Fliers fleeced at airport shops

Kolkata: If you hate getting fleeced and are passing through the Kolkata airport, prepare to stay thirsty, hungry and bored. For, just about everything that is sold there - from packaged water and beverages to bakery goods as well as newspapers and magazines - is sold at a premium in blatant violation of the West Bengal Consumer Protection Act.
"A bottle of packaged water that retails for Rs 12 everywhere in the country costs Rs 25 inside the terminal and Rs 20 outside it. Even biscuit and cake packets sell at more than twice the MRP. Airport administrators do nothing about it," said frequent flier Debojyoti Chakraborty.
Many passengers, particularly those travelling on low-cost carriers that don’t serve food on board, are fleeced at will by the shops. Thus, a packet of cakes and biscuits and a 500 ml cold drink bottle, which retails for Rs 43 everywhere in the country, sells for Rs 105 at the airport. And no, there is no value addition by way of the biscuits and cakes being served on a platter or the cold drink offered in a glass.
The shop-owners claimed they did not have an option since customer count was low and lease rate at the airport high. "We are here to make a profit. Since I had bid for the store for Rs 90,000 a month, I have to recover the money. The only way to do so is by charging a premium as there aren’t enough customers," a confectionery store-owner said.
02/11/08 Arpit Basu/Times of India

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Graphisads bags 5-year OOH advertising rights for Srinagar Airport

Delhi-based outdoor media owner Graphisads has bagged the OOH advertising rights for the Srinagar International Airport. The contract is for a period of five years and includes exclusive advertising rights for both within and outside the international and domestic terminals. The contract is valued at Rs 7-8 crore. Other media owners in the fray for the Srinagar Airport rights were Big Street and Helpline Publicity.
Mukesh Gupta, MD, Graphisads, said, “We have won the advertising rights for the Srinagar International Airport for both the international and domestic terminals. The advertising rights exclude the right to advertise on the trolleys, but give us an additional right to put up 30 uni-poles within the area that comes under the Airport Authority of India (AAI).”
“We are developing eye-catching sites at the airport, which would be in sync with the international status of the Airport. There are a wide variety of options available, which include unipoles, signages, and show-windows inside the Airport etc. ...,” Gupta added.
01/11/08 Nitin Sharma/exchange4media.com

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AAI mulls harsh steps to recover airline dues

New Delhi: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is all set to crack whip on the private and state-owned airlines which have not paid the whopping dues running into over Rs 1,000 crore.
The AAI had set October 24 deadline for the payment of the outstanding dues for all the defaulting airlines. But the non-payment by the airlines has ticked off the AAI, which offers services like landing, parking and route navigation to all the airlines in domestic and international sectors.
“Ideally the airlines must clear its dues with in 15 days and most of them breach this credit limit and it results in colossal dues. Each of the airlines has individually been contacted and told to pay but not much has been done,” the official said.
Among the list of the defaulters the state carrier National Aviation Company of India Ltd (Nacil), which runs Air India, sits right on the top. Nacil has unpaid dues running over Rs 650 crore. Of private airlines, Kingfisher Airways and Jet Airways account for around Rs 255 crore and Rs 36 crore respectively. SpiceJet, Paramount, Indigo and GoAir owe Rs 21 crore, Rs 10 crore, Rs 5 crore and Rs 7.98 respectively.
Sources said that AAI might resort to take harsh steps to recover dues from the airlines. “AAI might have to recover dues from the security deposits of the airlines, but this is no permanent solution,” said the official.
31/10/08 Yogesh Kumar/Daily News & Analysis

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NRI offloaded for strange behaviour onboard

Mumbai: An NRI passenger was offloaded from a Newark-bound Air India flight after he was found behaving suspiciously just minutes after the
aircraft started taxiing on Thursday morning at Mumbai airport. The passenger was handed over to the airport police.
According to an airline source, the passenger identified as Mark Sharma, was initially booked to fly on Wednesday. "He reached the airport, checked-in his bag and collected the boarding pass. But prior to boarding, he had a change of heart and asked for a ticket cancellation. His boarding pass was cancelled, his check-in bags removed and he left the airport,'' the source said.
The passenger came back on Thursday and this time, he did board the Mumbai-Paris-Newark Air India flight 191. But problems began just after the aircraft started taxiing around 8.05 am.
"In a span of 10-15 minutes, he changed his seat 3-4 times. Then he got up and went to the washroom with his hand baggage,'' said the source. As the aircraft was preparing for take-off, there was hardly any passenger movement in the cabin and Sharma's behaviour alerted his co-passengers who informed the cabin crew about it. "... the commander decided to taxi the aircraft back to the parking bay and the passenger was offloaded,'' said the source.
An Air India spokesperson confirmed Thursday's incident, adding that the passenger was handed over to the airport police. "The aircraft was back in the parking bay at 8.30 am,'' said the official, adding that after the passenger was offloaded, his check-in baggage was traced and removed from the aircraft. The flight took off three hours behind schedule. Senior police inspector, Dilip Patil of Sahar police station said the matter was being probed.
30/10/08 Times of India

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Subhas plans airport in Howrah

Kolkata: After declaring that an automobile manufacturer will set up shops in Singur after Tata Motors shifted its Nano project out of the state, state transport minister, Mr Subhas Chakraborty is at it again.
After the chief minister had shelved his ambitious plan to set up a green-field airport near Kolkata last year and instead settled for a Rs 2,000 crore revamp of the NSC Bose International airport, Mr Subhas Chakraborty today announced that the state government is planning to set up an international airport in Howrah.
“There has been a considerable increase of passengers at the NSC Bose International airport and so it was necessary to develop another airport and Howrah is the appropriate place for this purpose,” the state transport minister said while laying the foundation stone for a bus terminus at Ramrajatala in Howrah today.
He said that a consultancy agency has been deputed by the state government for doing a survey in this regard and once they give their report, the whole project will be finalised.
When asked why Howrah has been chosen, the minister said: “Howrah is the twin city of Kolkata and an airport in this town is a necessity. Howrah’s proximity to Kolkata will help in developing this airport.”
30/10/08 The Statesman

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Winter may be less chaotic at IGI this year

New Delhi : This winter may be a little less chaotic for both airlines and passengers at the IGI airport. With the new runway hopefully
operational, more CAT III parking bays for aircraft and fewer flights due to the aviation industry crisis, it might just be easier to handle fog delays.
Airlines, however, say that even with all this in place, if the airport itself is not ready to manage the large number of stranded passengers, the situation may not be particularly different from previous years. The new domestic terminal 1B that was to have come up to deal with the winter chaos has been delayed till next year. The new runway will probably be in use but with its track record of failing lights, airlines are not too confident about its reliability either.
Last year, the airport witnessed very few heavy fog days due to which flight interruptions were not too many. While no predictions have been made for this year yet, airlines have reduced their number of flights by 5-20%. And most of the airlines have CAT compliant aircraft and trained pilots.
The one airline that does not have CAT III operations is Spice Jet.
Airlines like Jet Airways and Air India will have about 15% less flights than last year.
According to sources, Kingfisher Airlines too had seen a reduction of about 21% in its passenger carrying capacity though it had also almost made up.
Airlines, however, said that fewer flights may not have the much desired reduction in chaos during fog if the airport was not prepared for it.
31/10/08 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

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Land acquisition for Chennai parallel runway on

Chennai: The process of acquiring about 1,069 acres of land for the parallel runway of the Chennai airport is on.
“There is no reconsideration of land acquisition,” says a senior revenue official. Both the secondary and parallel runways have been mapped in detail and the land required has been identified in Manapakkam, Kolapakkam, Gerugambakkam, Tarapakkam and Kovur on the northern side of the Chennai airport.
“The survey numbers are being enumerated and the acquisition is in the process. Notices will be shortly sent,” says a government source.
So far, the Tamil Nadu government has acquired 126.59 acres in Kolapakkam and Manapakkam villages in the Sriperumbudur taluk for the secondary runway and has handed over the land to the Airports Authority of India.
Acquisition cost
The cost of acquiring 126 acres is about Rs.100 crore. It is estimated that the cost of acquiring the entire area measuring 1,069 acres will be about Rs. 1,000 crore.
31/10/08 A. Srivathsan and P. Oppili/The Hindu

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Tarmac death: Airport driver comes under the scanner

New Delhi: The mystery behind Air Deccan employee Sanskruti Sinha's death may finally be solved. Almost a year after 26-year-old Sinha, a ground engineer, was found run over on the tarmac of the domestic terminal at IGI airport, investigators are finally hopeful of a breakthrough. Police say they have three suspects, all drivers who work within the airport premises. The main suspect is the driver of a `follow-me' vehicle, employed by DIAL or AAI.
According to sources, the driver emerged as the main suspect after investigating officials found discrepancies in the report of the polygraph test that the driver had undergone along with the two other suspects in November last year. But with no concrete forensic evidence available, the police were likely to subject the driver to another polygraph test.
Officials said they had spent considerable time to narrow down on the exact vehicle involved in the incident.
Sinha died on October 22 last year. Her postmortem revealed that she had been crushed by the bumper of a heavy vehicle. The technician was found to have complied with all safety regulations that were at place at that time. She was even wearing the highly visible vest which can be easily seen from a distance.
31/10/08 Dwaipayan Ghosh/Times of India

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Maiden AI Haj flight takes off from Calicut

Kozhikode: Air India’s maiden Haj flight carrying 419 devotees today took off from Calicut International Airport at Karippur, near here, for the holy city of Medina today.
The Boeing 747 flight with 171 male and 248 female pilgrims on board from Kerala and Mahe, part of Union Territory of Puducherry, was flagged off by Kerala Haj and Local Self Governance Minister Paloli Mohammed Kutty.
The public sector carrier would fly about 7,208 devotees under the government quota, selected through draw of lots, in 18 sorties to the holy destination in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during this season, State Haj Committee Sources said.
30/10/08 UNI/Sakaal Times

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Mock fire drill held at Chennai airport

Chennai: A mock fire drill was held as part of efforts to improve safety preparedness at the airport on Thursday.
According to Airports Authority of India (AAI) “a fire pit was arranged at a place far from the runway and information was passed on to the fire and rescue service office located close to the runway. A real time emergency situation was enacted during the drill. The personnel were told that a passenger aircraft had an emergency landing and has caught fire. Instructions were also given that the passengers should be rescued.”
As soon as the call was given, crash tenders rushed out of the fire and rescue building located close to the runway to the far end of the airport after following complete emergency procedures. The drill created a mild flutter at the airport as it was carried out without warning.
A senior official said that the mock drill was conducted to improve preparedness of airport crash tenders and fire-fighting personnel to respond to emergencies.
AAI said the drill was part of the routine fire safety exercise.
31/10/08 Times of India

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Ground handling to be modernised

Chennai: The economic slowdown is triggering job losses all around, but a move to bring in efficiency and security may mean job cuts for many of
the 4,000 workers employed in ground handling operations at Chennai airport.
Ground handling operations at the airport will soon be taken over by one or two multi-national companies as the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has invited expressions of interest and will award contracts based on the bids.
These companies will form joint venture partnerships with the AAI or Air India for ground handling. Air India now has 80% control of ground handling across airports, including Chennai.
Bids for ground handling are being finalised for Delhi, Mumbai, Hyerabad and Bangalore. Kolkata and Chennai will be finalised after that. This will eliminate several small sub-contractors.
The move is expected to increase efficiency because the multi-national companies have expertise in handling ground operations for airports abroad. It is also expected to improve security as the number of agencies and people working inside an airport will be minimised.
Ground handling comprises of a host of services like aircraft handling, servicing, cleaning, loading and unloading of baggage, transhipment of baggage, operation of loading and unloading equipment, passenger stairs or bridges, handling cargo, ferrying passengers and crew from terminal to aircraft, watch and ward of registered baggage or cargo or aircraft and handling equipment.
30/10/08 V Ayyappan/Times of India

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Colombo Airport attack: Flights get diverted to Chennai after

A Cathay Pacific Airways Boeing 777-300, registration B-HNG performing flight CX-703 (dep Oct 28th) from Bangkok (Thailand) to Colombo (Sri Lanka), as well as a Thai Airways International Airbus A300-600, flight TG-307 (dep Oct 28th) from Bangkok to Colombo, had to divert to Chennai (India) due to the closure of Colombo Airport following an attack by Tamil rebels.
A light aircraft had bombed a power station in the vicinity of the airport causing a one hour's blackout to Colombo and the airport.
After the end of the attack and resumption of normal airport operations the two diverted flights were called into Colombo and reached their destination with a delay of 3.5 hours each.
29/10/08 Simon Hradecky/The Aviation Herald, Austria

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Aerotropolis project sparks controversy in Andal

Andal: Going by the ongoing debate over the coal loss issue, 'Aerotropolis' has become a familiar name in the Asansol Durgapur industrial zone. People are seen discussing the country’s first Aerotropolis project proposed to come up on 3,500 acres of land at Andal. The union civil aviation ministry has also given a green signal for the project. Ironically most of the quarters do not have a clear idea about Aerotropolis as yet.
The Andal villagers who fear loosing either their cultivable land or residential quarters started posing resistance to the project demanding a better rehabilitation package. The political leaders, also queued up at the corridors of the higher administrative looking for their own loot after the controversies surrounding the proposed project at Andal intensified. Voting and veto are two sides of a coin in Andal these days following the proposed Rs 10,000 crore project.
As expected the Marxist leaders, started voting for the Aerotropolis although they do not have a clear idea about Aerotropolis project. They are in favour of the project only because the LF government has supported them. It appears that the leaders have no interest in knowing about the basics of the Aerotropolis project.
The district Trinamul Congress leadership, as expected did strongly oppose the much hyped project inspite of knowing nothing about it.
The Aerotropolis accommodates an airport, an industrial park and logistic hub, an IT Park, theme park besides a state of the art township.
According to professor John D Kasarda, director of the US-based Frank Kawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, airports would do what seaports, railways and highways did in the past, resulting in the phenomenal growth of business locations. Professor Kasarda had first developed the concept of Aerotropolis in the late 1990s.
29/10/08 Kanchan Siddiqui/The Statesman

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No relocation of Delhi, Mumbai airport staff: Par panel

New Delhi: Ruling out relocation of the staff working at the Delhi and Mumbai airports, a Parliamentary panel has asked the government to ensure that private airport developers accommodate all of them.
"No 'arbitrary' agreement Operation, Maintenance and Development Agreement (OMDA) or concession agreement between the government and private airport developers 'can supersede the provisions of the Airports Authority of India Act passed by Parliament," the Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture said.
In its latest report tabled in Parliament, the panel asked the government to review OMDA and "make suitable provisions to accommodate all these employees of AAI at their respective places of work".
In this context, the panel, headed by CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, gave the example of Delhi Vidyut Board, whose employees "have been retained in BSES, Delhi, on the same terms of employment enjoyed by them prior to privatisation".
It also recommended that women employees "should not be relocated to other cities. They may be given employment with the same or better terms and conditions by Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) as they were enjoying with AAI".
The Committee said the AAI could also introduce a voluntary retirement scheme, "which is acceptable to the employees."
29/10/08 Zee News

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Dense fog causes flight delays at Kolkata

Kolkata: Dense fog caused major disruption of flights at the NSC Bose Airport this morning.
The departure of flights from here was delayed between one and a-half to about two and a-half hours. The departure of 18 flights was affected while two incoming flights had to hover over Kolkata. While one of them hovered for about two hours and 15 minutes the other one had to circle for 45 minutes.
The visibility went down because of dense fog from about 4:50 a.m. which went down too only 50 metres at 6:30 a.m. Altogether 18 flights were on the queue. The first flight which left Kolkata was Air India's flight to Port Blair. It left at about 8:13 a.m. instead of its scheduled time of departure at 5:35 a.m.. Passengers were inconvenienced but had to endure. The cargo flight of Etihad had to hover for about two hours and 15 minutes because of the poor visibility.
29/10/08 The Statesman

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Haj terminal at Delhi airport upgraded

New Delhi : With a bunch of added conveniences for pilgrims, the Haj Terminal at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport will start operations for this year’s pilgrimage to Mecca on Thursday. With over 900 passengers expected to fly every day for the next 18 days, the first flight from Delhi is expected to take off at 3:30 pm from the Haj Terminal, which has undergone a facelift this year.
“The Haj terminal is ready to welcome pilgrims going to Mecca with a new look and enhanced facilities,” said Arun Behal, Head (Haj Terminal), Delhi International Airport (P) Limited. He also mentioned that the terminal would facilitate only Haj pilgrims at the moment and no decision regarding the use of the terminal for normal operations, once the pilgrimage is over, has been taken yet.
In March this year, the GMR-led consortium had asked for the unused Haj terminal to be brought into play as a means of easing the pressure on existing facilities at the international airport. While IGI is the only airport in India to have an exclusive permanent facility for Haj passengers, the terminal opens for operations only during two months in a year. DIAL has carried out an extensive renovation programme this year to upgrade facilities at the Haj Terminal.
While the canopy outside the terminal has been extended and provided with weather protection, a dedicated area has been provided for visiting friends and family of the pilgrims.
29/10/08 Indian Express

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Immigration at Chennai, Bangalore for AI’s Mumbai-NY flight

Chennai: Passengers from Chennai and Bangalore travelling via Mumbai to New York with Air India can now get their immigration clearance done at the Chennai or Bangalore airport itself.
Until recently, they had to do it at Mumbai.
Air India has introduced this facility from October 26. Also, from that date, the flights from Chennai and Bangalore will land at the Sahara airport in Mumbai.
Hence, passengers need not take the through-the-city route from Santa Cruz to Sahara.
The Mumbai-New York non-stop flight is one of the premium segments for the airline, with loads exceeding over 65 per cent.
It takes 16 hours to reach New York and as such is one of the shortest flights to the US.
Fares begin from Rs 21,000 plus taxes.
Air India uses a Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft with eight first class, 35 executive class and 195 economy class seats.
30/10/08 Business Line/Sify

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Indian-American held for threatening to blow up Mumbai-New York flight

Mumbai: An Indian American was held at the Mumbai Airport after he threatened to blow up Air India Mumbai-Paris-Newark Flight A-191 here on Thursday morning, according to an airline spokesman.
The airport security was summoned and the person, an Indian resident of New Jersey was offloaded. The officials have not disclosed his identity yet.
All the passengers on board are safe and were ordered to vacate the aircraft while investigations were conducted.
The flight finally took off at 11 a.m., almost three hours behind schedule, the official said.
30/10/08 IANS/Economic Times

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H'bad airport to break even in Q3 FY09: GMR Infra

GMR Infrastructure has declared its September quarter result. The company's net profit was at Rs 46.58 crore versus Rs 49.58 crore.
A Subba Rao, Group CFO of GMR Infrastructure, said the company's Hyderabad airport project will break even this quarter itself despite footfalls falling by as much as 4% for the half year.
"Earlier at the Hyderabad airport, we were we were sanctioned to levy user development fee (UDF) only on international passengers. On August 23, we got the sanction to levy the UDF on the domestic passengers too. It is a critical factor, which was not there before. So we should break even in this quarter of the year itself," Rao said.
29/10/08 CNBC-TV18/Moneycontrol.com

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Novotel Hyderabad Airport opens its doors to a “New Age Aerotropolis”

Novotel Hyderabad Airport has opened its doors today in Hyderabad, the technology capital of South India. Situated just five minutes from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (Hyderabad’s new international airport), this hotel exemplifies products and services ideal for business or leisure travelers. The hotel owned by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited is the second Novotel in the city and in India.
“Located in a green environment in close proximity to the airport terminal, Novotel Hyderabad Airport, with its world class facilities is slated to emerge as a favourable choice for business travelers and will ignite the beginning of an Aerotropolis in Hyderabad. It is also an ideal stopover for any traveler with its unique offers such as ‘FlexiStay’ package for short duration of up to four or eight hours”, said Novotel Hyderabad Airport General Manager, Simon Jinks.
Built over five acres of beautifully landscaped area, this hotel is expected to be very popular amongst the locals and families looking for a retreat. The hotel will be a bonus to anyone flying in or out of Hyderabad, which is famous for its traditional bazaars and monuments. Contemporary in design, Novotel Hyderabad Airport offers 305 spacious rooms consisting of 11 luxurious Suites, 53 Premier Rooms and 241 Superior Rooms.
30/10/08 PRLog.Org, Romania

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No relocation of Delhi, Mumbai airport staff: Par panel

New Delhi: Ruling out relocation of the staff working at the Delhi and Mumbai airports, a Parliamentary panel has asked the government to ensure that private airport developers accommodate all of them.
"No 'arbitrary' agreement Operation, Maintenance and Development Agreement (OMDA) or concession agreement between the government and private airport developers 'can supersede the provisions of the Airports Authority of India Act passed by Parliament," the Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture said.
In its latest report tabled in Parliament, the panel asked the government to review OMDA and "make suitable provisions to accommodate all these employees of AAI at their respective places of work".
In this context, the panel, headed by CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, gave the example of Delhi Vidyut Board, whose employees "have been retained in BSES, Delhi, on the same terms of employment enjoyed by them prior to privatisation".
It also recommended that women employees "should not be relocated to other cities. They may be given employment with the same or better terms and conditions by Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) as they were enjoying with AAI".
The Committee said the AAI could also introduce a voluntary retirement scheme, "which is acceptable to the employees."
29/10/08 Zee News

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First batch of Haj pilgrims leaves for Madina

Hyderabad: The first batch of Haj pilgrims from India this year left for the holy city of Madina in Saudi Arabia early Thursday. The batch comprising of 299 pilgrims left at 5.30 a.m. by a Saudi Airlines flight from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad.
The Andhra Pradesh Minister for Minorities Welfare Mohammed Ali Shabbir and other top officials saw off the pilgrims at the Haj terminal, which was earlier inaugurated by the minister.
This is the first time that Haj pilgrims are flying from the new international airport, which commenced commercial operations in March this year.
About 7,000 Haj pilgrims from the state will fly to Madina through 23 flights till Nov 16.
There was confusion among pilgrims before departure, as 47 pilgrims of the first batch had not received their passports, which were sent to Mumbai for endorsement. The authorities assured them that they would be sent through subsequent flights. An equal number of passengers, who were scheduled to fly later, were accommodated in the first flight.
30/10/08 IANS/Thaindian.com

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Low-cost airports the next step

New Delhi: Low-cost airports are the next step for the Indian airport industry which can offer enhanced connectivity across the country and help in rationalising the costs incurred by the airlines and decongesting traffic at regular airports.
Low-cost airports can come as a relief for low-cost carriers, whose financial position has been negatively impacted by aviation fuel prices and operational costs and which currently pay the same charges as full service airlines.
“While maintaining all standards and safety norms, these airports are expected to have no baggage conveyor belts, aerobridges and buses for the passengers. These airports shall further the no-frills experience being offered by the low-cost carriers,” says a study on ‘Indian Airports,’ conducted by KPMG, an audit and advisory body.
Cities that already have an operational runway could get a new low-cost terminal. At Delhi airport, Terminal 1, operated and managed by the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), is expected to be developed as an exclusive terminal for the no-frills carriers by 2010, the study says. Along with the non-operational airports, low-cost airports could be the answer to the challenges faced by the aviation sector in the country.
Taking an optimistic outlook of the aviation industry, the study noted that low-cost carriers, which opened the skies for the average Indian traveller, have underpinned the growth story of aviation. With less than five per cent of the Indian population currently travelling by air, there is a large untapped market, which could continue to fuel growth in the sector.
“Airports in India are future potential areas not just from an aviation perspective but also from a real estate point of view. While this might be a new phenomenon in India, globally, airports have embraced the concept of developing the surrounding commercial areas,” said Rajeev B. Batra, Executive Director of KPMG.
Despite the ongoing slowdown and a dip in passenger growth, the study said that once oil prices stabilised, in the long run the passenger traffic will continue to maintain its momentum.
For airports, an increase in passenger traffic implies an increase in its aeronautical revenues via the charges levied on the airlines and the potential for an increase in the non-aeronautical revenues through the retail segment.
29/10/08 Vinay Kumar/The Hindu

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Move to revive abandoned airstrips

Guwahati: A number of airstrips from the British days are lying unused in different parts of Assam, particularly in the upper Assam districts and the possibility of using the same for improving connectivity is being explored. However, for that, the Ministry of Civil Aviation will have to play a major role, while, private entrepreneurs would also have to come forward in this regard.
The idea of making use of the abandoned airstrips cropped up during a meeting between Assam Industries and Commerce Minister Pradyut Bordoloi and a delegation of the Czech Republic recently and the NEDFi has held preliminary talks with an aviation company of Czech Republic on the issue. However, the concept is in the preliminary stage only.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, Bordoloi said today that a number of abandoned airstrips could be utilised in the days to come to improve connectivity not only in Assam but also in other parts of the region. He said that though the exact number of such abandoned airstrips is not immediately available, it is a fact that a number of airstrips constructed by the British during the World War II are lying abandoned and in fact, the Government organized the Dihing-Patkai festival on one such abandoned airstrip. He pointed out that several other airstrips including the Rupshi airport in Dhubri district are lying unused for years and the possibility of making use of those could be explored.
Bordoloi pointed out that a number of tea gardens of Assam also have their own airstrips. According to records available with the Government, at least 18 airstrips are in possession of the tea gardens and companies including Magor and around 10 of those are in usable condition. He said that of the tea companies having airstrips, only Magor is using those for visits of senior officials.
The Minister, however, pointed out that the State Government alone cannot take a decision on making use of the abandoned airstrips for improving connectivity and the Ministry of Civil Aviation would have to deal with the matter. He also said that the private entrepreneurs would also have to come forward for operating small aircrafts by using the abandoned airstrips.
28/10/08 R Dutta Choudhury/Assam Tribune

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Flights to Bangalore reduced to three

Mangalore: The number of daily flights between Mangalore and Bangalore has come down by 50 per cent in the past ten days. It appears to be the result of the proposed alliance between Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways.
The two airline companies were operating six daily flights from Mangalore to Bangalore.
The number has now been reduced to three flights a day. According to a Jet Airways official, it will replace its larger aircraft operating between the two cities with smaller ones by November 16.
M.R. Vasudeva, director, Mangalore Airport, the Airports Authority of India (AAI), told The Hindu that Kingfisher Airlines had withdrawn two flights while Jet Airways had withdrawn one. The Kingfisher Airlines had withdrawn the flights departing at 10.20 a.m. and 9.30 p.m. from here to Bangalore. Jet Airways had withdrawn its flight departing to Bangalore at 7.40 p.m.
However, Pramod Nair, station manager, Jet Airways, Mangalore Airport, is understood to have informed the AAI that the withdrawal of its evening flight was for a short period between October 20 and October 31 due to commercial reasons.
He told The Hindu that the company had temporarily suspended its evening Boeing 737 flight. "It will remain suspended till November 15 and not till October 31 as planned earlier. It will be re-introduced from November 16. However, the Boeing 737 will be replaced with an ATR aircraft," he said.
29/10/08 The Hindu/Moneycontrol.com

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Airport red tape strangles HIV+ Mizo girl's last wish

Mangalore/Kolkata: A 22-year-old HIV-positive Mizo girl — counting her last breaths — tried desperately to reach home to see her parents, but airport red tape strangled her last wish. Mawii died at Kolkata airport on Tuesday after being turned away by Air India officials on Monday.
Mawii was being treated at Bangalore's Bowring Hospital and had taken a fit-to-fly certificate from there, said former Bangalore police commissioner and ex-MP H T Sangliana. But in Kolkata, AI officials wanted another fitness certificate when she tried to catch the connecting flight to Aizawl. "I tried to reason with the airline officials, but to no avail. I again got a medical fitness certificate and faxed it to them, but they still refused to relent," said Sangliana.
Mawii was booked on a Kolkata-Aizawl Kingfisher flight on Tuesday, but died before she could board the plane. AI officials maintained that they could not bend rules laid down by the Director General of Civil Aviation.
According to Sangliana, who had made Mawii's travel arrangements, she boarded a flight from Bangalore without hassle at 6 am on Monday. The connecting flight from Kolkata to Aizawl was at 11 am. But AI officials wanted a fitness certificate taken in Kolkata before she could board the flight. She went back disheartened.
On Tuesday morning, Mawii returned to take a Kingfisher flight. She was sitting in the domestic lounge, when she suddenly seemed to fall asleep. When she could not be roused, two family members called a doctor, who declared her dead. Her body was taken to Mizoram House and is likely to be flown to Aizawl on Wednesday morning.
AI official in Kolkata claimed that Mawii possessed only a paper that stated "she is ill and be kindly permitted to fly". "It was not a valid certificate as the doctor's registration number was not mentioned. If she had to fly, a doctor should have accompanied her. We acted as per DGCA norms."
29/10/08 Stanley G Pinto & Arpit Basu/Times of India

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‘Turn of event’ at airport gives DGCA food for thought

Mumbai: While the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is contemplating giving airline examiners the power to inspect their own aircraft, here is a case which would make it rethink its proposal.
Recently, a Jet Airways Singapore-Mumbai flight went off the runway after landing at Mumbai airport, but the matter was not reported to the DGCA. It was only when Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) workers, who went for maintenance work of the runway, saw the aircraft tyre marks going from the runway into the grass and back, that the matter was reported to the DGCA.
On October 16, around 9.45 am, Jet Airways’ Singapore-Mumbai flight 9W11 landed on runway 27 of Mumbai airport. “After the Airbus A330 landed, the pilot tried to take a 180-degree turn and ventured into the unpaved area to the left of the runway,” said an airport official. As a result, two lights on the runway were broken.
What should have been done:
The Sri Lankan captain of the aircraft, also a chief flying instructor with the airline, did not report the matter to the DGCA. “Pilots are supposed to fill a pilot defect report in such incidents. But in this case, no report was made,” said a DGCA official. Even the engineer of the aircraft, after seeing mud on the tyres, did nothing. “He just cleaned it and okayed the aircraft, which went back to Singapore on its next flight at 11.30 pm,” said a source from Jet Airways. “When the engineers in Singapore examined the aircraft, they found scratch marks on one of the nose-wheels,” he said.
DGCA conducted an investigation into the matter and the captain’s CFI licence was cancelled.
29/10/08 Navita Singh/Daily News & Analysis

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Review pacts on airport revamp: House panel

New Delhi: The GMR and GVK group, which are taking up the modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports, could find themselves in a spot.
This follows a Parliamentary committee asking the Government to review all the provisions in the Operation, Management and Development Agreement (OMDA) that has been signed with the promoters undertaking the modernisation of these two airports and make suitable provisions to accommodate all the Airports Authority of India (AAI) employees at their respective place of work.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, in its report on the ‘Functioning of private airports and related issues’ has pointed out that the Government can take the example of the Delhi Vidyut Board, where all employees of the organisation have been retained in BSES, Delhi, on the same terms of employment enjoyed by them prior to privatisation.
Implementing the provision could prove tricky, as most of the AAI workers at these two airports do not seem keen to continue with either the GMR or GVK group when the mandatory three-year period comes to an end next year. In the case of Delhi, less than 200 AAI employees of the more than 2,300 employees agreed to take up the incentive scheme of DIAL, the new joint venture company modernising the airport.
28/10/08 Business Line

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Boingo Expands Its Network in India

Los Angeles: Boingo Wireless, the global market leader in Wi-Fi, announces the addition of Tata Communications hotspots to the Boingo Roaming Network, giving Boingo members access to over 500 new hotspots under the Tata Indicom brand. With the addition of the Tata Communications network, Boingo members will be able to enjoy high speed Wi-Fi connections in restaurants, cafes, coffee shops and airports while traveling through India.
With the new locations from Tata Communications, Boingo's aggregated network in India now includes such popular destinations as Barista Coffee, Pizza Corner and Coffee World, Nokia Priority Centers and Nirula's, as well as numerous hotels in India. Boingo users can also get access at airports around India, including Chennai International Airport, Cochin International Airport, Goa International Airport, Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Pune International Airport, and Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport.
Boingo gives business travelers the best choice of Wi-Fi hotspots by combining more than 100,000 locations from more than 150 leading Wi-Fi operators into one worldwide network spanning 90 countries. Boingo subscribers can connect to any of these locations with a single Boingo account using GoBoingo, Boingo's free Wi-Fi client software, which combines more than 660 network names into one "Boingo Wireless" network and stores the user name and password to simplify identifying and connecting to commercial Wi-Fi networks.
Tata Communications and Boingo Wireless are both members of the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), the forum of the world's leading wireless broadband operators.
28/10/08 MarketWatch

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Special New Delhi-Nanded flight from Oct 29

New Delhi: The government has agreed to start a special flight from New Delhi to Nanded from October 29 in view of the ongoing tercentenary
celebrations of 'Gurta Gaddi', Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal said here today.
The AirIndia flight will be operated on a temporary basis from October 29 to November 4 for the benefit of devotees visiting the historic Sikh pilgrimage centre at Nanded, a town in Maharashtra.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has agreed in this regard in reply to his letter, Atwal said, adding he had earlier written a letter to the minister, complaining that no flight had yet been started from New Delhi, Amritsar, Chandigarh or Mumbai to the centre.
27/10/08 Times of India

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Lufthansa aircraft takes a wrong turn; Mishap averted

Kolkata: A blinding downpour and perhaps an erroneous marking of the taxi-bay at Kolkata airport nearly triggered a mishap in the wee hours of Sunday. A Lufthansa flight, bound for Frankfurt with 230 passengers on board, took a wrong turn while taxing for takeoff and was stopped in the nick of time.
It was around 1.07 am that flight LH 751 pushed back from parking bay 43 and started taxing towards the primary runway, taking taxiway C. But on reaching taxibay B, the pilot suddenly took a left turn towards the secondary runway instead of heading straight to the take-off point on the primary runway.
The nose wheel of the runway had already entered the wrong taxiway and the rear wheels were just about to roll in when an alert air traffic controller noticed it from the tower. He raised an alarm and the pilot was stopped short of a no-go zone.
The plane would have run into double trouble: the secondary runway was being repaired and taxiway B is too narrow (used only by ATR aircraft) to handle the 84-ft wheelbase of the Airbus A340-300.
As air traffic control alerted the ground support of both the Airports Authority of India and Lufthansa, there was a scramble to rush to the spot with a ‘follow-me’ van, which guides the pilot to make way through the runway area.
For the next 40 minutes, it was a tough yet delicate task for the officials to guide the 250-tonne aircraft to the right track and the flight finally took off at 1.40 am — 35 minutes behind schedule.
27/10/08 Arpit Basu/Times of India

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Bird-hit scare grounds plane even before take-off

Ahmedabad: A bird-hit scare led the pilot of a Kolkata-bound flight from here to panic and apply emergency brakes seconds before take-off,
leading to two of its tyres bursting and a harrowing time for 180 passengers on board on Sunday afternoon. They had to wait for hours as tyres had to be flown in from Delhi as replacement.
The ordeal for the passengers on board the IndiGo flight, who were already in a state of shock, did not end here. Passengers were not taken to special passenger restrooms or shifted to hotels and were asked to wait in a lounge which did not have enough seating.
Passengers were seen sitting on trolleys, the floor and some on their baggage. When angry passengers approached some flight officials regarding a back-up plan, the officials replied that spare tyres for the Indigo flight would arrive by 9 pm and only after a technical team gives a go-ahead, the flight would take off. Many passengers were worried as the ground staff had to leave by late evening as their duty hours were over.
For R K Singh, 58, a professor at the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, who was coming from Pune it was a harrowing experience. "I had to reach Kolkata on time to catch a connecting train to Dhanbad. I have missed the train and now I have no facility or information on any connecting transport. What should I tell my family?" he asked.
27/10/08 Times of India

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Closure of B'lore airport may come under fresh legal scanner

New Delhi: Government’s decision to shut down the old Bangalore airport could come under fresh legal scrutiny with a parliamentary panel asking civil aviation ministry to respond to charges of “irregularities” in the concession agreement it has signed with the airport developer.
Quoting records of its hearings with the ministry, Airports Authority of India, its employees and the private Bangalore International Airport Limited, the panel said that the clause relating to the old airport closure was brought into the concession agreement “at a later stage... After a demand was made to this effect by BIAL”.
In its report on the functioning of private airports, the Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture said the concession agreement initially prepared and approved by the Union Cabinet “did not provide for the closure of the Hindustan Aeronautical Limited Airport” in Bangalore. However, the July 2004 agreement actually signed with BIAL had a clause making it obligatory on the government to notify that the old airport would not be available for commercial civil aviation operations from the date the new greenfield airport became operational, it said.
26/10/08 Press Trust of India/Business Standard

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Chennai Airport expansion work finally takes off

Chennai: The Rs 1,808 crore expansion project of the Chennai Airport will enable the airport handle increased volume of passengers as Tamil Nadu is turning out to be a favoured investment destination for various industries. Chief Minister M Karunanidhi formally inaugurated the project, after overcoming public opposition and legal hurdles, under which a new domestic terminal and a 2,500 feet parallel runway among various other works would be taken up.
According to M Ramalingam, Chairman, Airports Authority of India (AAI), with the parallel runway the airport could handle 45 flights per hour as against the existing 30 flights.
The expansion project, one of the pet projects of Karunanidhi, at one time faced the danger of being grounded following stiff opposition from residents of Pammal, Pozhichalur, Anakaputhur and Cowl Bazaar localities near the airport for the proposal to acquire lands in their areas.
Political parties, including DMK's then allies, the PMK and Left parties, as well as the Opposition AIADMK and BJP, extended their support to the agitating people.The residents contended that about 25,000 people would be displaced by the land acquisition, with 583 hectares of the total 2,000 acres required for the expansion falling under these residential areas.
26/10/08 PTI/Economic Times

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Fewer flights for lower footfall

The aviation quake has hit Calcutta airport, with some flights from the city being withdrawn and some schedules being reworked with reduced frequency.
The decisions were all announced on Sunday, signalling the start of the winter schedule for most airlines.
Kingfisher withdrew several flights, including two operated by its low-cost subsidiary Kingfisher Red (earlier known as Deccan) and Air India discontinued its only direct flight to London. Lufthansa reduced the frequency of its Frankfurt service from seven to three flights a week.
Among the Kingfisher flights to be withdrawn are two each to Bangalore and Port Blair, and one each to Bagdogra and Vizag. Now, Kingfisher and Kingfisher Red will have only one daily flight each to Bangalore (via Hyderabad).
Air India’s Calcutta-London flight touched down at the city airport for the last time this season on Sunday afternoon, with 129 passengers on board.
Lufthansa German Airline's decision to slash its Frankfurt service from the city is “linked to the recent economic slump”.
27/10/08 The Telegraph

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Flights grope in dark with archaic systems

Chennai: On Thursday night, an Etihad Airways’ cargo aircraft got into an uncomfortable sniffing distance of a Paramount Airways flight at Chennai airport.
Senior professionals at the airport say the ground movement of aircraft is handled using archaic methods. Air traffic controllers (ATC) still continue to depend on the information relayed by pilots, apron staff on aircraft movement along the taxiway using radio telephony and walkie-talkies.
Radio telephony becomes unreliable at times because signals become weak at holding points at both ends of the runway — making it impossible to monitor the aircraft taxiing for take-off and those coming to the apron after landing, says an airport staff.
There is no way an air traffic controller or apron staff can monitor vehicles that move about the apron ferrying passengers to aircraft.
The ATC tower is located equidistant from the two ends of the runway. Still it is difficult for the controllers to visually monitor aircraft at the Pallavaram end of the runway.Hence, controllers who handle ground movement of aircraft, use binoculars to monitor aircraft that is heading along the taxiway to the Pallavaram end of the runway. As this does not work well when visibility is poor, the personnel in the fire control tower — located close to the Guindy end of the runway — watch over the movement of planes ready for take-off. Similarly, the apron control office, which is located near the taxiway that runs parallel to the main runway opposite the Kamaraj domestic terminal, monitors the movement of aircraft along the taxiway and radios the information to the air traffic control.
Even these rudimentary systems fail the pilots when heavy rain blankets visibility — as it happened on Thursday night.
26/10/08 V Ayyappan/Times of India

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Car enters IGI airside without permit

New Delhi: In a major security breach at the IGI Airport, a Toyota Qaulis drove past the cargo gate of the domestic terminal without requisite licence or pass on Friday night.
The incident reportedly occurred at 1.25 am Saturday, with CISF officers guarding the cargo gate not questioning the two occupants of the MUV.
An airport official, who did not want to be identified, said the employees of private firm Sahara Press drove up in a white Qualis (DL5EA3783) around 1 am. First-timers at the airport, they assumed it is normal practice to drive in since there was no one to question them at the cargo gate, the official said.
The duo — R S Yadav, supervisor, and Sishupal, a housekeeping staff — has told officials that they were at the airport to pick up a consignment from Kingfisher cargo. According to officials, no case has been registered. The duo was let off after questioning; they were not arrested.
Each vehicle entering the airport needs a vehicle permit issued by DIAL and only a specified number of permits are issued to check traffic on the airside. Each occupant of the vehicle also needs an airport entry permit, issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security. This could be temporary as well as permanent.
It is also mandatory for a driver to possess an airport driving permit. Issued by GMR, it is given only after proper training in which the driver is told about driving inside the premises, speed limits, and the need to stick to designated routes among others.
26/10/08 Indian Express

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Airlines miss deadline to pay dues to Airports Authority

New Delhi: Indian air carriers have missed the Oct 24 deadline to pay their dues to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for using airport facilities, an official said on Saturday.
Earlier this week, the AAI issued notices to the airlines, including leading private carriers Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, asking them to pay their dues. The airlines owe over Rs.10 billion to AAI.
While Jet Airways owes Rs.3.95 billion, Kingfisher owes Rs.2.11 billion.
The AAI official told IANS that no airline had paid up.
Both Jet and Kingfsher Oct 13 announced a strategic alliance following which they now control 60 percent of the airline market share.
India' flagship carrier Air India pays about Rs.18 billion annually towards landing and parking fees and has an overdue amount of Rs.5 billion.
25/10/08 IANS/Econimic Times

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Upset over delay, flyers create ruckus

Mumbai: For passengers of a Mumbai-Delhi flight, the loss of a night's sleep, along with a six-hour delay, was the final straw. Early on Saturday morning, they created a ruckus at the Mumbai airport and caused inconvenience to passengers of other flights.
The incident occurred around 7.30 am, when about 100 passengers of an Air India Mumbai-Delhi flight agitated over the delay and created a ruckus in the transit area of the international terminal. "The flight, which was to take off at 3 am, was still on the ground and the passengers were angry as there was no information on its status," said an airport source. The flying time between Mumbai and Delhi is two hours. Most of the passengers reached the airport by 1.30 am and the delay wore them down.
An Air India spokesperson confirmed the flight delay, saying it was due to technical reasons.
26/10/08 Times of India

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DIAL to open more food and beverage outlets at airport

New Delhi : Recognising that their end consumer is not just passengers but also the people who come to drop and receive them, Delhi International Airport (P) Limited (DIAL) has now decided to develop more food and beverage outlets at the airport for all “palettes and wallets”.
DIAL is inviting Expressions of Interest (EoI) from interested parties for the setting up of operations, maintenance and management of such outlets at the under-construction new domestic departure terminal, Terminal 1-D, which will cater to full service airlines such as Jet Airways and low-cost carriers. The new terminal, expected to be ready by early next year, will take over from the existing departure terminal, Terminal 1-B. While IGI Airport already has more than 40 food and beverage outlets, DIAL is planning to open several new such outlets in near future.
Major names like McDonalds, Subway, Nirulas, Yo China, Café Coffee Day and Costa Coffee, along with fine dining restaurants operated by India’s leading hotel chains, the Welcome Group and Ashoka Hotels, are already present at the airport.
The new Terminal 1-D will have a capacity to handle on crore passengers per annum. The new building will be a two-level structure, where passengers will check-in at the upper level and proceed to the security hold area. The check-in process will be streamlined with the induction of an advanced in-line baggage handling system.
26/10/08 Geeta Gupta/Indian Express

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Hi-tech equipment to cut foggy flight delays

Chandigarh: Every year, dense fog and poor visibility disrupt flight schedules at the Chandigarh airport, leaving many stranded for hours, or
even days. Cutting down chances of bad weather playing spoilsport, the city’s lone airport — that caters to a large chunk of travellers to the region — would soon get a hi-tech aid that would allow aircraft to land under adverse conditions.
Considered the most advanced in the series, the instrument landing system-III (ILS) would be set up at Chandigarh airfield within the next two months. It would be equipped with the capacity of 150-300 feet; the existing ILS cat-I allows visibility of 2,650 feet. The Indian Air Force, which is currently managing the runway and air traffic control here, would install the new system.
Talking to TOI, an airport official said the existing equipment did not allow flights to land during foggy conditions when the visibility was poor.
The existing system was even not appropriate keeping in view the meteorological conditions of Chandigarh region, said the official. With the installation of ILS-III, passengers would face fewer delays as Delhi and Amritsar airports too are equipped with the same hi-tech device, claimed another official.
26/10/08 Ajay Sura/Times of India

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Airhostess falls from aircraft

New Delhi: In a freak accident on Friday morning, while closing the door of an aircraft, an airhostess fell from the plane onto the tarmac at IGI airport.
According to sources, the Jet Airways airhostess was in the process of closing the door of the Delhi-Mumbai flight around 8 am when the incident took place. Airline officials said that she had a miraculous escape and did not sustain any serious injuries. She has been admitted to the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre at Vasant Kunj.
"The aircraft was a Boeing and hence not very high from the ground. The airline will be bearing all expenses for the girl while she is at the hospital,'' said an airlines spokesperson.
Sources said the airhostess probably lost her balance due to which the accident took place. An airhostess said that the it was a freak incident and could have happened with anyone. "We are expected to wear high heels and perform all the work. Even though we have training and experience of handling such situations, an error could have occurred with anyone,'' she said.
24/10/08 Times of India

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IA flight makes emergency landing

Lucknow: A Delhi-bound Indian Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing at Amausi airport within 15 minutes of its take-off following a technical snag on Friday evening. Director, Airport Lucknow, SD Awasthi said: “The IC-812 flight was carrying 154 passengers on board. The flight landed safely and the passengers were being accommodated in other flights destined for Delhi. The flight has been grounded to go under scanning of the engineers,” Awasthi said.
25/10/08 Lucknow Newsline

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AI terminates Ahmedabad-London flight

Ahmedabad : As the airlines industry grapples with the turmoil in the aviation sector, Air India has announced the termination of its Ahmedabad-London direct flight AI 113 from Thursday.
Air India Deputy General Manager Prasad Rao told Newsline on Friday that the flight is being withdrawn for operational reasons. “With a flight which can accommodate about 225 people, we need to have it full or at least filled to the optimum level for its feasibility,” Rao said, adding that while there are a few frequent fliers from Ahmedabad to London, the flight was not meeting its optimum load level.
25/10/08 Indian Express

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Air India Daily flight from Bangalore to Dubai

Bangalore: National carrier Air India will be introducing daily flights with convenient timings between Bangalore and Dubai and introduce an early morning flight from Bangalore to Mumbai in its winter schedule from October 26.
A release from the Air India office here today said that Air India would now be connecting Bangalore with Dubai daily, five days a week via Goa and two days via Pune. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, the new Air India flight IC 593 would leave Bangalore at 1210 hrs to reach Goa at 1305 hrs and leave Goa at 1345hrs to reach Dubai at 1510 hrs, the release said.
The return flight-IC 594- would leave Dubai on the same days at 1615 hrs to reach Bangalore at 2210 hrs Goa, the release added.
On Wednesdays and Fridays another new Air India flight-IC 689 would leave Bangalore at 11.45 hrs reach Pune at 1300 hrs and leave Pune at 1345hrs to reach Dubai at 1515 hrs (local time). The return flight-IC690 would leave Dubai at 16.15 hrs (local time) on the same days to reach Bangalore at 2225 hrs via Pune.
24/10/08 Mangalorean.com

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Bengal has a new problem: greenfield airport will block a coalfield

Kolkata: The West Bengal government and the Centre face a tough choice: a greenfield air port in Durgapur-Asansol belt or a coal reserve worth Rs 2,40,000 crore.
The greenfield airport in Burdwan’s Andal, the work for which was to start by the year-end, has now been deferred as the state government will have to enter a dialogue with the Coal India Limited (CIL), which has raised objections to the project.
“We will have to hold dialogues with the CIL. The deliberations will be based on the actual ground data about presence and extractability of underground coal, which the CIL claims, lies below the proposed greenfield airport,” said Sabyasachi Sen, secretary for Commerce and Industries, West Bengal.
He added that coal can be found below the Durgapur Steel Plant and IISCO, situated in the same area, but still the projects had come up.
“We will have to find out a solution that enables the project to come up but will not affect the coal reserve’s extractability,” Sen said.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation had already given the go-ahead for the airport and the process of acquiring of about 3500 acres was to begin shortly.
The CIL has raised the objection that if the project comes up, 2 billion tons of coal will become unextractable. It has submitted their objections to the civil aviation ministry on October 12.
25/10/08 Debdutta Ghosh/Expressindia.com

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Maharashtra government to modernise Kolhapur Airport

Mumbai: According to a PTI report, at a meeting held yesterday at the Vidhan Bhavan, which was initiated by Speaker of Legislative Council, Babasaheb Kupekar a decision was taken that the State Government will modernise and expand the Kolhapur Airport on Build Operate and Transport (BOT) basis. Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister, Maharashtra assured that the government will provide fund for the land acquisition process.
According to Harshwardhan Patil, Guardian Minister of Kolhapur, the initial plans of modernisation of the airport will include the expansion of the existing runway from 1,600 metres to 1,900 metres. He informed that the government is also toying with the idea to start night landing facility at the airport. “For the expansion 232 hectare land is required and the government is offering Rs 52 lakh per hectare,” informed Patil. He further stated that during the meeting there was a suggestion to give the modernisation project to the Airport Authority of India (AAI), as earlier the land had been leased to Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation(MIDC) till 2012.
24/10/08 TravelBizMonitor

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Keep old airports for short haul: panel

New Delhi: A parliamentary standing committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture has recommended that the old airports in Hyderabad and Bangalore be used for short haul instead of being shut down.
Addressing journalists after presenting the Committee’s 152nd report on functioning of private airports and related issues, the panel’s Chairman and senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury said the old airports were being used for VIP flights, non-schedule flights and helicopter taxis.
He said the old airports were not in use after their closure, although substantial expenditure was incurred on developing their infrastructure. The Committee was informed that due to the closure of HAL airport in Bangalore, the estimated revenue loss to Airport Authority of India was around Rs.389 crore in 2007-08. Similary, due to the closure of Begumpet airport, AAI lost Rs. 221.15 crore during this period. Closure of old airports coupled with the levy of User Development Fee (UDF) with high taxi and bus fares to the Greenfield airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad meant thattravellers were compelled to use other means of transport like road and trains for short distance destinations, Mr. Yechury said. The UDF has, in fact, rendered air travel from these new airports costlier, both in terms of time and money.
24/10/08 The Hindu

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Low-cost airports can be answer to aviation challenges: study

New Delhi: The non operational airports and low cost airports could be the answer to the challenges faced by the aviation sector in the country as they not only enhance connectivity, but aid in rationalising costs incurred by the airlines and decongesting traffic at regular airports.
“These airports shall also provide much-needed relief for low cost carriers whose financial position has been negatively impacted by rising aviation fuel prices and operational costs,” points out a study released by audit and advisory firm KPMG on Indian airports.
The study has an optimistic outlook towards the future of airport retail as well. It suggests that the takers for airport retail are spread across industries and service providers.
“The food and beverages players have showed the maximum interest in creating a presence in airports, and are closely followed by fashion houses and consumer durable players..,” the study points out.
The findings also say that despite the aviation sector witnessing one of the worst turmoil of recent times, the growth story of airport infrastructure development is still intact.
23/10/08 Livemint

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Domestic airlines owe huge money to AAI too

New Delhi: It’s not only Oil PSUs which have to settle their dues from airlines, even the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is standing in the recovery queue with outstanding claims worth approximately Rs 1,011 crore in lieu of services rendered, according to the data released by civil aviation ministry in the Parliament today.
The state-carrier National Aviation Company of India Ltd (Nacil) accounts for more than 60 per cent of total outstanding amount at Rs 653.10 crore. Of this amount, international carrier, Air India owes AAI less than Rs 100 crore, with the rest of the amount due from the domestic carrier, Indian, an official source told The Indian Express.
It is learnt Air India and AAI are entangled in a dispute over land and building rental. Air India has raised questions over the rate and area under measurement of rented property, and has also opposed revision by 5-10 per cent in rentals by AAI, said the source.The ministry has resorted to arbitration to settle dues of the NACIL.
AAI charges airlines for providing services like landing and parking of aircraft, in addition to renting out land and building to airlines for providing engineering facilities and office space. Typically, airlines are to settle their dues within 30 days, a period which has been breached by most, informed the official.
24/10/08 Smita Aggarwal/Indian Express

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Born in Shiva’s shadow, country’s longest runway cut down by half

New Delhi: A 62-foot idol of Shiva, standing very near the mouth of the third runway at Delhi airport — purportedly the longest in the country — has lopped off more than half the landing strip’s usable stretch as pilots now have to keep the statue in mind before beginning the final descent for touchdown.
The statue, pilots have said, springs up in the funnel area of landing, or the threshold from which an aircraft begins to descend. They argue only 2,443 metres can be effectively used of the total 4,330 metres. This is even 1,020 metres less than primary runway 28/10 which is 3,463 metres long.
Some have pointed out that the shortest runway at the airport — 27/09 — is 2,310 metres long. With an effective landing distance of 2,433 metres in the recently-inaugurated third strip (29/11), it edges out the shortest by only 133 metres.
A senior pilot said the usable stretch of the new runway makes it lesser in stature than standard strips in smaller airports. “Most of it is a shiny, tarred snake. Unusable,” he said.
Promoters of the airport, Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd or DIAL — though not on official record — have tried to discredit the pilots on this argument. However, even for take-offs, pilots said, the available strip is of 3,143 metres — from the Dwarka side.
DIAL officials have also argued that more space on the runway can be used if the glideslope, or the angle at which a plane lands, is increased. Planes land at a steeper angle in Mumbai because the airport is surrounded by hills, they said.
Pilots however reiterated that the Shiva idol — built by the B K Birla trust in March 1994 — was not a hazard to flights.
Meanwhile, DIAL realised the statue would come in the way only after construction had started in December, 2006, sources said. They said it had popped up on the design board, but the government did not hear anything from the company on what should be done about it. Airport personnel said the only way out was to increase the length of the runway, which jacked up costs.
24/10/08 Expressindia.com

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Collision of two flights averted at Chennai airport

Chennai: A collision of two aircraft was averted at the airport in Chennai, after alert air traffic control officials stopped a cargo flight preparing to take off without clearance.
According to airport officials, a Bangalore bound Paramount Airways flight with 49 persons on board was taking off when the Dubai bound Etihaad cargo flight from an adjacent bay started moving towards the same runway last night.
Airport Apron Duty Manager S Yuganantam spotted the cargo flight moving towards the runway and immediately asked the pilot to stop it.
The Etihaad flight has been detained and officials are questioning its pilot, said airport officials.
24/10/08 Expressindia.com

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Panel moots removal of UDF

New Delhi: A Parliamentary Standing Committee has recommended immediate withdrawal of user development fee (UDF) in a bid to make air travel affordable in the country.
Citing the example of new airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad, the chairman of this 31-member committee on transport, tourism and culture, Mr Sitaram Yechury, said the UDF has rendered air travel from these airports costlier, both in terms of time and money.
Currently airlines charge Rs 375 and Rs 1,000 from domestic and international passengers respectively. “Withdrawal of UDF is particularly important in the context of policy objective to make air travel more affordable,” the committee said in its report.
The committee chairman said as both the airports are far away from cities, user development fee with high taxi or bus fares have compelled the passengers to use other means of transport such as road and trains for short distance destinations.
It has therefore recommended that UDF imposed on passengers should be withdrawn and it should not be imposed on passengers in any of the airports. In another significant recommendation, the committee has said being leading airport infrastructure provider the Airports Authority of India (AAI) should have a better say in the modernisation of airports in the country. The committee has recommended that any future Greenfield or Brownfield airport projects must be done under the management of AAI.
23/10/08 The Statesman

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Air traffic hit, Bangalore airport expansion delayed

Bangalore: The turbulence in the markets has reached the skies, as air traffic growth at airports across the country has slowed down and the Bangalore skies are no different with the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) too reflecting this trend.
According to airport sources, the economic downturn and high aviation turbine fuel (ATF) charges have resulted in traffic not picking up until late August and September. Usually, every year, May, June and July are considered low periods in the Indian airline industry, but this slowdown phase continuing till September has made it obvious that there is a decrease in air travel.
“The BIA began operations with 170 flights a day and will end the summer 2008 season with 162 flights a day. The winter 2008 flights will increase to 165 flights a day resulting in a growth of 1.5 per cent. Although domestic air traffic reflects a negative growth of 1.5 per cent, this overall positive growth in movement is due to the increase in international flight operations from Bangalore,” BIA officials told Express.
However, on the international front, in the last four-and-half-months since the commissioning of the airport in May, six new international carriers have been introduced and a total increase in international flights is said to be over 230 per cent as compared to last year’s winter schedule.
24/10/08 Hemanth CS/Express Buzz

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Air navigation system to be world's most sophisticated

Hyderabad: By 2011, India will have arguably the most sophisticated satellite-based air navigation system in the world that will bring immense benefits to both civilian and military aircraft, experts said.
Raytheon Company of the US is currently leading a team of companies to deliver a comprehensive solution for a global satellite navigation system to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Airports Authority of India.
The $196 million or Rs.7.74 billion Global Positioning Satellite-Aided Geosynchronous Augmented Navigation system or GAGAN, to be implemented from the end of this year or early next year, will provide India with the most accurate, flexible and efficient air navigation system ever deployed.
"India had asked for the most sophisticated navigation system - even more sophisticated than what we have implemented in the US and Japan and we have shown that we are ready to deliver that," Raytheon's director of business development and strategic planning Fred A. Treyz III told IANS.
Treyz was here as part of Raytheon's delegation to the first civil aviation air show in India, the India Aviation 2008 held here Oct 15-18, 2008.
The GAGAN design is based on the experience that Raytheon gained while implementing the only certified space-based navigation augmentation systems in the world in the US and Japan.
24/10/08 IANS/The Hindu

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Pratibha inaugurates Meghalaya’s second airport at Tura

Guwahati: President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on Thursday inaugurated and dedicated the second airport of Meghalaya — the Baljek airport at Tura in West Garo Hills district, to people of the State and nation. She congratulated the Meghalaya government for building the airport and hoped that it would provide connectivity to that part of the State and rest of the nation.
“The opening of this airport should encourage tourism which is an important engine for growth. This will help people from other parts of the country to visit the beautiful Garo Hills to enjoy its great scenic beauty, its cultural heritage and interact with the local population, which is known for its friendly attitude,” said Ms. Patil in her speech delivered at the inaugural ceremony.
She said in order to have growth that is sustainable, it would be important to build infrastructure in a manner that overcomes the obstacles of low connectivity and difficult hilly terrain.
24/10/08 The Hindu

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NRI brings 'extortion' charge against immigration officials

Kolkata: A non-resident Indian from South Korea, who landed in the city on Thursday, lodged a complaint against airport immigration officers, saying that they “extorted” $35 from him after detaining him for over three hours.
Krishna Kumar Diwidi arrived by a Jet Airways flight from Bangkok. He came back to India after spending three years abroad. Krishna, who works with an MNC in Seoul, was en route to Gorakhpur, his hometown.
The Jet Airways flight landed at Kolkata at 10.15 am, but he was allowed to leave the security hold only at 1.15 pm. He then went to the airport manager’s office and lodged the compliant. “We asked him to tell us the exact counter number where he went for his immigration check so that we can ask the official. He failed to tell us the counter number and left the airport,” said an Airports Authority of India official. Immigration officials at the airport denied charges that they extorting money from him.
24/10/08 Times of India

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AERA Bill, 2007 passed by Lok Sabha

The Bill for setting up the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) was passed by the Lok Sabha today. The prime objective of AERA will be to create a level playing field and foster healthy competition among all major airports (Government owned, Public Private Partnership based, Private) encourage investment in airport facilities regulate tariffs of aeronautical services, protection of reasonable interest of users, operate efficient, economic and viable airports at notified airports.
The Authority shall consist of a Chairperson and 2 persons to be appointed by the Central Government from amongst persons having adequate knowledge and professional expertise in aviation, economic law, commerce or consumer affairs. The member shall be whole time appointees.
Whenever the Authority is deciding a matter involving a civil enclave in a Defence airfield, the Defence Ministry will be represented by an additional member on the Authority who will be nominated by the Ministry of Defence.
The function of the AERA will be to:
(i) Determine tariff structure for aeronautical services taking into consideration.
- capital expenditure incurred and timely investment in improvement of airport facilities.
- service provided, its quality and other relevant factors
- cost of improving efficiency
- economic and viable operation of major airports
- concession offered by central government in any MoU; etc. provided that different tariff structures are determined for different airports:
(ii) Determine the amount of development fees in respect of major airports
(iii) Determine amount of passenger service fee to be levied under the Aircraft Rules.
(iv) Monitor the performance standards relating to quality, continuity and reliability of service as may be specified by Central Government or any authority authorized by it.
(v) Call for information as may be necessary to determine the tariff.
Perform such other tariff related functions as may be entrusted to it by the Central Government or as may be necessary to carry out the provision of the Act.
The Authority will also have penal powers. It will have the power to:
• Penalize for willful failure to comply with its orders and directions of the AERA Act.
• Punish for non-compliance of the orders of the Authority
• Penalize for offences by companies
• Penalize for offences by Government Departments.
The Authority shall determine tariff once in 5 years and may, if it considers appropriate in public interest amend, the tariff from time to time during the 5 years.
The AERA Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on 5 September, 2007. It was, thereafter, referred for the consideration of the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture.The Standing Committee examined the AERA Bill in consultation with the stakeholders and presented its report to the Parliament on 17 April, 2008. The Committee had made some recommendations most of which were introduced to the Bill.The Bill will now be introduced in Rajya Sabha.
22/10/08 Press Information Bureau (press release)

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AI to fly Goa-Dubai five times a week

Panjim: Come October 26, 2008 Air India (AI) will commence direct scheduled flights from Goa to Dubai , five times a week.
According to officials from Air India, this is the first time that the airline will be operating five direct flights from Goa to Dubai.
The two non-operational days are Wednesday and Friday.
A senior official from Air India speaking to Herald said that the airline has re-arranged its winter schedule increasing the flights from Goa to Dubai from thrice a week to five times a week.
What makes the new schedule historic for Goa is the direct connection within a flying time of two and a half hours.
The return journey is also a direct flight to Goa and not via Bangalore.
22/10/08 Herald Publications

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Meinya urges for night landing at Imphal Airport

New Delhi: Dr Thokchom Meinya, Member of Parliament from Manipur today in the Lok Sabha urged the Union Minister of Civil Aviation for early implementation of the night landing facilities at Imphal Airport, which the Centre had announced for the facility long back.
Participating at the discussion on the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority of India Bill, 2007, Dr Meinya stated that the airports situated in the far flung border States required night landing facilities so that the round the clock flight services be extended to these airports.
The Members of Parliament after visiting their parliamentary constituencies in the far flung States could not reach the Capital immediately due to lack of flight services at the airports in the late hour, he added.
22/10/08 The Sangai Express/E-Pao.net

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Domestic air passenger traffic dips 30% at Jaipur

Jaipur: The economic slowdown has continued to tighten its grip on the aviation industry. The Jaipur airport has witnessed a sharp fall of 30% dom
estic air passengers in the last quarter (July-September). This is the sixth consecutive month that the passenger movement has seen a fall, thanks to rise in fares several times.
Similarly, the air traffic has registered a negative growth despite a reduction of 40% flights operated by different airlines. The passenger load has fallen to a five-year low at Jaipur airport.
According to the latest figures released by the Airport Authority of India, Jaipur, the total number of passengers in the second quarter of 2008 stood at 1.67 lakh, down by almost 77,000 in the year-ago quarter. September was the worst-hit as air passenger traffic registered a 38% negative growth.
The domestic passengers travelled in September is 50,172, compared with 80,934 in the year-ago month.
During the same period, the overseas travellers registered a minimal growth of 3%, barring September, which maintained a negative growth of 9% due to global slowdown followed by vast cancellations of bookings by foreigners.
23/10/08 Shoeb Khan/Times of India

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Even after crackdown, IGI still unsafe for foreign tourists

New Delhi: Two days after the murder of a Saudi businessman by a prepaid taxi driver and his accomplices was unravelled by the police, touts continue to have a field day at the airport.
TOI visited the airport on Tuesday night to see if the authorities had got their act together. They had not, it turned out. Despite heavy police and media presence, the usual ''kahaan madams'' had not stopped. Only, the touts had become more furtive.
Within a span of 15 minutes, the TOI team was approached by two touts, offering to go to the desired destination, Laxmi Nagar, for ''just Rs 500''. The prepaid rate for the distance is Rs 350. Several more lurked around but were cautious due to the presence of police personnel.
A group of foreign tourists came out of the arrival terminal and hopped into the first taxi available before them, without any prepaid coupon. This on a day when the police had asked the Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd (DIAL) to ensure that passengers, specially foreigners, took only prepaid or radio cabs.
It has been over seven months since DIAL reorganized its prepaid cab system to the queue format that we see now. DIAL and traffic police appointed marshals and officials to ensure that the notorious tout system came to an end as they personally helped passengers into registered taxis. But this does not seem to have made much of a difference. A DIAL spokesperson, however, said it was a police matter and should be addressed by them.
Foreign tourists fall easy prey to these people because India is one of the few countries that follow the system of prepaid cabs. For foreigners therefore, the idea that a 'visibly government-certified cab' - in this case a black and yellow taxi - may not always be safe, is rather strange.
23/10/08 Neha Lalchandani & Richi Verma/Times of India

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Suspected LTTE man with fake passport held at Thiruvananthapuram airport

Thiruvananthapuram: suspected LTTE member was arrested at the airport here while trying to board a flight to London this morning allegedly on a fake passport.
Police identified the arrested as Shanmugarajan, who was trying to fly to the UK by an Emirates flight on a British passport in which his name was shown as Gunaseelan.
He was detained after the Emigration officials found his passport to be fake.
On being questioned, it was learnt that he had come here from Chennai and was planning to board the flight to London, Immigration officials said.
Shanmugarajan has been confirmed as a Sri Lankan national. Other details such as when and how he came to India were yet to be ascertained, police sources said.
22/10/08 PTI/Times of India

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Journalist seeks Rs3 mn damages from Delta Airlines

Thiruvananthapuram: A Kerala journalist has demanded a compensation of Rs 3 million from Delta Airlines over extra payment he was charged for baggage at a New York airport.
In his petition to the District Consumer Protection Redressal Forum here, P Sreekumar, bureau chief of Malayalam newspaper Janmabhoomi, demanded the compensation for the mental torture and agony he said he suffered from this episode during a trip he took to the US last June with his wife and a colleague.
When they arrived at the New York airport on June 21 with tickets for Houston, they were told they could take only one checked-in baggage each and asked to pay $210 for the other three pieces they had brought from India.
Sreekumar told IANS that they had every right to carry the luggage without any payment because their ticket clearly stated they could each take two pieces of checked-in baggage.
"We were harassed at the airport by officials of the airline and they were adamant that if we wished to proceed with the luggage, we have to pay the charges," said Sreekumar. "We had no extra money with us. But luckily we had with us a credit card and used that."
"We have sought a compensation of Rs1 million each, plus the US $210 which they charged," he said.
22/10/08 IANS/Sify

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Economic slump drags BIA down

Bangalore: For more proof that the storm buffeting Indian aviation will claim victims other than carriers, look no further than the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA). The phenomenal growth of passenger air traffic out of Bangalore has suddenly hit the brakes.
For the first time since the aviation boom began five years ago, Bangalore’s passenger air traffic is expected to nosedive by 10%, for the year ending 2008-09. Going by previous years, analysts had predicted that traffic would touch 11.5 million passengers this fiscal. Now, due to emergence of international and domestic economic air pockets, Bangalore International Airport Limited, BIA’s promoter, is projecting passenger traffic of 9.2 million. The figure for 2007-08 stood at 10.12 million, an increase of 24.4% over 2006-07.
In the past three years, the city’s average growth in passenger air traffic was 35.2%, the highest in India and more than double of India’s passenger growth figures.
Albert Brunner, CEO, BIAL, said, “Since June, there has been a dramatic fall in monthly traffic at all Indian airports. Current projection for 2008-09 is 9.2 million passengers.”
Latest data on passenger traffic for July, available with the Airports Authority of India, shows the country’s busiest airports — Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad — reported a 15.5% drop in traffic over the same period in 2007.
22/10/08 Anshul Dhamija/Times of India

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Air passengers stranded, again

Barely a week after the taxi and the autorickshaw union went on strike, passengers were once again left in a lurch at the Mumbai airport on Tuesday.
Following the arrest of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, taxi and autorickshaws stayed off the road fearing backlash from the MNS members.
“I came to Mumbai from Bangalore especially to meet my sister,” said Air India passenger Nafisa Khatoon, 38. “I came out of the airport around 11am and was shocked to see that there were no rickshaws or taxis. I had to ask my sister to send her car to pick me up,” she added.
“We heard that several taxis were damaged by MNS activist at Borivili, Kandivili and Dahisar. No driver would like to come to the airport under such circumstances,” said Kanhaiya Singh, president, Mumbai Airport Taxi Union. “However, many of them reported to work in the evening,” he added.
22/10/08 Daily News & Analysis

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Girl barred from airport, sis cooks up terror hoax

Kolkata: Three members of a dance troupe were barred from an Agartala-bound flight, detained and interrogated for three hours after the airport office got a call that the trio were "terrorists" planning to "destroy" the aircraft.
The drama started at 6.24 am when a woman called the airport board number and asked for the domestic manager. After the line was transferred, she said: "I am calling from the CID office. Three terrorists - Mr S Dutta, Ms A Dutta, and Mr P Ghosh - are flying to Agartala. They will attack the aircraft. Stop them until we reach."
The airport manager alerted CISF officers, who went through the passenger manifest of all Agartala-bound flights and found the names of the three passengers on an IndiGo flight that was scheduled to depart in 45 minutes. With barely 15 minutes to spare, the three were tracked down and surrounded by securitymen. The CISF personnel found that the 'suspects' were among 21 members of a dance troupe booked on the flight. Securitymen first re-checked the trio's baggage and then that of the other 17 members of the troupe.
Though nothing suspicious was found, they decided not to take any risk and detained the three. The rest were allowed to board the flight without their luggage.
It is during this grilling that police learnt that a 20-year-old girl, Suranjana Guha, had been denied entry to the check-in area because she did not have an ID card - a must for all passengers flying to the North-East.
Police took her landline number and contacted the BSNL authorities to check if the call to the airport number had originated from it. There was a match.
When officers went to the girl's Ultadanga residence and confronted the family, Suranjana's sister Nilanjana admitted to having made the hoax call.
The three passengers were allowed to board another IndiGo flight to Agartala at 12.30 pm.
21/10/08 Times of India

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Will Bidar airport take off?

Bangalore: The state government’s plans of opening up the Bidar Air Force base for civilian flights have hit a roadblock with the promoters who built the Hyderabad airport raising objections.
Reason: there cannot be two airports within an area of 150-km radius, according to the guidelines issued by the Union civil aviation ministry, with regard to greenfield airports. The Bidar air force base is about 120 km from Hyderabad International Airport.
This is the same principle that did not allow two airports in Bangalore.
The promoter of Hyderabad-based GMR group has written to the Union civil aviation ministry not to allow operation of civilian flights from Bidar. The group said that having another airport within 150 km would violate their agreement with the Andhra Pradesh government.
They have also said that they would suffer losses if the Bidar airport begins operations. However, a spokesperson for the GMR group denied having written any letter to the Union civil aviation ministry. “We are not aware of any such development,’’ he said.
Providing aviation facilities in Bidar is very important for the Karnataka government, as its estimates show that nearly five lakh Sikhs from all over the world will visit the city in November and December.
Their visit will coincide with the Gur Ta Gaddi celebrations, the commemoration of the consecration of the Guru Granth Sahib as the last Guru of the Sikh community, by Guru Govind Singh.
21/10/08 Rishikesh Bahadur Desai/Times of India

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Bangalore airport to go slow on expansion

Bangalore: Bangalore’s five-month-young airport, which was expected to have a dream take-off on the back of a phenomenal traffic growth during 2005-07, now seems to be going slow on its expansion plan in the face of a traffic decline.
“There has been a dramatic fall in monthly traffic for all airports in India since June 2008. We are currently conducting a study on the current trend and based on the results, which will be out in two-three months, we will take a decision on our next expansion plan,” the operator, BIAL, said in response to queries from Business Line.
Until a couple of months ago, its CEO, Albert Brunner, was hoping to take up a mezzanine expansion now and a larger Rs 3,500-crore phase 2 in early 2009 with a second terminal, pending the board’s clearance.
Traffic numbers, it said, reflected the overall slowdown across the country. Admitted to feeling the pinch, it said, “The overall annual growth of passenger volume [at Bengaluru International Airport] has dropped to 3 per cent since June 2008,” compared to an anticipated 8 per cent growth rate.
The Southern sector has been especially dented. “There has been a drop of approximately 15 per cent in the flights operating in the Southern sector from Bangalore since May 2008...” BIA said.
21/10/08 Madhumathi D.S/Business Line/Sify

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Shimla airport to have aviation observatory

Shimla: Shimla Airport at Jubarhatti would now get an aviation observatory that is expected to make the landing of in-bound flights easier during bad weather conditions. The Indian Metrological Department (IMD) has already completed the initial formalities for the observatory and the equipment would soon be installed, confirmed Director General of IMD, Ajeet Tyagi.
At present, there is no apparatus at the airport that can automatically convey the sudden change in weather in Shimla due to which flights coming to Shimla from Delhi or Chandigarh could be informed in time. There have also been many instances where the flights took off from another station but could not get landing permission due to bad weather.
The Himachal Pradesh government has been insisting on expansion of Shimla and Kullu airports and has informed the Central government about the requirement. Installation of an aviation observatory is a prelude to the future expansion. A team of the Civil Aviation Ministry has already visited Shimla airport thrice to assess it for expansion. The only expansion in recent times has been that of introduction of an additional terminal at Bhuntar airport in Kullu.
Tyagi said that besides the aviation observatory which would establish a direct link with other airports, Himachal would get more advanced technology to predict disasters such as a cloud burst.
21/10/09 Hemlata Verma/Chandigarh Newsline

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Mumbai airport leads the web check-in

A global survey by SITA has found that Indian travellers use the web more than often for flight booking and check-in. Mumbai leads all six airports when it comes to web check-in with a score of 19.3 per cent just ahead of Atlanta, 18 per cent..
SITA, THE specialist provider of information technology (IT) solutions to airlines and airports on Thursday (October 16), said that there is an overwhelming evidence from passengers surveyed at six of the world’s busiest airports across five continents that self-service is fast becoming the norm for passengers from Mumbai to Atlanta.
The first ever global survey to look at use of Passenger Self-Service at a major Indian airport, Mumbai International, has found that Indian travellers use the web more than often for flight booking and check-in.
The SITA/Air Transport World Passenger Self-Service Survey takes an in-depth look at the attitudes and habits of a representative sample of the 232 million passengers who use six of the world’s busiest airports across five continents: Hartsfield-Jackson, Atlanta; Mumbai International; Charles De Gaulle, Paris; Moscow Domodedovo; Sao Paulo Guarulhos, Brazil and Johannesburg or Tambo International Airport.
The data is extracted from interviews with 2,143 passengers from over 60 countries travelling in over 100 airlines, conducted at the departure gates, earlier this year.
The use of self-service check-in at Mumbai (28.7 per cent) rivals that one of mainland Europe’s main gateways, Paris Charles De Gaulle (29.9 per cent) but most significantly, Mumbai leads all six airports when it comes to web check-in with a score of 19.3 per cent just ahead of Atlanta, 18 per cent.
20/10/08 Swati Mehrotra/Merinews

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