Praful Patel promises 20 new airports by 2008

New Delhi: Impressed by the unprecedented 40% growth in the domestic air traffic during the first nine months of 2007, civil aviation minister Praful Patel said 20 more civilian airports would go operational next year. Nearly 100 airports in the country would be operational in 2008 as compared against 80 now, he said on Tuesday while addressing the economic editors conference here.
Apart from greenfield projects in Bangalore and Hyderabad, several smaller airports like Durgapur and Asansol are also expected to go operational next year. Mr Patel expressed optimism over growth of cargo traffic too. “There will be enough requirement on the part of white goods manufacturers and exporters to transport flowers, perishable goods and white goods such as telephone sets and desktop computers by air in the future.
There are logistics companies such as FedEx and UPS in the US, which have over 700 aircraft and I don’t see any reason India should be far behind,” he said.
15/11/07 Economic Times

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Sri Sathya Sai Baba`s airport up for sale

Chennai: Sri Sathya Sai Airport in Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, is up for sale.
The airport's owner, the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust has invited bids for it and put the floor price at Rs 600 crore.
One big attraction of this airport is that it is only 70 km from Bangalore International Airport, coming up in Devanahalli. The vantage location will allow airlines to feed the southern sector, which currently has 30 major and minor airports.
The other is that, to sweeten the deal, the Trust is throwing in 2,000 acres of adjoining land.
The additional land could be used either for real estate development or for setting up a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility.
The airport is spread over 450 acres. Its runway is 2,230 metres long and currently being used mostly by chartered aircraft.
The buzz in the industry is that G R Gopinath, who pioneered low-cost flying in India with Air Deccan, has tied up with a Mumbai-based public figure to put in a bid. Gopinath, however, has denied reports.
It is being said that Dubai-based real estate developer Limitless LLC could also be in the fray.
31/10/07 S Kalyana Ramanathan/Business Standard

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Concern over lack of easy access to Devanahalli airport

Bangalore: Even as the international airport at Devanahalli is scheduled to be operational from March 30, 2008, various stakeholders have expressed concern over the lack of easy access to the airport at a round table on the “connectivity to the new airport” organised by the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) here on Tuesday.
While the high-speed rail link between the city and the airport is yet to get government approval, the expressway is mired in legal wrangles and even the trumpet interchange on National Highway No. 7 near the airport will not be fully ready when the airport begins its operations, according to Principal Secretary to the Government (Infrastructure Development) V.P. Baligar. The interchange has to pass over NH 7 and the Chikkaballapur railway line.
The two loops — one from the airport towards the city and the other from Devanahalli side to the airport — will be ready.
The third, from the city in to the airport, was caught up in litigation and was cleared only last week.
With construction of the loop from the city towards the airport likely to be delayed for over a year, traffic from the city has to take a ‘U’ turn after the interchange and enter the airport through the loop from Devanahalli side, Mr. Baligar said. He said the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has agreed to run 40 low-floor high speed buses to the new airport from different parts of the city.
31/10/07 The Hindu

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‘Is it wrong to be on time?’

Bangalore: Commenting on the delay in providing easy access to the airport, Bangalore International Airport Limited’s Chief Executive Officer Albert Brunner said: “Construction of the airport began in July 2005. All these years you knew that the airport work is going on. Suddenly you blame us as we are on time (in completing the work and beginning the operation). It is you who wanted to have the new international airport. I do not want to blame anybody (for the mess),” he said, speaking at a roundtable on Connectivity to the New International Airport. On BIAL taking over the trumpet interchange work from NHAI, Mr. Brunner said: “The National Highway Authority of India had selected a contractor who had never even built a bridge. We have taken the work, which was planned by NHAI three months back. Now it says that it wants to widen NH 7 and the project (designed by NHAI itself) not up to the standard.”
On the proposed high-speed rail link to the airport, Mr. Brunner said the BIAL Board has agreed to participate in the project with equity and the percentage of the equity was yet to be decided.
Reacting to demands by various quarters to retain the present HAL Airport as a domestic airport or continue its operation till BIAL becomes fully operational, Mr. Brunner said the proposal was not feasible.
31/10/07 The Hindu

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Gr Noida could spoil Delhi airport`s party

Mumbai: If the traffic estimates made by the Uttar Pradesh government and submitted by the aviation ministry to the Union Cabinet are anything to go by, the proposed airport at Greater Noida will be as ambitious a project as Delhi airport, which is being modernised by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the GMR group through Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL).
In fact, it is estimated that by 2026, over one-third of Delhi's total projected traffic (82.7 million) will be diverted to Greater Noida airport (28.4 million), and by 2036 when DIAL expects to handle nearly 100 million traffic, Greater Noida will attract 82.7 million passengers.
By 2036, Greater Noida airport expects to divert half of Delhi's traffic (49.8 million against 100 million). A substantial diversion of cargo is also expected.
These estimates, according to the note, have been derived considering the traffic diversion from Delhi due to better connectivity with the catchment area. The authorities expect direct and induced traffic due to the setting up of a new greenfield airport.
In addition, according to the proposal, "there will be potential increase in freight and passenger traffic due to the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata freight corridors being set up and the boom expected due to the development of a special economic zone (SEZ) and large mega power plants in the area".
31/10/07 Anjuli Bhargava, Business Standard

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Workers building airport terminal face health hazards

New Delhi: A brand new terminal may be coming up at the international airport in the Indian capital to decongest growing air traffic but workers at the construction site are complaining of poor sanitation, long duty hours and, above all, deadly mosquitoes.
Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) has hired more than 8,500 workers for the construction work by awarding a sub-tender to a well-known company, Larsen & Toubro (L&T).
The authorities have constructed temporary residential colonies for 7,000 workers at the new airport site, but the labourers told IANS they were not being provided good food or proper sanitation facilities.
'We start work at eight in the morning and end up only after eight in the evening. Then we cover a distance of almost three kilometres, a rough and dangerous path, on foot to reach the makeshift rooms,' said Rambabu, a worker who has come from West Bengal's Malda district to work here.
The path they have to cross is the dug-up area around the existing airport. Heavy machinery - road rollers and cranes - and men work there continuously in shifts and no one is allowed to enter the site. Workers have been given fluorescent jackets and hard caps to prevent any untoward incidents.
'In each room, shared by at least 10-12 labourers, we have to struggle with mosquitoes. We have complained of this to our contractor and other officials concerned but no one is bothered. Fortunately, no one has fallen ill from mosquito-borne diseases,' Rambabu told IANS at the construction site.
31/10/07 Sahil Makkar/Earthtimes, UK

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CBI raids top AAI officials

New Delhi: The CBI on Tuesday conducted searches at six places in Delhi and Jodhpur against senior Airport Authority of India officials and two share brokers in connection with fraudulent investment of money of AAI employees in junk bonds and shares.
Searches were conducted after the CBI registered a case against AAI executive director M M Dey, general manager A A Khantani, deputy general manager S K Chaterjee, junior accounts officer M K Goshal and two stock brokers Prashant Bindal and Kamal of NSE for allegedly investing employees' money in junk shares.
31/10/07 Times of India

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Wanted man in airport net

Calcutta: A Delhi-based property dealer wanted in connection with a cheating case was arrested at the airport on Tuesday morning. Karnal Singh, 42, had travelled to Cambodia from Delhi on May 2, said police.
“There was a lookout notice for Singh, so we intercepted him and handed him over to the police,” said an immigration officer. The notice was issued on May 6.
On Tuesday, Singh flew to Calcutta from Bangkok on an Air India flight. He said he had gone abroad on business and had planned to return to Delhi from Calcutta. He was later handed over to the police and placed under arrest.
31/10/07 The Telegraph

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Ministry urged not to downgrade Thiruvananthapuram airport

Thiruvananthapuram: The City Corporation Council which met here on Monday urged the Ministry of Civil Aviation to withdraw the move to place the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport under the administrative control of the Regional Executive Director, Airport Authority of India, Chennai.
A resolution adopted by the council said the move was likely to affect the development of the airport. Moving the resolution, Mayor C. Jayan Babu said placing the airport under the Regional Executive Director, AAI, would be tantamount to downgrading its status. “After the privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports, the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport was under the direct control of AAI, along with Kolkata and Chennai. Shifting administrative control to Chennai is part of a conspiracy,” the Mayor said.
The resolution called on the government to restore the airport to its original status. It was adopted unanimously.
30/10/07 The Hindu

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DIAL cries foul at IGI’s competitor

New Delhi: Alarmed at the swift pace at which the Union government is clearing the decks for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s proposed greenfield international airport at Jewar in Greater Noida. Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) — the joint venture company modernising Delhi’s IGI Airport — has officially told the Civil Aviation Ministry that the move may put the entire expansion project at IGI “in jeopardy” as the two airports are just 68 kilometers away from each other.
DIAL has expressed “deep anxiety” over the possibility of losing out on significant air traffic in case a second airport comes up so close. The JV company has targeted 100 million passengers per year by 2026. DIAL has already committed investments worth Rs 30,000 crore to the project and has told the ministry that the new airport at Jewar could result in diversion of the air traffic from IGI airport.
The company has told the government that not only would this render the working of present Operation Management and Development Agreement (OMDA) which is “totally financially unviable”, the potential loss of revenues due to diversion of traffic would also adversely affect Airports Authority of India (AAI). The airport authority holds a 26 per cent stake in the modernisation of the IGI airport.
30/10/07 Raghvendra Rao/Delhi Newsline

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L&T bags Rs 5k-cr Mumbai airport revamp deal

Mumabi: Engineering and Construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has bagged the master contract for the redevelopment of the Mumbai airport, the largest airport hub in the country, sources close to the development said.
The contract is for the reconstruction of the domestic and international airport building as well as the air-side redevelopment of the Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA). This includes the runway and a new integrated cargo complex among others. The total value of the deal is estimated to be worth over Rs 5,000 crore and a formal agreement is expected to be signed later this week.
The project to redevelop the airport section by section, even as it continues operations, is slated to be among the most complex infrastructure projects undertaken in the world.
L&T is expected to carry out most of the work on its own, except for some technical contracts like baggage handling, electrical and certain mechanical work that maybe sub-contracted to domain experts.
30/10/07 Cuckoo Paul/Economic Times

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Delhi airport gears up for winter fog

New Delhi: With the winter season closing in, Delhi airport authorities have made arrangements for keeping passengers informed about any flight delays due to foggy conditions, as most domestic airlines are not prepared to fly in low visibility.
'We are extensively working on two strategies - first to provide all information regarding flight delays, departures and arrivals to the passengers via media and through personal calls or SMSs,' Andrew Harrison, chief operating officer of the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), said Monday.
'Secondly, we are hiring 60 ground staff officials, who will collect the information from the airlines related to flight timings and will pass it on to the passengers in advance...,' Harrison told reporters.
The official said temporary structures were being built inside the airport premises, which could accommodate nearly 400-500 passengers waiting for their flights.
When asked about those airlines not equipped with the CAT-III instrument that enables planes to land and take off despite visibility as low as 50 metres, Harrison said: 'We have called a meeting with all airlines representatives next week and the matter will discussed thoroughly.'
29/10/07 IANS/Earthtimes, UK

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Indian airport projects likely to be hit: IATA

Latest air transport industry forecast released by International Air Transport Association (IATA) contains some warning signals for India. In its recent airfreight volume forecast for 2011, the premier global body says that the enormous anticipated expansion in India that has fuelled record aircraft orders could be cut short by insufficient airport and air traffic management capacity.
This mismatch between demand and capacity seems to be a local phenomenon, for Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general & CEO, notes, “Parts of the world are effectively managing infrastructure development to anticipate and meet demand – particularly the Middle East and China.”
However, there is good news for India. With 8.3% AAGR, India occupies second slot of the seven Asian countries that feature top ten freight markets. The others are: China (10.8%), India (8.3%), Republic of Korea (8.2%), Vietnam (7.5%), Sri Lanka (6.8%), Pakistan (6.7%) and Malaysia (6.2%).
The Middle East, which is exhibiting rapid developments right now, will see the second highest growth at 5%. The fastest growing Middle Eastern markets are expected to be Qatar (6.9%) and Saudi Arabia (6.2%), the agency said.
According to the forecast, global air transport industry is expected to handle 36 million tonnes of international freight – 7.5 million tonnes more than in 2006.
29/10/07 Agencies/Economic Times

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No need for Noida airport, DIAL tells government

New Delhi: Responding to a cabinet proposal to build a new airport in Jewar, Noida, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), the joint venture that operates Delhi airport, has told the ministry of civil aviation that the expanded capacity of the modernised airport will take care of the entire traffic requirement in the 150-km catchment area around Delhi for the next 20 years. Jewar is 68 km from Delhi airport.
DIAL executives have pointed out that globally, a second airport in such close proximity comes up only when the first one is saturated. Otherwise, a second airport leads to two weak airports as well as huge additional costs in infrastructure development.
Delhi airport is being developed to cater to 100 million passengers a year against a current traffic flow of around 20 million passengers.
The airport is being developed at an investment of Rs 30,000 crore. The traffic and cargo forecast was drawn up for a 150-km catchment area when the bids were placed.
The government owns 26 per cent in DIAL through the Airports Authority of India, with Hyderabad-based GMR holding 50.1 per cent.
29/10/07 Surajeet Das Gupta/Business Standard

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Passengers using Karippur airport form front

Doha: Representatives of passengers using Karippur airport in the Indian State of Kerala have formed a “broader front”, comprising of many Doha-based expatriate forums representing people from areas north of Thrissur district.
This came about at a meeting of the users of Karippur airport, convened by Indian Muslim Cultural Centre (IMCC) at Qatar Malayali Samajam on Saturday.
The new front is named Calicut Gulf Air Passengers Action Committee (Gapac).
The first meeting of the “broader front” will be held on Kerala State formation day on November 1, said the organisers.
President of Indian Cultural and Arts Society (Incas) K K Usman has been elected chairman of Gapac.
Fareed Thikkodi (Thanima) and M Usman were elected convenor and vice-chairman respectively. Faisal Nallalam, Nissar Toufeeq, Ahmed Pathirippatta, Shanavaz, Jaleel, M K Areef, Abdulrahman Purackad, and Anil Kumar are other members.
The chairman said they would co-ordinate with similar forums in other GCC states.
At the meeting on Saturday, a number of passengers spoke of bad experiences at the airport.
29/10/07 Gulf Times, Qatar

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Dabolim should have bigger passenger terminus: Shantaram

Margao: The Rajya Sabha MP from Goa, Mr Shantaram Naik today demanded that Dabolim airport should have a bigger integrated passenger terminus than the one planned.
The planned terminus can cater to not more than 1,000 passengers per day, he added.
Mr Naik said in a statement that the daily traffic at the airport was around 4,000 passengers, Dabolim should have a passenger terminus to cater to at least 3,000 passengers, if on account of constraint of land availability, a bigger terminus cannot be constructed.
The MP said that he has been consistently arguing in the Mopa committee that the Indian Navy has to produce the title documents of the land occupied by them at Dabolim including the land transferred by them to the Airport Authority of India.
28/10/07 Navhind Times

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Calcutta runway closed for repair

Calcutta: The primary runway of Calcutta airport will remain closed during the day till October 31. Flights will take off from and land on the secondary runway during the period.
“The main runway is being closed down between 10.30am and 5.30pm since Saturday for preventive maintenance work,” said a senior airport official. According to airport sources, frequent damage to the runway surface has necessitated the maintenance work.
While the minimum visibility required for a flight to take off from or touch down on the primary runway is 350 metres, the corresponding figure for the secondary runway is 3,000 metres. Jumbo aircraft find it difficult to take off from the secondary runway, which at 2,399 metres is significantly shorter than the main runway (3,627 metres).
On Sunday, the Calcutta-London Air India flight was to take off around 1pm. “But since it is a large plane and the visibility had dropped below 3,000 metres, the repair work had to be stopped to allow the flight take off,” stated the official.
“The primary runway surface is peeling off regularly. Since the runway was operational throughout the day, we could not carry out the maintenance work earlier,” added an official.
Earlier, the runway had been closed down for an hour for patchwork but that proved inadequate.
29/10/07 The Telegraph

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AAI finds fault with MIAL signboards at airport site

Mumbai: The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has objected to the signboards put up on the airport land by Mumbai International Airport (MIAL), a joint venture company that operates Mumbai airport. According to AAI, the signboards suggest that the land jointly belongs to MIAL and AAI. AAI said the land is leased and therefore MIAL does not have the ownership.
MIAL, which is in the middle of rebuilding Mumbai airport, has put up scores of signboards on different parts of the land that reads: ‘This land belongs to Airport Authority of India / Mumbai International Airport Private. Trespassers will be prosecuted.’
The innocuous wordings could have serious implications, say AAI sources. The claim of ownership can be critical as far as the purpose for which land can be used, since the owner of the land has the right to develop the land the way he wants it. But land on lease can be utilised only as per the agreement signed between the lessee and the lessor, and in this case land leased to MIAL can be used only for airport development.
In its 2006 agreement with MIAL, AAI had leased the land for 30 years. What may have perturbed AAI is the possibility that any claim of ownership of land can result into it being used for purposes other than airport development.
29/10/07 M Padmakshan/Econoimic Times

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Bajpe airport now handles 15 domestic services

Mangalore: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Sunday started handling three more daily domestic flight services at Bajpe airport here. In the international sector, the flight between Mangalore and Dubai was increased from five to seven. In all, four flight services were launched on Sunday.
With these, the Kingfisher Airlines has connected Mangalore with all major cities in the west coast region. Mangalore has now got air-connectivity with Mumbai, Goa, Kozhikode, Kochi, and Thiruvananthapuram, apart from Bangalore, in the domestic sector. Kingfisher Airlines introduced flight services between Mangalore and Mumbai and Mangalore and Kochi on Sunday.
Air India Express introduced Kozhikode(Calicut)-Mangalore (domestic) and Mangalore-Dubai (international) service also on Sunday. This is a single flight which takes off from Kozhikode and reaches Dubai via Mangalore. On its return journey to Kozhikode, it again touches Mangalore.
29/10/07 The Hindu/Bellevision

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Cooch Behar airport hope brightens

Cooch Behar: A 48-seater ATR-42 aircraft of Air Deccan landed at Cooch Behar Airport yesterday increasing speculations about the resumption of air service from the airport soon. The aircraft had taken off from Dum Dum with 17 crew members and officials of Air Deccan including the Base Captain, Dum Dum, Mr NC Haldar and two pilots ~ Mr Jose M Pinilla and Mr Sergio Carrasco.
Although no one could say for certain when air service would resume from the airport, Mr Haldar said a detailed report would be submitted to the AAI authorities about yesterday's flight. He expressed hope that air service between Cooch Behar and Kolkata may start from next month. According to the Air Deccan personnel, the runway was good enough for operations. During trial they took off from the airport and landed again successfully. Finally, they flew back to Kolkata around noon.
28/10/07 The Statesman

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Drug haul at Delhi airport

New Delhi: A Canadian was arrested with pure Afghan heroin worth Rs12 crore on Sunday at the Delhi airport.
The seizure by the DRI, reconfirms fears that India is a major global hub for smuggling out heroin produced in Afghanistan.
Josye M Vargas, a bartender in Canada, was to board a Cathay Pacific flight from Delhi to Vancouver at 7.30 am when the DRI officials nabbed him.
DRI officials said both his briefcases had false cavities and they had concealed nearly twelve kilograms of high quality Afghan heroin.
29/10/07 Aditya Kaul/Daily News & Analysis

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Morning flight from Bangalore to Mangalore

Mangalore: Come December, people from Bangalore can rise early and have their cup of coffee or tea in Mangalore.
Similarly, air travellers from Mangalore can have breakfast at Bangalore. And, they can conveniently also have dinner at their respective homes.
A private airliner, which is already operating between Mangalore and Bangalore twice a day, has planned to advance its morning schedule in December, according to sources at Bajpe airport here.
Its morning flight is expected to leave Bangalore at 6 a.m. and arrive in Mangalore at 6.50 a.m. On its return journey, the flight will leave Mangalore at 7.05 a.m. and reach Bangalore at 8 a.m., sources said. At present, the first flight from Bangalore to Mangalore arrives at 9.20 a.m. and departs to Bangalore at 9.35 a.m.
28/10/07 The Hindu/Mangalorean.com

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Anti-Terrorist Drill at Patna Airport Shocks Many

Patna: State's top officials in Patna on Saturday, took the entire law and order machinery by surprise when they conducted a mock anti-terrorist drill at Patna's Jai Prakash International Airport to review the emergency preparedness in the event of an actual such incident.
The exercise that was kept top secret from even some top police officials began at around 11:45 pm when authorities were informed that a plane at the airport tarmac had been hijacked by some criminals demanding the release of one of their comrades from the jail.
Within minutes, armed commandos swooped on the airport with sharpshooters strategically placed to deal with the terrorists. Language experts were also called in to interpret the 'terrorists' demands.
Chief Secretary Afzal Amanullah, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kundan Krishnan, Special Branch, and the Investigation Bureau officials were present at the airport to monitor the entire drill.
27/10/07 Patna Daily

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Govt seeks legal view on GMR's funding for Delhi Airport

New Delhi: Questioning the advance that GMR Group is seeking from commercial developers for space at the Delhi Airport, the government has sought legal opinion on the funding structure for the Rs 9,000 crore modernisation plan.
The Civil Aviation Ministry has approached the Law Ministry on the Rs 50 crore per acre sought by GMR-led Delhi International Airport Private Ltd (DIAL) for 45 acre of commercial space as 8-10 per cent lease rental, a move aimed at raising Rs 2,250 crore.
When contacted, ministry sources confirmed the move while indicating reservation on the quantum of advance that could come in the way of higher rental.
The issue, if not cleared at the earliest could impact the financial closure of the project targeted to be completed ahead of Commonwealth Games in 2010.
When contacted, a spokesperson for GMR said it has asked for clearance of the master plan as also the funding structure which is as per Operation, Management and Development Agreement, a deal document signed between Airports Authority of India (AAI) and GMR for the project that would scale up the airport's capacity to handle 35 million passengers a year.
28/10/07 PTI/Economic Times

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Sikhs welcome TSA turban rule change

Washington: The modification in the rules regarding security made by the Transportation Security Administration to correct the policy of indiscriminate screening of Sikhs' turbans at American airports has been largely welcomed by the US Sikhs.
The TSA announced an adjustment of its screening policies for headwear which included Turbans. Now, the airport screeners will no longer 'pat down' Sikhs wearing turbans and they will have the choice to go through alternative security measures.
Alternatives may include walking through a machine that detects explosive chemicals. Or Sikhs could agree to pat down their own turbans, and then have their hands swabbed with a cloth that is tested for chemical residue.
27/10/07 Daljit Singh/World Sikh News, US

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Metro link between old, new airports

Mumbai: A Metro rail link is being planned between the upcoming Navi Mumbai airport at Panvel and the old domestic and international terminals for the benefit of air passengers and commuters.
MMRDA commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad said the new link, planned by Cidco and his agency, would run along the second line of the Metro’s Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd route. "There will be a new link from Mankhurd to Navi Mumbai. The distance from Mankhurd to Navi Mumbai airport is estimated to be 20 km," said Gaikwad.
MMRDA officials said the extra 20 km from Mankhurd to Panvel would be planned as a separate project and the survey for it might be done by RITES. These will be combined at a later stage.
This is being done as planning for the Metro’s Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd line is almost complete, said officials.
A small link has already been planned from Santa Cruz airport to Bandra-Kurla Complex to meet the Metro line. This will allow passengers to alight at the terminal and go directly to the Panvel airport.
The officials stated that while the financial details were yet to worked out, the extra bill could run up to Rs 1,200 crore-Rs 1,500 crore.
28/10/07 Ashley D’Mello/Times of India

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End AI, Indian monopoly, allow more foreign carriers from Kozhikode: JD(S)

Kozhikode: The Civil Aviation Ministry should allow more private airlines to operate to foreign destinations from the Karipur international airport here to end the 'monopoly' of Air India and Indian, MP and Janata Dal(S) Kerala unit President, M P Veerendrakumar said on Saturday.
"A severe injustice continues to be perpetrated on the hapless people of North Kerala. It is only just and fair that their demand for a larger bouquet of private services to foreign destinations be met," he said in a letter to Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Praful Patel.
Stating that the 'monopoly' enjoyed by Air India and Indian had resulted in tardy services, the JD(S) leader said the recent permission to private operators to fly from Coimbatore to destinations abroad "has compounded the unrest".
While Coimbatore attracted only 1,033 international passengers in March 2007, Calicut had 78,343 passengers during the period. "It is even more shocking that though Calicut attracts more passengers than even Calcutta and Ahmedabad, no private airline is allowed to operate to foreign destinations from Karipur," Veerendrakumar said.
27/10/07 PTI/Economic Times

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Navy should not make Goa Govt beg for Dabolim land: Naik

Panaji: Indian Navy should not make state government and Airport Authority of India go with a begging bowl before them for land to expand Dabolim airport in south Goa district, a Congress MP said here.
"The land actually belongs to the Government of Goa and the Indian Navy has not produced any deed of transfer of it when it was taken over during Goa liberation in 1961," Rajya Sabha member Shantaram Naik, who is member of state committee looking into feasibility of new airport in Goa, said on Saturday.
With serious doubts being raised on proposed international airport at Mopa in north Goa, the state government is following up their plans of Dabolim airport expansion which can accommodate more traffic.
After an intense agitation opposing Mopa airport in the state, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had constituted a committee headed by state Chief Minister to decide on the issue.
27/10/07 PTI/The Hindu

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Coimbatore Airport to get a new look

Coimbatore: The Airport Authority of India has given its approval for modification and expansion of the Coimbatore Airport terminal buildings at an outlay of Rs. 78 crore. The project, to be implemented in two years, will give the airport a new look and a host of new facilities.
Airport Director K. Hemalatha confirmed the approval and said the project would include installation of two new aerobridges, elevators/escalators and a conveyor belt to carry baggage. At present the airport does not have an aerobridge and passengers have to walk through the tarmac/apron and climb the passenger step ladder (PSL) vehicle to get onto the flight. Aerobridges take the passengers straight into the flight from the terminal building. Aerobridges will also help reduce human or vehicle movement on the tarmac.
Efforts are on to get feeder conveyors that will feed the luggage onto the conveyor directly after weighing it. Customs counters will be fully refurbished and there will be adequate space for new facilities such as customs duty paid shop and foreign exchange counters.
28/10/07 V.S. Palaniappan/The Hindu

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Airport mishap: police identify 'killer' vehicle

New Delhi :A heavy vehicle that mowed down a woman engineer near a runway at the capital's domestic airport was identified Friday, but police are still to ascertain the identity of the driver.
"We have zeroed in on a vehicle which ran over Sansriti Sinha, an engineer with private airlines Air Deccan late Monday, after tyre marks of the vehicle completely matched with those found on the victim's body," a senior police official told IANS.
"We are trying to ascertain the identity of the driver, who was behind the wheels at the time of the accident. The accused could be arrested any moment as verification of details is underway," the official added.
However, the official refused to divulge the make of the vehicle and also to which airlines it belonged. Sansriti, a 28-year-old aeronautical engineer, was allegedly run over by a heavy vehicle while she was moving towards the hangar area to attend to some technical requirements of an aircraft late Monday.
26/10/07 IANS/Bihar Times

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Walking on apron in Delhi airport banned

New Delhi: In view of the recent accidents inside the Delhi airport, including that in which a woman employee of Air Deccan who was found dead on Monday night, the Civil Aviation Ministry on Friday reviewed safety and security measures on the airside of the Indira Gandhi International Airport here.
The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation announced that from Friday walking on the apron on the taxiway of the airport would be strictly prohibited.
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Joint Secretary (Civil Aviation) K.N. Srivastava and representatives of the DGCA, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, the Central Industrial Security Force and the Airports Authority of India.
“There was consensus at the meeting for stricter enforcement of all rules and regulations. It has also been decided that violators would be strictly punished and they would even lose their right to enter the airport,” Mr. Srivastava said.
The Ministry had passed strict instructions regarding the security aspects of activities on the airside such as vehicular movement, storage or placement of ground-handling equipment as well as movement of personnel within the area.
27/10/07 The Hindu

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'Malabar hartal' hits normal life in north Kerala

Kannur: The Indian Union Muslim League sponsored 'Malabar Hartal' to prtoest the Centre's alleged neglect of Kozhikode international airport began on Saturday, hitting normal life in northern Kannur and Kasaragod districts.
The hartal affected vehicular movement, with all modes of public transport keeping off the roads. A majority of traders downed their shutters in the two districts.
The day-long hartal partially hit the functioning of government offices and banks with the employees finding it difficult to report for work, as buses including the state run KSRTC vehicles kept off the roads.
27/10/07 PTI/The Hindu

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CIAL announces winter schedule

Kochi: Cochin International Airport Ltd. (CIAL) announced on Thursday its winter schedule with a projected growth rate of 30 per cent in aircraft and passenger movements. The schedule will come into force on Sunday and continue till March 29, 2008.
The number of services from the airport will increase from 370 to 438, an increase of 19 per cent.
There will be nine daily services to Bangalore, eight to Mumbai, seven to Chennai, six to Hyderabad, four each to Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram, one each to Agatti and Kozhikode and two services a day each to Mangalore and Goa.
Kingfisher Airlines will operate the most number of services out of Kochi, 69 a week, followed by Jet Airways with 56 weekly services. Air Deccan will operate 42 a week, Indian 25, Indigo and Paramount Airways 21 each, Spice Jet and JetLite 14 each and Go Air seven.
Air India Express, Indian and Air India will operate the most number of international services this winter, with 43, 34 and 13 services a week, respectively. Among the foreign airlines, SriLankan Airlines will operate the most number of services with 11 weekly services.
Air Arabia and Emirates will operate 10 weekly services each. Oman Air, Silk Air and Qatar Airways will operate seven weekly services each. Kuwait Airways, Gulf Air and Etihad Airways will operate five services each a week. Mahan Air, Saudi Arabian Airlines and Tiger Airways will operate three weekly services each.
A significant inclusion in the winter schedule is the launch of operations by the Singapore-based budget carrier Tiger Airways. Besides, Mahan Air will operate to Tehran rather than Bander Abbas.
27/10/07 The Hindu

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Indian air traffic controllers to train in US

New Delhi: Indian air traffic controllers (ATCs) will get an opportunity to train in the US, thanks to initiatives launched by the two countries to ramp up their ties in the civil aviation sector. Read On >>

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CIAL and State IT Mission to join hands

Kochi: Cochin International Airport Ltd. (CIAL) and the State IT Mission will come together to promote growth in their respective sectors, Shriram Bharath, Managing Director of CIAL, said here on Thursday.
At a press conference, Mr. Bharath said an informal understanding had been reached between them.
The mission’s objective of promoting the growth of IT and related industry in the State go hand in hand with the airport’s goal of wooing more airlines and passengers, he said.
The hypothesis behind the association is that the growth of IT industry will lead to an influx of IT professionals and those from related areas to Kochi and other parts of the State, which the airport can exploit to its advantage. Besides, it will also benefit the company’s own information technology park, he said.
Mr. Bharath recollected how the airlines asked for a potential passenger base while he approached them for connectivity to Europe and America from Kochi.
27/10/07 The Hindu

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Airline staffer was hit by jeep: Cops

New Delhi: Police have failed to make much headway in the investigations into the mysterious death of an Air Deccan senior technician. The only thing that they have ascertained is 29-year-old Sansruti Sinha was hit by a jeep.
Forensic experts who conducted the autopsy have said the nature of injuries point to the involvement of a jeep. The tyre mark on the body also backs this theory. "The first and maximum impact was on the ribs which suffered multiple fractures. Only a jeep can hit a person that way.
She fell on impact and her head was crushed by a tyre. About 15 airport vehicles seized by the police were examined by forensic experts, but in vain. Also, no airport staffer has been reported suddenly missing from work.
26/10/07 Times of India

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Airport tower on city radar

Kolkata: It evolved on the drawing board in Paris. And for Kolkata's sooty skyline, it should work wonders.
"Airports de Paris, the French architect firm that had designed Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, has created a fabulous air traffic control tower (ATC) for Kolkata airport. In years ahead, it will be an iconic piece of architecture," said Airports Authority of India member (planning) V P Agrawal.
The torch-shaped tower with a 36-metre-plus semi-spiralling concrete base will be crowned with a four-level steel and glass cylinder. The four walls of the base is so designed that it twists clockwise to impart a circular feel. Through its centre will run the horizontal elevator shafts, allowing access to the control centre atop the tower.
To be located next to the cargo section beyond the abandoned international terminal, it is expected to create an identity of its own. "It will be located at the extreme northern end, away from the administrative building, current ATC and domestic and integrated terminals," airport director V K Monga said.
While all air controllers - those handling surface movement as well as those monitoring movement in the air - are currently located in an uncharacteristic eight storey building block housed between the domestic terminal and the administrative building, only controllers overseeing ground movement will shift to the new tower, creating a clear distinction between the two operations.
26/10/07 Subhro Niyogi/Times of India

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Guwahati airport may act as hub between India & SE Asia

New Delhi: In a bid to give a boost to tourism in the north-eastern region, the government is planning to develop Guwahati airport as a hub for air connectivity to South East Asia and provide links to destinations such as Bangkok, Kathmandu and Dhaka.
The busiest airport in the north-east region, Guwahati airport figures among the 35 non-metro airports identified by the civil aviation ministry for modernisation. With an investment of Rs 200 crore, modernisation work at Guwahati airport also known as Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport is expected to complete by 2009.
“Guwahati need to be made hub for operations to south east Asia by connecting it major cities such as Kathmandu and Bangkok in the region,” the tourism ministry said in a proposal to the ministry of civil aviation. The civil aviation ministry has earmarked an investment of Rs 40,000 crore for modernisation work of 35 non-metro airports across the country during the Eleventh Five-year Plan. The government also plans to invest close to Rs 1,410 crore for the development of other non-metro airports including aerodromes in the north-east region.
26/10/07 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

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Land hurdle for Bagdogra airport expansion

Siliguri: The difference of opinion between the Airports Authority of India and the Darjeeling district administration over the modalities of providing some 50-acre land for the construction of a new airport terminal building at Bagdogra has stalled the much-talked-about augmentation process of the airport.
While the AAI wants the state government to provide the land free of cost, the district administration has clarified that the 50-acre land would have to be purchased.
Owing to this deadlock, even after almost one-year of availing the necessary clearance from the Indian Air Force for the new terminal, the AAI has so far failed to initiate the construction of the proposed terminal building.
The 50-acre land in question, identified for the new terminal building, currently lies under the possession of the Bagdogra Tea Estate and the area is covered by tea plantation.
25/10/07 Bappaditya Paul/The Statesman

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Aviation secy inspects Mopa

Panjim: With the issue of two airports for Goa hotting up, Union Secretary for Civil Aviation Ashok Chawla is on a brief visit to the State.
Chawla who arrived on Thursday evening inspected the proposed site for the Mopa international airport and is also likely to hold a series of meetings with officials from the Navy and the Airport Authority of India (AAI), Dabolim.
The civil aviation secretary is also likely to meet Chief Secretary J P Singh on Friday.
Chawla when contacted said he was not willing to comment on the airport issue.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that the committee constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to study the issues pertaining to Dabolim and Mopa airports has been granted a further extension till December 31.
25/10/07 Herald Publications

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GMR to bid for airport projects in East Europe

New Delhi: After winning the contract for modernising Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SGA) at Istanbul in Turkey, the Hyderabad-based GMR Group is now planning to bid for airport projects in Belgium, Portugal and other east European countries.
The company would bid for these projects either with private equity firms or local real estate developers. “GMR group companies are studying the various infrastructural projects in the region. We are in the process of identifying the right projects,” a source told ET.
As GMR has already made its presence felt in Europe by bagging the Istanbul airport contract, it is now looking at nearby countries. These countries are expected to open airport operations for private players shortly.
It would, however, be very careful in choosing its bidding partner. Interestingly, GMR and Fraport are both part of the consortium that is developing the Delhi airport, bid for the Istanbul project separately.
26/10/07 Nirbhay Kumar & Subhash Narayan/Economic Times

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One airport, many names!

Cooch Behar: Although air service is yet to resume from the Cooch Behar Airport, several organisations have started fighting over its name.
The Greater Cooch Behar People's Association wants the airport to be named after the last king of Cooch Behar State ~ Maharaja Jagaddipendra Narayan. GCPA leader Mr Pabitra Barman said the Maharaja was very popular and very kind hearted too.
The Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party, on the other hand, wants the airport to be named after Chilarai. Chilarai was a great hero of Cooch Behar royal family. He was famous for his courage and might.
Forward Bloc and its youth wing wants the airport to be named after late Kamal Guha. Guha was the chairman of the Forward Bloc's Bangla committee and the general secretary of the party's Cooch Behar district unit.
District Trinamul Congress president Mr Rabindra Nath Ghosh, meanwhile, said they sent a memorandum to the Union civil aviation minister, Mr Praful Patel, last week, demanding naming of Cooch Behar Airport after Maharaja Nripendra Narayan.
25/10/07 The Statesman

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Carriers loath to ceding ground

New Delhi: Private airlines have asked the government for permission to partly retain ground handling facilities even after the new policy comes into effect in 2009.
The new ground handling policy allows only three agencies - the airport operator, subsidiary companies of Air India, Indian or their JVs, and any other ground handling service provider selected through competitive bidding on a revenue sharing basis - to conduct ground handling services after January 1, 2009.
These restrictions would be in place across six metro airports - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
In a meeting chaired by the civil aviation secretary Ashok Chawla, CEOs of private airlines have sought permission to retain ground handling activities at least till the customer checks in. But the airlines’ plea is unlikely to be accepted just yet.
Once the policy comes into effect, functions such as loading, unloading and delivery of baggage from the aircraft; cabin cleaning; delivery of passengers from terminal to tarmac and vice-versa - all of these would go out of the private airlines’ purview.
26/10/07 Sindhu Bhattacharya/Daily News & Analysis

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Dubai - Angry airline passengers to take legal action

Dubai - Irate airline passengers said yesterday that that they are planning legal action against Indian Airlines for repeatedly cancelling flights from Kerala to the UAE.
The All India Airport Users' Forum (AIAUF) allege that the airline has been irresponsible and caused losses to commuters. "Many passengers’ visas have expired due to sudden cancellation and delayed schedules of flights from Calicut airport. Many people have lost their jobs as they could not report back to duty on time. During the past year 55 flights were cancelled and many more were delayed over ten hours," said KM Basheer, General Secretary, of Sharjah-based AIAUF.
Basheer added that legal action was their only course of action. Indian Airlines officials in Calicut said yesterday that the number of cancelled flights stated by the forum was exaggerated.
26/10/07 7DAYS, United Arab Emirates

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Most AAI staff spurn Delhi airport co offer

New Delhi: Only 9 per cent of the over 2,300 employees of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) working in Delhi airport have opted for a voluntary scheme to join the GMR group-promoted Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), the public-private joint venture that is modernising the airport.
This is despite the fact that the AAI employees who joined the new company, according to DIAL, have received an average 75 per cent salary increase based on a scheme that was offered to all the employees at the start of this year. The average age of those who accepted the offer is between 30 and 35.
Confirming the development, a DIAL spokesperson said: “Only 155-odd AAI employees who were in AAI are now working for DIAL.” AAI did not release the rest who accepted the offer.
The spokesperson added that the contract with AAI required DIAL to make the offer to 60 per cent of the employees by May 2009, but the company extended the offer to all employees this year.
26/10/07 Surajeet Das Gupta/Business Standard

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Tarmac death: 15 vehicles under lens

New Delhi: The death of a senior technician with Air Deccan at the Palam airport on Monday night remains shrouded in mystery with the police failing to identify the vehicle and its driver even 48 hours after the "accident".
The police have zeroed in on at least 15 vehicles which might have caused the incident. These vehicles were examined by forensic experts on Wednesday to ascertain if any blood stain had been removed from them but even this has not yielded any breakthrough yet. Forensic officials said though that it would take them about three days to complete the examination.

_________________________
Rs 500 for hit-and-run

New Delhi/Patna: The killer vehicle
that mowed down young Sansrity
Sinha in Delhi airport on Monday
night could get away by paying
Rs 500.It could be even
less — Rs 100.Under traffic rules
framed by the Airports Authority
of India, the speed limit within the
restricted area at Delhi airport is
15kmph. The penalty for exceeding
the limit ranges from Rs 100
for a first offence to Rs 500 for
second-time offenders.Outside,
on Delhi roads, the minimum fine
for traffic rule violators is Rs 600.
24/10/07 Mandira Nayar and Nalin
Verma/The Telegraph
________________________

The autopsy report which said that it seemed to be a case of vehicular accident has also mentioned that the tyre marks on the body suggested a ‘single tyre' vehicle. This means that victim Sansruti Sinha was probably hit by either a car or a jeep and not any bus or truck.
Sansruti, who was to get married soon, was found lying dead on the E taxiway at the airport around 10 pm on Monday. Her head was crushed and she also had multiple fractures in the body.
The police, however, have ruled out the theory that this could have been a murder as had been suggested by some relatives of the victim.
The police have questioned more than 200 people, mostly drivers, employed at the airport. Strangely, nobody saw Sansruti being hit. There were about 60 vehicles in operation on and around the runway when the incident took place. Sansruti was walking towards the hangar to examine an Air Deccan aircraft when she was hit by a vehicle.
In Patna, Sansruti's body was cremated at Gulbi Ghat on Wednesday morning. Apart from family members and relatives, several Air Deccan officials were present to bid her a final farewell.
The family is still not convinced that Sansruti was not murdered, and the delay in identifying the culprits has only made them more suspicious.
25/10/07 Times of India

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No headway in airport technician`s death, family demands CBI probe

New Delhi/Patna: Investigations into a woman engineer's death Monday near a runway of the capital's domestic airport failed to make any progress Wednesday, and her family in Patna demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe.
"We are minutely inspecting all vehicles operating inside the airport, with the help of forensic experts. But the vehicle which ran over Sanskriti Sinha, an engineer with private airlines Air Deccan, has not been traced yet," Joint Commissioner of Police (Operations) Aditya Arya told a news agency.
"Since Tuesday we have checked over 50 vehicles. Neither the vehicle nor any suspect has been identified. It's a strenuous work and our teams are working on it," Arya added.
Sanskriti, a 28-year-old aeronautical engineer, was allegedly run over by a heavy vehicle while she was moving towards the hangar area to attend to some technical requirements of an aircraft late Monday. Her body was found with her head completely crushed.
"Her post-mortem report has revealed that she was crushed under a heavy vehicle as there were wheel marks on her head and body. It could be a planned accident so we are investigating the case form all possible angles," Arya said.
24/10/07 Zee News

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Kanpur airport security beefed up after terror threat

Kanpur: Security at Kanpur airport has been intensified after officials received a letter threatening to blow up the complex when the Pakistan cricket team arrives in Kanpur next month.
Airport officials received a handwritten letter signed by someone who called himself Noor Baqsh about five days ago, but chose to keep quiet until senior district officials made it public Tuesday evening.
"We are trying to track down the source of the letter, which makes it loud and clear that the intent of the terrorist outfit is to arouse communal passions and escalate tensions between India and Pakistan," Kanpur senior superintendent of police Rajeev Sabharwal told IANS.
The Pakistan cricket team is scheduled to visit this Uttar Pradesh city for a one-day international (ODI) Nov 11.
Sabharwal has already held closed-door meetings with top officials of the airport authority and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) entrusted with security of airports across the country.
24/10/07 Indo-Asian News Service

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Shah Rukh Khan faces extra airport security checks

Mumbai: Top Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan says his Muslim surname gets him put through extra security checks outside India, particularly at London's Heathrow airport, a newspaper reported Wednesday.
Khan said in the Mumbai-based DNA newspaper that in the past his name was recognized overseas, and he easily cleared his own and his movie crew's baggage.
However, due to tighter security his Hindu assistant is now able to clear his bags faster the Khan could, the newspaper said.
"These days I am the one who is stopped so ... he carries my bags," the actor was quoted as saying. "Internationally, if you have a Muslim surname you might be considered a terrorist."
24/10/07 The Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, France

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Shutdown in Malabar on Oct 27 to highlight passengers' plight

Kozhikode: The Indian Union Muslim League in Kerala on Wednesday gave a call for a shutdown in the Malabar region on October 27 to draw the authorities attention to the various problems faced by the passengers at the Karipur international airport here.
"The dawn-to-dusk hartal will be observed in the districts of Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Malappuram and Palakkad," league state general secretary P K Kunhalikutty told reporters.
Stating that Gulf-bound passengers, in particular, were put to hardship due to frequent cancellation and rescheduling of flights, he said many of them had even ended up losing their jobs on account of it.
The League wanted the authorities concerned to attend to the grievances immediately and treat the airport on par with other international airports, Kunhalikutty said.
24/10/07 PTI/Economic Times

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Law firm caught in GMR, govt face-off

The civil aviation ministry has taken strong exception to Amarchand Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co., one of the India’s leading corporate law firms, offering legal advice to GMR Infrastructure Ltd and GVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd, companies that lead the consortia modernizing airports at New Delhi and Mumbai, respectively.
That’s because New Delhi-based Amarchand Mangaldas was contracted by the government to prepare the legal contracts and other documentation as part of the privatization of the Delhi and Mumbai airports early last year.
As part of that contract, said two senior government officials familiar with the process and did not want to be identified, Amarchand Mangaldas cannot provide legal services to any bidder in the airports privatization until May.
In what is the latest development in the spat between the government and the GMR-led Delhi International Airport Ltd or DIAL over restructuring of business at the Capital’s airport, the ministry now plans to complain to the Bar Council of India over what it calls a breach of contract and professional misconduct on part of Amarchand Mangaldas.
A civil aviation ministry official said it has been advised by the law ministry that it was “ethical misconduct” on part of the Amarchand Mangaldas to represent “both parties to a contract at different stages.”
25/10/07 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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Lucknow airport to get Rs 137-cr terminal building

Lucknow: The Airport Authority of India (AAI) is all set to start construction of the Rs 137-crore integrated terminal building for domestic and international flights at the Lucknow airport. The construction work has been awarded to Brahamaputra Consortium Ltd, a Delhi-based agency, with an 18-month deadline.
Airport Director S D Awasthi said, “The integrated terminal will have modern facilities, comparable to any airport in the country. Along with providing best infrastructure, public convenience would be the top priority. Some works like setting up of cyber cafe, ATMs and restaurants would soon begin.”
“The work on upgradation of apron area has began, so that the airport could accommodate more aircraft at a time. AAI is also contemplating a proposal to increase the runway length,” an official said. The runway length of the airport at present is around 9,000 feet, which is being proposed to be increased to 11,000 feet.
25/10/07 Deepak Pandey/Lucknow Newsline

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Now, Diwali deadline for Cooch Behar Airport revival

Cooch Behar: The much-awaited resumption of air service from Cooch Behar Airport may become a reality before Diwali. Cooch Behar Airport sources said trial flight would be conducted on 27 October. The district administration officials, however, are keeping mum on the issue. The Cooch Behar Airport is almost ready for resumption of air service. Air Deccan, a reputed airliner, has already expressed its interest to conducting flights between Cooch Behar and Kolkata. They conveyed their willingness to the Airport Authority of India recently.
A special training has begun for security personnel at the airport from 22 October. The training would go on till 1 November. Air Deccan authority and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security have taken the initiative to provide required training to selected security personnel.
Twenty-eight policemen and five Air Deccan men are undergoing training. They may be deployed for security of the airport after resumption of air service from this airport, a senior police official, said.
24/10/07 The Statesman

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Central clearance for greenfield airports may go

New Delhi: The Government plans to do away with the mandatory approval of the Central Government for setting up greenfield airports. An inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) set up to recommend principles, guidelines and licensing conditions for greenfield airports has recommended that mandatory approval for such airports not be required except in special cases.
``If a greenfield airport is to come up within a 150 km radius of an existing airport or the proposed airport would be in a defence airfield then it would still need to be cleared by the Centre. Otherwise the promoter can approach the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the greenfield airport would be operational after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) gives the licence,” a senior Government official said.
At present any proposal for setting up of an airport requires to be cleared by the Union Cabinet. The draft proposals would need to be cleared by the Committee on Infrastructure and the Union Cabinet before it can be implemented.
The work connected with providing air traffic services, security, customs and immigration among others at these greenfield airports would continue to be carried out by Central agencies.
An official statement issued on Tuesday adds that State Governments wanting to set up greenfield airports can do so themselves, through any of their designated entities or through a joint venture company. The draft proposals adds that the State Government could consider granting land (concessional or otherwise), real estate development rights, airport connectivity and fiscal concessions to such an airport company. The selection of a private party is to be done through competitive bidding, the committee has said.
The policy has suggested that the preferred route for development of greenfield airports by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) be through the public-private-partnership route and be substantially financed through PPP concessions.
23/10/07 Business Line

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Sanskriti's death: Loopholes in investigations

New Delhi: Mystery shrouds the death of the Air Deccan employee who was found dead on the tarmac of New Delhi airport on Monday night. Police has so far not ruled out any foul play but the whole investigation process has been full of loopholes.
According to the theory of the airport officials, the maintenance technician, Sanskriti Sinha reportedly died after being hit by a vehicle when she was heading towards the hangar area to attend to some engineering requirements at an aircraft. Her head was completely crushed in the mishap.
Police are also probing media reports that she died of injuries sustained due to jet blast from an aircraft which was taking off.
Sanskriti's death was reported to the ATC by a pilot of Spice Jet, readying for take-off.
A statement issued by Air Deccan says the incident appears to be a case of hit-and-run. But DGCA’s statement seems to have deepened the mystery which says that some of the marks on her body could have been caused before her death.
Sanskriti's post mortem was conducted in the Safdarjung Hospital. Medical Superintendent Jagdish Prasad said that her heart was damaged and spleen ruptured. Her vital organs had stopped functioning soon after she was hit by the vehicle. This indicates that either she was hit by a very heavy vehicle or a by a high-speed vehicle.
A team of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory also inspected the spot where the body was found and said there were tyre marks near the body.
Entry to the tarmac area inside the airport is restricted. That means there should have been a check on every person who enters or leaves. And yet, hours after the incident, police haven't detained any suspects.
24/10/07 Sahara Samay

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A clear case of accident: Deccan

New Delhi/Patna: Small-town girl Sansrity Sinha’s hopes of making it big in the booming aviation sector came to a gory end on the Delhi airport tarmac last night, days before she was to be engaged.
The 25-year-old aeronautical engineer, found dead in the technical area with her head crushed, was probably knocked down by a vehicle in an increasingly congested airport, sources privy to the post-mortem said.
This morning’s post-mortem suggested a hit-and-run. “She died instantly as her head was crushed. What kind of vehicle knocked her down, and whether she was hit from the front or behind, will only be revealed later,” a source close to the investigation said.
Sansrity’s mother Sheela Kumari Ambastha was inconsolable at the family’s home in Patna.
Sheela, principal of B.N. Collegiate School, and husband Arun Kumar Sinha, professor of psychology at a local college, had been getting their house painted for their youngest daughter’s wedding. They would have left for Delhi in a couple of days for her engagement with a Bangalore-based Wipro engineer.
At Delhi airport, rumours swirled the whole day around the mystery death in the high-security area, some claiming Sansrity might have been run over by an aircraft and some speculating about murder and a love angle.
Deccan officials, conducting their own inquiry, said it was “a clear case of accident”.
The young woman, a former student of Patna’s St Joseph Convent, had graduated from the Indian Institute of Aeronautics in her hometown. Teachers and friends described her as a “brilliant student full of energy and vigour”.
She took up the Deccan job a year ago.
23/10/07 Mandira Nayar and Nalin Verma/The Telegraph

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Cops say accident, kin raise doubt

New Delhi: A day after Air Deccan employee Sanskriti Sinha died after being hit by a vehicle on the tarmac, the police called it a case of accident.
A case of rash and negligent driving has been registered against unknown vehicle. “So far, it does not look like a case of murder, though we are not ruling anything out,” Joint Commissioner (Operations) Aditya Arya said. “The vehicle that hit her could have either been a cab used by airline staff, or buses ferrying passengers.”
He said the police are also not ruling out the possibility that an aircraft hit Sinha.
Sinha’s colleagues, security personnel and airline staff are being interrogated. An officer said since her parents were arranging Sinha’s marriage, the probe would also look at possibilities of “one-sided love affair”.
The accident, police said, occurred at 9.56 pm — the time at which Sinha’s watch stopped working under the impact. It left her head crushed and neck dislocated. Police said there are injuries on chest and legs also.
The postmortem was done at Safdarjung Hospital last night.
Air Deccan spokeswoman Vijaya Menon confirmed that Sinha was wearing night-vision reflector jacket at the time. And that’s one point eating the victim’s relatives.
Airline officials said it is not unusual for senior maintenance staff to go to the tarmac alone.
24/10/07 Expressindia.com

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AAI Assistant Manager hit on Delhi airport runway critical

New Delhi: It was distraught Dussehra for Omprakash Kumar’s family on Sunday. Two days on, the Airports Authority of India assistant manager (mechanical training) is battling for life at a city hospital after being hit on the international airport tarmac by a motorcycle.
CISF Inspector S S Rana was riding the motorcycle that hit Omprakash, 55, on a lane near the runway, at 7.50 pm on Sunday.
The victim received grave injuries on head and spine and is in ICU. His family members today claimed Rana was speeding, and was drunk, when the incident occurred.

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See Also:
Mysterious death of Woman Engineer at airport
____________________

Son Pravesh Kumar, 23, also blamed CISF and Delhi Police for their “high-handed behaviour” and taking the case lightly, for the accused is a CISF official. Omprakash, Pravesh said, recently got promoted to senior superintendent.
According to the victim’s colleagues, who did not want to be named, the accused was not examined to check if he was inebriated, for Rana had sustained injuries on his face and upper body. CISF, though, says Rana was neither inebriated nor was he violating any speed rule.
24/10/07 Neha Sinha/Expressindia.com

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Passenger assault inside airport

Calcutta: A software engineer was allegedly assaulted by a CISF official at Calcutta airport this morning for protesting against his wife’s harassment.
Jyotirendra Ghosh, 33, and Ananya were scheduled to take a Kingfisher Airlines flight to Hyderabad. They mistakenly left the luggage trolley near the check-in counter when a jawan allegedly told Ananya: “Am I your father’s servant that you have left the trolley here?”
When Ananya protested, he abused her. “The jawan screamed at my husband when he told the man to behave,” Ananya said.
CISF official Shanti Swaroop emerged from a glass cubicle, allegedly caught hold of Jyotirendra’s collar and dragged him in. Ananya said he locked the door from inside and hit him with three others.
Ananya said she was weeping while her husband was being assaulted. “Other passengers in the lounge came to my aid and started banging on the glass door. It was flung open and Swaroop told Jyotirendra to leave,” she added from Hyderabad tonight.
23/10/07 The Telegraph

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Air India flight makes emergency landing

New Delhi: A Tokyo-bound Air India plane with about 100 people on board landed here on Tuesday in an emergency condition after it developed some hydraulic problems, but no one was injured.
The flight from Mumbai developed some hydraulic problems following which the pilot made an emergency landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport at around 5 pm, they said.
The flight had a scheduled stop-over at Delhi, they said, adding the engineers will decide whether the same flight will continue its journey towards Tokyo after necessary maintenance.
23/10/07 PTI/The Hindu

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Destination Bangalore for foreigners

Bangalore:Industry observers say that Bangalore could before long become the gateway to India.
As per the air traffic figures provided by Airports Authority of India (AAI), Bangalore reported a 40% growth in international passenger traffic in the one year between September 2006 and August 2007. That's the highest in the country and more than double the all India average growth of 16%. Hyderabad was the next highest at 19%.
Bangalore's overall growth (including domestic and international air traffic) was 38%, the highest among all the major metros and well above the country's average of 28%.
"Bangalore is the most exciting aviation market at the moment and in the days ahead the city will continue to see very high growth figures, of about 40%, as both domestic and international airlines look to make the city their hub," says Kapil Kaul, CEO (India) of Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA).
TOI had reported earlier that the country's full service carriers Air-India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher are looking to make Bangalore as the gateway city to the US.
CAPA estimates that once the new Greenfield BIAL airport becomes operational next March, Bangalore would witness phenomenal passenger growth ranging between 40% and 50%.
24/10/07 Times of India

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Airlines wary of Patna airport

Patna: Even though major airports of the country are finding it hard to handle the increasing number of flights, the Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport, Patna, is handling just eight flights a day against its capacity to handle over 60 flights a day.
The irony becomes more pronounced as the state passengers are still deprived of direct flights to many important destinations like Bangalore and Hyderabad despite the fact that the Patna airport, which functions 16 hours a day, has four bays.
According to sources in the airline industry, the operators are averse to introducing new flights to the city despite availability of passengers mainly due to the failure of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to provide sufficient length of runway. This problem becomes acute during summer when, due to increased temperature, the air gets thinner forcing the aircraft to go for more runs to get the same amount of propulsion. The airlines also keep many seats vacant due to short length of the runway here.
The physical length of the runway is 7,500 feet but the maximum landing distance available is 6,330 feet only.
Accepting this constraint, AAI Patna director Atul Dikshit told TOI that the present location of the airport did not allow the authority to do much with the Patna zoo located on one side and a railway track on the other.
24/10/07 Sanjeev Kumar Verma/Times of India

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AAI to begin second phase work of Thiruvananthapuram terminal soon

Thiruvananthapuram: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has decided to take up the Rs.80.58-crore second phase work of the world class international terminal complex of the Thiruvananthapuram airport soon.
The work on the Rs.165-crore first phase, which includes Rs.115-crore terminal building, apron and car park, is progressing as per schedule and is slated for commissioning in December 2008.
“Rather than waiting to complete the first phase in September 2008, we have decided to take up the second phase work on the Chakka side simultaneously and to complete the Rs.245.58-crore terminal project at one go,” Airport Director N. Nagraj said.
The plan was to commence the second phase work in September 2008 and to complete it in 2010.
AAI Executive Director (Engineering) V.K. Choudhari is in the city to hold talks with the authorities and the consultant of the project to find out the feasibility.
24/10/07 S. Anil Radhakrishnan/The Hindu

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GMR forays into aviation training

The GMR group, with three airports under its sway, is entering the fastest growing area of aviation training with an investment of Rs 450 crore. Read On >>

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Rs. 11 lakh seized from air passengers

Chennai: Customs authorities seized Rs.11 lakh from 11 passengers bound for Singapore on Air India Express flight IX 682 here on Saturday morning.
The Air Intelligence Unit searched their luggage and found brown covers containing Rs.1 lakh in each of the passenger’s bags.
Export of Indian currency in excess of Rs.5,000 is illegal under the Foreign Exchange Management Regulations (2000).
C. Rajan, Commissioner of Customs (Airport), stated in a press release that the passengers had not declared the currency and were not in possession of legal documents to carry money out of the country.
24/10/07 The Hindu

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Three Flights a Week from Mangalore to Kuwait: Patel

Mangalore: Air India Express has the plans to introduce three flights a week from the city to Kuwait during the winter season this year, informed minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel in a letter to M Veerappa Moily chairman, Administrative Reforms Commission.
The letter which was written by Praful Patel on October 16, 2007 was released to the press by Moily here on Sunday October 21. The National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACL) group is in the process of integrating the schedules of its group companies. According to the letter it is expected that the additional services to and from the city will be introduced based on the market requirements, commercial priorities and operational limitations over a period of time.
Moily said on the basis of the letter that the flight service is expected to commence from next month or latest by December 7, 2007.
23/10/07 Daijiworld.com

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Bird-UTi JV to run export cargo terminal at Delhi airport

Mumbai: A joint venture of Bird Travels Pvt. Ltd and UTi Worldwide (India) Ltd has won a licence to operate the export cargo terminal at the Delhi airport from the Delhi International Airport (Pvt.) Ltd (DIAL), a consortium of the GMR Group and Fraport AG.
The cargo handling business is expected to grow on the back of an economy thatexpanded at more than 9% in 2006-07 and in the first quarter of this fiscal. At least 15 bidders were in the race for the licence.
Hawk Cargo & Logistics Pvt. Ltd, the 50:50 joint venture of Bird Travels and UTi Worldwide (India), will manage the cargo terminal which handled 165 million kg of cargo in 2006-07. Its initial mandate is for one year.
The financial terms of the agreement between it and DIAL were not disclosed.
The Indian arm of UTi Worldwide Inc., a freight forwarding company, is one of the largest air freight handling companies in the country certified by International Air Travel Association, a global trade association.
24/10/07 P.R. Sanjai/Livemint

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Delhi airport on the blink again

New Delhi: A key communication system at the Indira Gandhi International Airport collapsed on Sunday evening, throwing air traffic into chaos for almost an hour, according to authoritative sources.
In Sunday’s incident, a system called the Drake system collapsed for four minutes, leading to over an hour of chaos.
No communication was possible in the 124.2 Mhz frequency through VHF sets configured to the approach area, he said.
The system, which had been configured to the VHF sets barely three days ago, went out of action during peak hour, around 8.40 pm.
Its collapse triggered shockwaves in the control tower as the 124.2 Mhz frequency is used for speaking to pilots approaching Delhi airport. When the system failed there were 20 aircraft hovering over Delhi airspace.
The communication glitch forced an abrupt closure of the twin-runway operations between at 8.30 pm and 10 pm.
23/10/07 Yogesh Kumar/Daily News & Analysis

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Woman officer dies at airport

New Delhi: An Air Deccan employee was found dead under mysterious circumstances at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the Capital late on Monday night.
Sanskriti Sinha, a 25-year-old senior technical officer with the domestic airlines, reportedly died on the spot after she was run over by a vehicle on her way to the aircraft from the baggage counter.
However, police have not ruled out foul play. They have registered cases of hit-and-run and destruction of evidence. The circumstances under which her body was found has aroused suspicion. Sanskriti's head was completely crushed, despite being reportedly run over by a light vehicle. The speed limit for vehicles at the airport is 20 kilometers per hour.
Police is also probing media reports that she died of injuries sustained due to jet blast from an aircraft which was taking off.
The airlines have not named the driver involved in the accident.
Sanskriti's brother says that they got a call around 10:30 pm on Monday saying she had been killed in an accident and that they would have to rush to Delhi from Patna, where her family lives.
CNN-IBN correspondent, Divya Iyer spoke to Sanskriti Sinha's family and discovered that she was supposed to get engaged on Wednesday — October 24.
23/10/07 CNN-IBN

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GE planning a play in airport projects

GE India, a 100 per cent subsidiary of GE, the world's second-largest company by market capitalisation, is mulling a foray into the airport business in India.
GE is currently present in energy equipment, infrastructure, finance and healthcare businesses in India.
Pratyush Kumar, president and chief executive officer, GE India Infrastructure, told DNA Money: "We are looking at getting into investments in airport infrastructure."
The company may tie up with a construction company for airports. GE already manufactures airplane engines and security systems.
Airport modernisation in India is likely to attract investments worth Rs 40,000 crore, with the government opening up the airport sector.
Kumar added that the company would also look at non-metro airports, once the Airport Authority of India puts a policy into place.
Besides the modernisation of Chennai and Kolkata airports, the government plans to develop 35 non-metro airports through the public-private partnership route.
23/10/07 Jyoti Mukul/DNA Money/Sify

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DIAL arms to have govt nominees on board

New Delhi: In A bid to end the row over objections raised by the civil aviation ministry and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) over formation of subsidiaries, the GMR Groupled Delhi International Airport (DIAL) has offered berths for government representatives on the boards of subsidiary companies. DIAL has also informed the civil aviation ministry that revenues generated through lease of land for commercial purposes would flow into DIAL rather than a subsidiary proposed to manage commercial development of land.
DIAL is planning to develop non-aero business through Delhi Aerotropolis, a 100% subsidiary, to generate revenue from commercial use of land owned by Delhi airport. The revenues from the property developed by this subsidiary would, however, flow directly to DIAL. One more subsidiary is planned for cargo operations . While Delhi Aerotropolis would remain a wholly owned subsidiary of DIAL, the cargo operation could take in a strategic partner, according to GMR officials.
DIAL would accommodate the government’s representatives on the subsidiary companies floated by it in future too, it has been clarified. The joint sector company plans a wholly-owned subsidiary for cargo operations at the country’s second busiest airport.
23/10/07 Nirbhay Kumar/Economi Times

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Air of uncertainty

Kozhikode: The other day, the recent in a long series, passengers to Jeddah and Sharjah were those 'chosen few' who got to know first-hand the 'unique' Air India experience at Karipur airport.
Jeddah-bound travellers, scheduled for departure at 9.20 p.m. on Friday, were held up in the airport up to 11 p.m. and shifted to a hotel thereafter. They were brought to airport the next morning only to be informed about further indefinite delay citing adverse weather conditions.
Naturally, passengers lost their cool, pounded the chairs at the customs hall, took out a protest rally at the airport and laid siege to the terminal entrance.
The ensuing verbal duel with officials reached a flashpoint. Air India didn't care to provide even food to them, it is alleged. It was 6.30 p.m. on Saturday, when they were sent off to Jeddah!
For passengers to Sharjah, slated for departure at 6.55 p.m. on Friday aboard Indian, too, it was a day-long wait.
Also, Air India's Abudhabi Express, scheduled to arrive on Friday night, didn't make it even on Saturday morning, which provoked those waiting to receive the passengers to barge into the airport manager's cabin.
The plane arrived on Saturday evening. Eleven incoming flights, including an international one, were delayed inordinately.
While airport sources blamed bad weather for the services being thrown out of gear, absence of answerable and accountable officials in check-in counters and airlines' offices was condemnable.
Even after Indian Airlines and Sri Lankan Airlines started operations, Air India shyed away. Except the Abudhabi Express, none of its other services operated till Saturday night.
22/10/07 Newindpress

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CRISIL reaffirms AAA on Airports Authority's debt plan

Mumbai: CRISIL has reaffirmed AAA/Stable rating on Airports Authority of India’s Rs 3,000 crore long-term borrowing programme.
The rating continues to reflect the authority’s robust financial risk profile and dominant market position. The rating also factors in AAI’s strategic importance to the government and the expected strong growth in the authority’s revenues, the rating agency said.
These rating strengths are, however, partially offset by AAI’s revenue concentration risk arising from a limited number of profitable airports.
Over the past two years, AAI has registered a robust growth in operating income and cash accruals, driven by strong year-on-year growth in passenger traffic, at 24 per cent and 31 per cent in 2005-06 (Apr-Mar) and 2006-07 respectively. The strong passenger traffic growth was aided by healthy economic growth, and increase in affordability of air travel with the entry of low-cost airlines.
23/10/07 Economic Times

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Crossed wire nightmare dogs IGI

Air traffic controllers at the Indira Gandhi International Airport complain about regular disturbance and sometimes cross-connection on the wireless VHF (Very High Frequency) over which they talk to and instruct pilots. Not only they have to keep repeating instructions because of the disturbance, sometimes cross-connections lead to scary situations when one pilot start following instructions meant for someone else.
With dreaded fog season fast approaching and the number of flights from IGIA being increased this winter, the Delhi ATC said communication disturbance would pose a big problem.
An ATC said that it takes a lot of time just for the pilot to establish his/her identity. “What should be done in one transmission takes four-five, leading to more stress,” he said. “There is too much interference as the range width is poor..,” he said.
Incidents of cross-connections are more worrying. “Sometimes when we give instructions to one pilot, it is picked up by a pilot on a different frequency,” he said. “A few months back, a pilot started descending though the ATC had instructed another plane to do so. Thankfully, we detected the movement on radar and the plane was put back on right altitude after frantic transmissions,” he said.
“Different bandwidths are allotted to ATC but if two bands are too close and there is wrong tuning, such overlapping happens,” said a senior official of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Thanks to disturbance on the bandwidth, the aircraft radio sometimes also picks up FM music channels instead of instructions.
22/10/07 Sidhartha Roy/Hindustan Times

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Ministry-DIAL revenue share fight snowballs

Mumbai: A dispute between Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) and the Ministry of Civil Aviation over revenue sharing is threatening to escalate into a major controversy, with the latter seeking the view of the solicitor-general.
At the heart of the issue is the percentage of revenue that DIAL will end up sharing with Airport Authority of India (AAI), which according to the contract is to be just above 45 per cent.
According to calculations by the ministry, if DIAL proceeds with its plans, the percentage of revenue it shares will be only 6 per cent.
This has put the ministry in a flap and it has raised two serious objections to DIAL's plans. One, it is objecting to DIAL setting up various wholly owned subsidiaries to handle different aspects of the business, as a result of which revenues from these businesses will not accrue to DIAL and so won't be part of the shared pool.
Secondly, the ministry is upset with DIAL for calling bids for developing 43 acres for a term of 28 years plus 30 years (assuming DIAL will get an extension and will be able to give an extension for commercially developed land).
So, in the bid, the company has asked bidders to pay the deposit amount on the basis of the revenues that will accrue over 58 years.
22/10/07 Anjuli Bhargava/Business Standard

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Goa's airport plan in trouble

New Delhi: Goa may be one of the biggest tourist spots in India but it can’t have two operational airports and find their operations viable.
Following a long debate over the proposed new airport in the north at Mopa and the existing one at Dabholim, the state had recently asked the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to examine if these two could be used together. Now the Montreal-based global agency has submitted its report to the state, clearly saying that this will not be financially viable.
‘‘Currently Dabholim handles 2.2 passengers annually. According to ICAO estimates, this figure will rise to 4 million and 6 million by 2014 and 2022, respectively. A totally private airport will require a threshold limit of 12 million departing passengers and 24 million total traffic,’’ says the report. So even with a high traffic growth projection, the $325-million Mopa airport may not be financially viable if it is fully funded by a private player.
22/10/07 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Heavy rains delay flights; passengers protest lack of info

Kozhikode: Owing to poor weather conditions, the movement of various international and domestic flights at the Karipur Airport here was severely affected, airport sources said.
"Eight flights could not arrive and seven flights could not take-off due to heavy rains and overcast conditions since last (Friday) night," the sources said. Air India Express and Indian flights, bound to Gulf and other destinations, still remain affected, they said.
Meanwhile, the irate passengers staged a protest in front of the Air India counter on Saturday morning as no announcement was made regarding rescheduling of the flights, they said adding security had been tightened at the airport in view of the situation.
21/10/07 PTI/Newindpress

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Pilgrims Squat All Around as Airport Chaos Continues

Jeddah: Chaotic conditions at the North Terminal of King Abdul Aziz International Airport which began with the rush of Eid holiday travelers and returning Umrah passengers continued yesterday. Passengers continued to find difficulty in gaining entry into the terminal halls for security checks and check-in formalities.
The situation worsened further with the delay of up to several hours in the departure of many flights.
The scene at the airport was one of Umrah pilgrims squatting everywhere with their luggage trolleys and some others, including regular passengers, crowding the area after entering the terminal from the only entry gate.
Airlines, travel agents and Umrah operators yesterday pleaded their helplessness in assisting their passengers at the airport, where passengers have been completing each level of formality after a wait ranging from one to four hours.
Inquiries show that both regular and special (Umrah) flights are departing from the terminal. One other reason for chaotic conditions is that the terminal renovation, which started 10 months ago, is under way.
Many pilgrims have blocked the terminal with their baggage trolleys thus obstructing a smooth passage for other travelers.
Inside the terminal, passengers were squatting on the floor with luggage trolleys expecting their airline check-in counters to open. “I have waited here for four hours for my 2.20 p.m. Mumbai Air-India flight, but am now told that the flight has been delayed by more than three hours,” an Indian passenger said.
22/10/07 K.S. Ramkumar & Hasan Hatrash/ Arab News

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Jet denies close call at Mumbai airport

Mumbai: A Jet Airways flight from Delhi, which was descending for landing at the Mumbai airport last evening, had to pull back and take off after the pilot spotted an aircraft on the tarmac sending jitters among the 100-odd passengers on board.
Jet Airways sources on Saturday said that the aircraft was on descent three kilometres away and the Air Traffic Control informed the pilot about the presence of another aircaft on the runway.
The aircraft was therefore asked to encircle the airport before landing safely 30 minutes later.
There was no close brush as stated in a report, sources said, adding with 20 aircraft landing and 29 aircraft taking off in an hour from the airport during the peak hours, descending aircraft are at times asked to encircle for a longer period before landing.
20/10/07 PTI/Economic Times

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ATC, Jet trade blame

Mumbai: In the second incident of its kind in a fortnight, an aircraft aborted landing after nearing the runway but then ascending steeply due to the presence of another aircraft on the ground. The first incident was reported in Delhi
earlier this month and the second happened at the Mumbai airport on Friday.
Friday’s incident happened at around 4.40 pm, when Jet Airways flight 9W 352 with around 100 passengers on board was on its final approach to land. The commander had announced that the aircraft was landing. The aircraft was nearing touchdown when the commander sent it into a steep climb.
It is not clear who spotted the problem first. Mumbai Air Traffic Control (ATC) confirmed that there was another aircraft on the runway when the Jet Airways flight was coming in to land. "We informed the approaching aircraft’s commander as soon as the commander of the aircraft on the ground expressed his inability to take off on schedule. The Jet Airways commander was instructed to do a go-around," said M G Junghare, general manager, aerodrome. While Jet Airways too confirmed the incident, it maintained that the plane’s commander first saw the aircraft on the ground and informed the ATC that he would be doing a go-around. The aircraft on the ground was a Gulfstream on an international charter assignment.
21/10/07 Times of India

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Pranab frisking: Officials goofed up, India protests

New Delhi: While India has lodged a protest over the ‘frisking’ of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee before his aircraft took off from Moscow on October 13, it has emerged that the incident was most likely the result of a ‘mix-up’ by Indian Foreign Service officers who kept security officials out of the loop.
The First Secretary (Political), who liaises with Russia’s Federal Security Bureau, had not been told before that Mukherjee was to take off from Vnukovo airport. So the security personnel at the airport did not know the dignitary was expected.
While moving towards the lounge area, Mukherjee was walking ahead, with Indian Ambassador to Russia Prabhat Shukla and another IFS officer following him. Before they knew it, the security officials had already checked Mukherjee’s chest and back. The frisking stopped only after the Ambassador rushed ahead and intervened.
That was not the only embarrassment on the trip.
Mukherjee couldn’t meet Putin who was away in Iran or Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov who was busy meeting Condoleezza Rice at the time.
India had first given two dates to Russia for Mukherjee and Defence Minister A K Antony’s visits—October 17 to 19 for Antony and October 29 to 30 for Mukherjee. In their eagerness to schedule the External Affairs Minister’s visit before the Defence Minister’s visit, officials pushed for October 11.
21/10/07 Shishir Gupta/Indian Express

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