport here, under the new civil aviation policy from further utilising airport land to provide non- aeronautical services came up for challenge in Delhi High Court today.

Agreeing to examine the matter, a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice V Kameswar Rao issued notice to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) seeking their response on the plea of Delhi International Airport Ltd, a joint venture of GMR Group and AAI, claiming that its exclusion under the policy was wrong.

The National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) 2016, which came into effect on June 15, restricts existing airports run under public private partnership (PPP) from commercially utilising their land for providing non-aeronautical services.

However, this restriction is not applicable to future airports run under PPP or the existing and upcoming ones which would be run by AAI, the petition claimed.
21/11/16 PTI/Business Standard

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8 arrested for trespassing at Mumbai airport

The airport police has arrested eight persons of a travel agency for forging tickets in order to gain access to the airport, all because they wanted to help their clients check in their baggage.

The eight had entered the airport on tickets bearing fake PNR numbers. An officer of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) told this paper that the eight people had entered the airport premises to help carry and load the baggage of 170 Udaipur-bound passengers of Indigo Airlines.

Some 180 passengers had booked tickets on an Indigo flight to Udaipur on November 20 from a Khar-based travel company to attend a marriage ceremony. Later, 10 passengers cancelled the tickets.

On Sunday, the family asked the travel company to help them with baggage inside the terminal till the boarding pass counter. Following the request, the eight men allegedly scanned  eight of the 10 cancelled e-tickets and changed the name and PNR number on it.
22/11/16 Ashita Dadheech/The Asian Age

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Gold bars, 30 cartons of cigarettes seized from passengers at Coimbatore airport

Coimbatore: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized six gold bars weighing around 700 gram and 30 cartons of cigarettes worth Rs 60,000 from two passengers at the Coimbatore International Airport in the early hours of Saturday.

DRI sleuths claimed that they intercepted two passengers who arrived at the airport from Sharjah by an Air Arabia flight at 3.30am. One of passengers, Murshad, 32, a native of Kasargode in Kerala, had hidden six gold bars in his rectum.
21/11/16 Times of India

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Construction permits near airport may be withdrawn

Decision made after IIT-M conducts survey to identify causes of flooding

To prevent flooding, a number of construction permits issued by planning agencies along the stretch of the Adyar from its origin to the airport are expected to be withdrawn after May.

Chennai irport Director Deepak Shastri said more than 90 per cent of a survey done using drones had been completed.

“The IIT-Madras is carrying out a survey to identify the causes of flooding. Barren land pockets along the river are also being identified for flood mitigation measures. The report has been delayed owing to sensitive areas near Tambaram covered in the survey. The report will be available in May,” he said.

Mentioning a few construction projects that have been permitted in the area, Mr. Shastri, who was speaking at a panel discussion on connectivity and transportation organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry here, on Saturday, said “certain construction permits have to be withdrawn.”

During the last northeast monsoon in December 2015, the airport was affected and operations suspended for many days.
21/11/16 The Hindu

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Pune Airport’s ambitious project to provide a steady Wi-Fi connection to its users has not turned out be as useful as envisioned as commuters complain that the facility, which claims to have a good speed is in reality unusable.

A frequent flier and an IT professional Vikram Maurya (30), travelling from Pune to Delhi, was forced to use his phone’s internet to send and check emails. He shared, “The available Wi- Fi facility is always non-functional. Whenever I try to connect it, there’s always an error. I always use my phone’s internet due to the lack of a strong Wi- Fi connection.” However, he is not the only traveller who doesn’t want to use this facility as many claim that the available service is not only slow, but takes too long to connect.

Ajay Kumar, airport director said, “The free Wi-Fi facility is only for a span of 30 minutes and since many passengers try to connect at the same time that results to a delay in connectivity. I can understand the problem being faced by the commuters and will try to resolve it soon. We will ask the internet service provider to check the speed of the connection.”
21/11/16 Sushant Ranjan/Pune Mirror

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Parrikar slams Opposition for causing confusion over Dabolim

Parrikar was addressing a gathering at Upasnagar in Sancoale on the occasion of Vijay Sankalp Mahamelava of Cortalim constituency. The meeting was attended with over 4000 people from Cortalim. South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar, MLA Nilesh Cabral, Michael Lobo, BJP State President Vinay Tendulkar, and several other leaders addressed the meeting.
“The opposition leaders have been trying to confuse people of South Goa in the name of Dabolim airport only for political mileage, but I again guarantee the people of South Goa that Dabolim airport would remain even after Mopa,” he said and added, “People should also know a fact that Dabolim airport cannot take more load of passenger traffic which has already crossed 5.5 million passengers annually. We required Mopa as Dabolim cannot handle more passenger traffic.”
On the BJP’s failure to rehabilitate Zuarinagar slum dwellers, he said, “Though the BJP had promised rehabilitation for Zuarinagar slums, it could not be fulfilled due to some reasons. Therefore, I now promise the Zuarinagar slum dwellers that the BJP will give priority in fulfilling this assurance, that after 2017 polls.” He also claimed that earlier, goondaism in Cortalim was at its peak, however after BJP came to power, the same has been curbed extensively.
Sawaikar praised Alina for taking up peoples’ issue and developmental projects including much needed road over bridge in Cansaulim that was pending since last two decades.
21/11/16 Herald

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CIAL says ‘no’ to fresh taxi permit demand

The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) authorities have said that it will not give in to the demand raised by some organisations for taxi permit in the airport area.

The airport authority made it clear on Sunday that taxi permits would be issued only to those who had lost their property and homes on account of land acquisition for the airport.

The airport authority said it had come to know of a group of people, who had approached private taxi owners, promising them taxi permits in the airport area. The airport authority also warned people not to be swayed by such false promises. The airport authority had, in 1999, formed the Cochin International Airport Taxi Cooperative Society to distribute taxi permits and services in the airport area. The airport authority has also prepared a list of people who lost their property or homes due to land acquisition for the airport with the help of the Department of Revenue.
The airport authority said a total of 604 people had so far been issued taxi permits within the airport area on the basis of the list of people who had lost their property or home for the building of the airport.
21/11/16 The Hindu

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India To Double Airport Count In 2-3 Years, Says Jayant Sinha

The government plans to double the number of airports in India over the next two-three years, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha has said.

"Our party had in its 2014 election manifesto announced the UDAN (Uday Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme, under which we will expand the number of airports," the minister said, delivering the 3rd G Ramachandran Memorial Lecture organised in Chennai on Saturday night.

"The fact is we have 75 airports with scheduled services. We plan to double it in the next two to three years," the minister said at the event organised by the Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI).

Earlier this year, in a move to make flying more affordable, the government unveiled a draft UDAN scheme with an all inclusive fare of Rs. 2,500 for one-hour flights.

The scheme is aimed at developing underdeveloped regional routes, Mr Sinha said.

Declaring that the government would raise about Rs. 400 crore to run the UDAN scheme, the minister said the government is asking airlines to bid for those routes that provide connectivity to other major airports.

"When bids are finally awarded in January 2017, we will create an entirely new regional market," he said.
20/11/16 Indo-Asian News Service/NDTV

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Small wings can make big flights

In a few years, a passenger from Ramnad may not have to take a 10-hour train journey to Chennai or a road trip to Madurai airport to fly abroad. He or she can take a nine-seater aircraft from Ramnad and fly to Madurai or Trichy, and then board a connecting flight to Mumbai, Delhi, or the rest of the world.
Flying between small towns is going to be the norm if the ministry of civil aviation has its way in developing regional connectivity. In Tamil Nadu, more than 14 unused airstrips and a few underserved airports have been identified for this purpose. These include airstrips in Arakkonam, Chettinad, Cholavaram, Hosur, Kayatar, Neyveli, Ramnad, Salem, Sulur, Thanjavur, Ullundurpet and Vellore. Some of these were built by the British during the Second World War while others used to be private airstrips for the rich but now defunct.
The airstrips could be used to fly nine-seater to 18-seater flights so that people from the hinterlands can have easy access to bigger airports, said Union minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha detailing the Centre's plan to develop air connectivity in the next 10 years.
The ministry is trying to encourage private entrepreneurs to invest in these facilities for basic infrastructure if airlines show readiness to operate. Airports Authority of India too has been considering developing small airports with frugal facility like a hall as the terminal.
In the southern peninsula, the density of airports is high. There are eight airports with good passenger traffic. The airstrips identified for development are scattered in such a way that these can connect people in remote areas to the existing airports for onward journey. However, airlines have to bid for these routes. The bidding is likely to happen in January. Two defence air strips - Tambaram and Arakkonam - are also included in this and are expected to be opened up for civilian aircraft if airlines show interest.
21/11/16 V Ayyappan/The Times Of India

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Monkeys on runway, SpiceJet plane forced to abort take-off at Ahmedabad

Wildlife on runways continues to threaten air travellers in India. In the most recent incident, a SpiceJet Boeing 737 had to abort take-off in Ahmedabad on Sunday after some monkeys were spotted on the runway. Luckily, the plane stopped in time and no one was reportedly injured.
"Our Boeing 737-800 operating as SG 501 from Ahmedabad to Chennai was rolling for take off when the air traffic control (ATC) contacted the pilots and told them that there were monkeys on the runway. The plane had just begun take-off roll and was able to stop safely," a SpiceJet spokesman said.
In the past too, low cost carrier SpiceJet has suffered due to presence of wildlife on runways and it, along with other airlines, has taken up the issue repeatedly with both the Airports Authority of India and Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
20/11/16 Saurabh Sinha/The Times Of India

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Spat between taxi union, city airport delays metro work

A dispute between the Mumbai Airport Taxi Rickshaw Union and Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) has ended up in court, preventing the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL) from starting work on the domestic airport station on the underground metro line 3.

Kanhaiya Singh, general secretary of the taxi union, said, “We have filed an application with an Andheri court seeking directions from the police to register an FIR against MIAL for violating aviation security norms. We moved the court as the police failed to take action despite being told to several times.”

The rail corporation had written to the taxi union asking them to settle the issue with MIAL and vacate the parking lot immediately. But the union refused to shift there, claiming that the allocated parking space violated norms enforced by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and the Aviation Safety Act.

The domestic airport station, work for which had been set to begin from October 20, would connect the Terminal 2 metro stop directly to the check-in counters.

On October 18, the taxi union approached the court to complain about the alleged violation of the security norms, saying that they were informed that they needed to leave their current parking space at the domestic airport as it was going to be used for the Metro-3 project.
21/11/16 Mumbai Mirror

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Chennai to be upgraded as global airport: Jayant Sinha

Admitting that most airports in India face capacity issues, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said building an airport is a long-drawn process and in his view India needs to triple its airport capacity.

“In 10 years, we will see four airport hubs coming up in India. Delhi airport is single-largest infrastructure project. We will be adding another runway in Delhi,” he said and announced that the Centre is working towards upgrading Chennai as a global airport.

“Along with Chennai, we are looking at Bengaluru and Kolkata. Already there are about over 100 aircraft movements at the Chennai airport,” he said. The Minister said 14 crore people take flights compared to 13 crore people who travel in air-conditioned train coaches annually and the passenger growth in India averaged around 10 -11 per cent over the last 10 years.

“The fact is we have 75 airports with scheduled services. We plan to double it in the next two to three years to serve the largely untapped domestic aviation industry,” he said while speaking at an event organised by the Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI).
21/11/16 Deccan Chronicle

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Airport in a tizzy over bomb scare

A bomb scare prompted security personnel to conduct a search on Indigo flight 6E 5193 from New Delhi to Guwahati immediately after the aircraft landed at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International airport here around 7.30 this evening.

Police sources said an unidentified person "called" LGBI airport authorities to "inform" them about the presence of a bomb in the aircraft but could not confirm the exact time the call came.

Within minutes, additional security measures were activated at the airport in accordance with the standard operating procedures.

Security personnel, led by Central Industrial Security Force and Assam police, detained the passengers at the airport for about three hours and conducted a thorough search of the aircraft and their luggage. There were 188 passengers on the aircraft.
20/11/16 Kishore Talukdar/The Telegraph

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Pune airport Wi-Fi turns into bane for commuters

Pune Airport’s ambitious project to provide a steady Wi-Fi connection to its users has not turned out be as useful as envisioned as commuters complain that the facility, which claims to have a good speed is in reality unusable.

A frequent flier and an IT professional Vikram Maurya (30), travelling from Pune to Delhi, was forced to use his phone’s internet to send and check emails. He shared, “The available Wi- Fi facility is always non-functional. Whenever I try to connect it, there’s always an error. I always use my phone’s internet due to the lack of a strong Wi- Fi connection.” However, he is not the only traveller who doesn’t want to use this facility as many claim that the available service is not only slow, but takes too long to connect.

Ajay Kumar, airport director said, “The free Wi-Fi facility is only for a span of 30 minutes and since many passengers try to connect at the same time that results to a delay in connectivity. I can understand the problem being faced by the commuters and will try to resolve it soon. We will ask the internet service provider to check the speed of the connection.”
21/11/16 Sushant Ranjan//Pune Mirror

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Flight disruption causes inconvenience to travelling Kashmiris

Srinagar: The flight operations at Srinagar International Airport (SIA) continued to remain affected for the second consecutive days with most of the flights getting cancelled due to poor visibility caused by fog. On Saturday few flights could take off in contrast to Friday when all of them were cancelled.
By Saturday afternoon only four flights including two Go Air, one Vistara and one Air India flight took off from SIA to other destinations.
The cancellation of flights to and fro Kashmir had left hundreds of passengers stranded at Srinagar and other airports who claimed facing lot of inconvenience.
AT SIA, scores of the passengers were seen returning to their homes after the airport authorities announced cancellation of flights for the second consecutive day.
“My Aunt has to undergo surgery at AIIMS New Delhi but due to the flight disruption we couldn’t reach there. We had to send her money and other medical reports that the doctor had asked before conducting her surgery. It was for the second time today that my cousin had to return home from the airport after his flight got cancelled,” said Umar Ahmad, a resident of Safakadal, Srinagar.
Similarly, the passengers who are stranded at other airports claimed that the flight cancellation had added to their miseries as they ran out of cash due to the Centre’s demonization move.
20/11/16 Firdous Hassan/Kashmir Monitor

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15 flights cancelled, 2 land at Srinagar airport

Srinagar: The flight operations at Srinagar Airport that were hit by poor visibility for past two days, resumed partially this afternoon after slight improvement in visibility.
A senior official told Excelsior that visibility improved slightly this afternoon at Srinagar Airport and two flights, one each of Vistara and GoAir landed and later took off. However, 15 other flights were cancelled due to poor visibility.
The official said that Indian Airlines flight also came at 2:15 p.m but was hovering over Srinagar and could not land at the airport due to poor visibility. He said that the flight went back without landing.
In the meantime, the minimum temperature across the Kashmir continued to hover below the freezing point. However, there was slight improvement in the night temperature at few places and weather at many places across Kashmir was foggy.
A Meteorological Depar-tment official said here that the minimum temperature at most places increased slightly but it remained below the freezing point.
Kargil town in Ladakh region was the coldest recorded place in the State as it registered the low of minus 8.4 degree Celsius, a degree up from the previous night’s minus 9.2 degree Celsius.
The night temperature in Leh town also increased from minus 8.4 degrees Celsius yesterday to register the low of minus 7.9 degree Celsius.
19/11/16 Daily Excelsior.com

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Cash crunch hits taxi drivers and fliers at Sahar airport

Mumbai: When you come out of Mumbai’s Sahar international airport you could be pardoned for thinking you are at Dadar railway station and not the swanky, world-class airport terminal.

Like Dadar which is infamous for its demanding cabbies, the demonetisation and the consequent currency shortage have turned Sahar into something similar, reports Rediff.com’s A Ganesh Nadar who landed in Mumbai this morning.
“For prepaid cabs you paid your fare at the counter, the company kept 10% and the rest of the money was given to the cabbie immediately. But after the ban on Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes on November 8, for three days they were not distributing any money as the notes were old,’ explained a veteran cabbie. “Then they started paying out, but the accounts of the cabbies and those kept at the counters did not match. So they came to blows and the counters shut down, and are yet to reopen.”
20/11/16 India Live Today

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Erumeli airport will be counter-productive: Experts

The State government’s new initiatives for a greenfield airport at Erumeli has surprised many in the aviation sector.

For, they feel that the State’s urgent requirement is a string of airstrips or two-tier airports capable of ferrying passengers and tourists across the length and breadth of the State.

Kerala is the only Indian state having four international airports in a small radius.

Experts opine that rather than benefiting the aviation sector even slightly, setting up another international airport in a nondescript region will, to some extend, badly affect the performance of existing airports in the State.

Speaking to ‘Express’, a senior official attached to the Kochi-headquartered Air India Express, the low-cost arm of Air India, said Erumeli was a town that came to life for around 68 days a year, when the Sabarimala pilgrim season began.

“An airstrip or a small domestic airport capable of handling smaller aircrafts is enough to cater to the needs of Sabarimala pilgrims,” he stated.
19/11/16 Dhinesh Kallungal/The New Indian Express

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More cash exchange counters at Chandigarh International Airport

More exchange counters are being opened at Chandigarh International Airport for the benefit of passengers. According to airport officials, Dena Bank will start a currency exchange counter from Saturday morning.
“This will facilitate passengers for exchange of defunct 1,000 and 500 rupee notes. The counter will function from 9 am to 7 pm in view of departing flight timings. Hence, we will serve the maximum number of outbound passengers from Chandigarh airport,” said an airport official.
19/11/16 The Indian Express

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Air traffic at Srinagar airport suspended due to poor visibility

The air traffic at Srinagar airport was suspended on Friday due to poor visibility as a dense layer of fog engulfed the city as well as some other areas of the Valley. All flights to and fro Srinagar airport were cancelled due to poor visibility, Director, Airports Authority of India (AII) (Srinagar airport), Sharad Kumar told PTI in Srinagar. He said no air traffic could take place due to dense fog which affected the visibility.
18/11/16 PTI/The Indian Express

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Bizman fails to strike gold with black money at airport

Demonetisation has given black money hoarders an innovative idea. Customs officials booked a Surat businessman for trying to smuggle out 25kg gold to convert it into foreign currency, from Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport on Friday.
Pranav Chauhan had purchased the gold at a premium with old Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes. He wanted to sell it abroad and bring back foreign currency, showing it as legal earning.
While scanning a handbag, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel found a metal object and alerted the Customs. Chauhan had cleared security and immigration, and was seated in the waiting area when Customs officials took him for questioning, and found the gold in his bag.
Chauhan, who was flying to Canada, told officials he is a farmer and he also deals with land. He reportedly confessed to generating unaccounted money in land deals. Chauhan claimed he had purchased gold worth Rs 66 lakh for Rs 90 lakh .
19/11/16 Vijay V Singh/The Times Of India

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