Charter aircraft to Land at old terminal

Indore: The preprations of Global Investor summit are under final shape. It has been decided to land the charter aircraft of the guests of summits at old terminal. So that the regular flights’ movements and parking of their large aircrafts could not be disturbed. Protocol officer BBS Tomar said that it has been decided that to land and park the charter aircrafts at old terminal, but the guests will come out of airport from new terminal building. They will not be passed through the old terminal building, because the shattering condition and arrangements of the old terminal building.
02/10/14 Free Press Journal

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Development of Kolhapur, Karad airports on the right track

Kolhapur: The proposed development of Kolhapur and Karad airports is on track with officials concerned busy completing paperwork to undertake construction work at both the places. While the Kolhapur airport is already functional but will be expanded with some assured air connectivity, the officials of Karad airport, which is comparatively small in size, are set to finish the bureaucratic work by the end of November.
The state government and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) handed over around 223 hectares of land to Airports Authority of India (AAI) for the development of Kolhapur airport. The entire project will be developed by AAI, said Ashok Patil, regional officer of MIDC.
The KMC had ownership of 223 hectares of land at Ujalaiwadi near the city since the last 15 years, but could not develop it into a fully operational airport.
31/10/13 Nikhil Deshmukh/Times of India

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Centre accords international tag to Bhubaneswar airport

Bhubaneswar: What was seen as a Diwali gift for the people of Odisha, the Union cabinet on Wednesday accorded international status to the Biju Patnaik airport here. It was a long standing demand of the state government that international flights be started from the airport to help boost the tourism potential of the state.
The Union civil aviation minister, Ajit Singh, who had inaugurated the new domestic terminal on March 5 this year, had assured that his ministry would connect Bhubaneswar to the international network.
"The cabinet decision according international status to the airport came at the right time. We have almost completed the modification work at the old domestic terminal. Now we hope international fliers will approach us to start operations," said airport director Sharad Kumar.
31/10/13 Riyan Ramanath V/Times of India

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Maharashtra suggests new site for proposed Pune international airport

Pune: The state government has suggested a new location for the proposed Pune international airport to the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The site is located off Pune-Nashik highway and its technical inspections are underway.
Pune divisional commissioner Prabhakar Deshmukh said, "The location of the airport has been tentatively decided. It is adjacent to the existing special economic zone (SEZ) of Bharat Forge and the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation. The state government will acquire of this SEZ land and private land for the airport's construction. A technical team has visited the site and another from the civil aviation ministry will soon inspect it."
"We are waiting for the technical report of the civil aviation ministry, whose approval is needed for finalizing the location of the airport," Deshmukh said.
31/10/13 Times of India

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City airport goes international

The Union cabinet today accorded international status to Biju Patnaik Airport in Bhubaneswar.
The development is expected to impart a major fillip to tourism apart from accelerating the growth of other industries in the state. The tag comes more than seven months after the new terminal was inaugurated at the airport on March 5 at a cost of Rs 145 crore.
The news was expected with the authorities putting up the “international” signboard at terminal 2 and opening immigration and customs counters in anticipation of the tag. The quarantine bay, mandatory for all international airports, is also ready.
Imphal airport also got the coveted status today.
“This is Centre’s Diwali gift to the state. The aviation sector will receive a boost with international fights taking off from here. Already, 10 international flight operators have evinced interest in running their services, especially to Southeast Asia and the Middle East,” said airport director Sharad Kumar.
31/10/13 Telegraph

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International status for Imphal airport

New Delhi: Imphal and Bhubaneswar airports have been given international status, a move which will allow foreign airlines to land there.
The decision to declare the two airports as international airports was taken by the Union Cabinet at its meeting here on Wednesday.
The Cabinet decision will also facilitate the setting up of immigration and customs at these two airports, a pre-requisite for an international airport.
30/10/13 Nagaland Post

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India, Colombia seek Miami airport’s consulting

Since its creation in March, the Miami-Dade County Aviation Department’s consulting business has been contacted by five foreign entities that have inquired about its services, the department said.
The MIA Business Ventures Program – a consulting services corporation – was created so the Aviation Department, which manages Miami International Airport, can sell airport-related advice to raise money for Miami International’s operations.
The program’s first job came in April, when it coordinated training in explosive detection practices for Port Au Prince’s Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Haiti in cooperation with the US State Department and the Miami-Dade Police Department.
MIA Business Ventures also was contacted recently by an entity seeking training and support for its bid to operate concessions at Chennai International Airport in India, which served more than 13 million passengers last year.
Another inquiry came from a bidder for the concession contract at Barranquilla’s Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport in Colombia.
30/10/13 Scott Blake/Miami Today

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Work on Rs 250-cr Kochi terminal to start in Jan

Kochi:  Cochin International Airport Ltd will soon take up the construction of a new Rs 250-crore, 15 lakh sq.ft terminal to meet the growing demands for the next 20 years.
The tender for the civil works, as part of the Rs 850-crore third phase developmental works, will be released on November 1 and the work is expected to start from January next.
CIAL will stick to individual tendering rather than go in for lump-sum contract method as that would be more costly, said V. J. Kurien, Managing Director.
The airport company, the first PPP project in the civil aviation sector, has also plans to develop airports in other parts of the country as part of its diversification plans.
31/10/13 V Sajeev Kumar/Business Line

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British Airways launches 6th direct London-Chennai flight

Chennai: Enhancing its services in South India, British Airways has introduced its sixth direct flight between Chennai and London.
"The flight touched down at Chennai International airport on October 27, marking the arrival of its sixth direct service to Chennai," British Airways said in a statement.
Adding tradition and heritage to its grand arrival, the aircraft was decorated in vibrant red and blue sarees created by city based retailer Nalli.
31/10/13 Economic Times

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Airport gives 10-year contract for food stalls

Chennai: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has selected a master concessionaire to set up food and beverage outlets in Chennai airport, though the facility is expected to be privatised by January 2014. The 10-year contract was awarded to Mumbai-based Travel Food Services on Wednesday.
The bid was opened last week and around 4,000sq m of space will be given to the contractor for setting up food and beverages (F&B) stalls for Rs 14.5 crore a year. The concessionaire will have to set up a special purpose vehicle in 30 days and the outlets in 90 days. The contract also says that the existing outlets will have to be removed after giving notices to them.
31/10/13 Times of India

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Tourist from Russia arrested in Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram: A 34-year-old woman tourist from Russia was arrested at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport on Wednesday for unruly behaviour aboard a flight and for assaulting Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel. Mariia Kontrahhova, a Russian national, was taken by the Quick Response Team of the CISF from the aircraft after the crew of the Qatar Airways flight that landed here at 3.42 a.m. complained to the airport manager about her behaviour.
According to the police, she attacked CISF personnel Sandhya and Sharmila Das who tried to take her into custody from the aircraft. She inflicted injuries on the CISF personnel.
31/10/13 The Hindu

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High court permits clearing of mangroves for Navi Mumbai airport

Mumbai:  In a major boost for the proposed Navi Mumbai airport, the Bombay high court on Tuesday gave its go-ahead to Cidco's request to be able to clear mangroves for the greenfield project.
Hearing an application filed by Cidco, a division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice M S Sanklecha approved the agency's plans to also create mangrove plots in another area in lieu of the mangroves that will be destroyed for the airport.
With the HC nod in place, Cidco has managed to obtain the last of the environmental clearances for the project. Environmentalists, however, plan to challenge the approvals before the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal.
30/10/13 Shibu Thomas/Times of India

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CIDCO ups efforts for deal with Navi Mumbai airport affected people

Mumbai: Even as the Bombay High Court has allowed to cut mangroves spread over 108 hectares, the state-run City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) has yet to cross the major hurdle of acquiring 291 hectares of private land and the agreement with project affected persons (PAPs) over compensation. This is crucial to kick start development of Navi Mumbai international airport.
Both CIDCO and the state government are stepping up efforts to arrive at a consensus over compensation for PAPs before the meeting convened by the Prime Minister on November 13 to expedite the project development. PAPs, who have dropped their earlier demand of Rs 20 crore per acre, are demanding allocation of 35% developed land against offer of 22.5% made by the state government and CIDCO. The state government has already clarified that land for land compensation formula would be implemented instead of cash for cash formula for PAPs.
30/10/13 Sanjay Jog/Business Standard

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Sahara group in race to run Amausi airport?

Lucknow: The Sahara group has reportedly shown interest in running Lucknow's Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport at Amausi. According to reliable sources, the company has examined the assets and liabilities of the airport for which request for quotations (RFQ) would be issued by the ministry of civil aviation. GMR, which looks after the Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi, is another company in the race to run the airport once it is provatised.
According to AAI sources, the RFQ was to be issued to select companies on October 18. But now it has been postponed till November 12. Sources said the extension comes in the wake of a clause which states that the company interested should not have a case pending in any court of law in India or abroad. The civil aviation department was examining legal prospects for the same after which request for proposals (RFP) will be issued to these companies.
30/10/13 Pankaj Shah/Times of India

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Less landing fee to woo private operators

Bhubaneswar:  To boost air connectivity, the state government on Monday revised landing and night parking charges for private operators, intending to run intra-state passenger aircraft and helicopters.
Sources said the government has reduced the landing fee by more than 90%.
"Private tour operators and local fliers had proposed starting intra-state air services. Besides, rapid growth in industry, IT, technical education, mining and allied sectors has led to a rise in the use of aircraft by private operators.
The revised landing charge for aircraft and helicopters is Rs 400. Earlier, private operator had to pay Rs 5,000.
30/10/13 Riyan Ramanath V/Times of India

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Fog returns, low visibility at IGI airport

New Delhi: The first snowfall of the season over the Himalayas is expected within the next couple of days with the first western disturbance after the monsoon likely to affect northwest India between October 31 and November 1. Meanwhile, as winds weakened over the region, light fog and smog returned to Delhi and visibility at the airport fell to a low of 600m on Tuesday.
Met officials said that low visibility conditions were likely to remain for at least another two days. "There are light westerly winds prevailing over Delhi at present which have led to a drop in temperature. The conditions are ideal for development of fog and smog. Visibility at the airport has also come down by 30-40% from 1,000m-3,000m on Monday to 600m-1,500m on Tuesday," said R K Jenamani, director in-charge, IGI Met.
30/10/13 Times of India

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Govt taps CPM on airport land

Durgapur: The Burdwan administration today requested the CPM to convince farmers to part with their land for shifting electricity towers near the runway of the proposed Andal airport after local Trinamul leaders refused to get involved citing unwillingness of the residents to give plots.
Pandaveswar MLA Gouranga Chatterjee, under whose area the 70 acres identified for acquisition fall, and other local CPM leaders, however, did not attend a meeting the Durgapur sub-divisional officer (SDO) called today with project promoter Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd (BAPL) and district officials to know the pulse of the farmers. No farmer representative attended the meeting either.
Chatterjee, whose party’s support in Burdwan has waned, said he felt “ignored and insulted” at not being invited to the naming ceremony of the airport on September 19.
“I was surprised that I was not invited even though I am the local MLA. Our party had conceived and promoted the project in 2007. I felt ignored and insulted. A district official called me up last evening and sought help in convincing the villagers to give up their land. The official requested me to attend today’s meeting,” Chatterjee said.
29/10/13 Telegraph

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Lapses ground International flights from taking off/landing

Imphal: Whereas maximum efforts are being put in to introduce Imphal-Mandalay flight service ahead of the Manipur Sangai Festival, many lapses have been detected on the part of the State Government.
Although India and Myanmar signed an agreement for launching air connectivity between the two countries during Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's visit to Myanmar last year, and the DGCA has given its consent for Myanmar based private airline Golden Myanmar to operate to and from Tulihal Airport, one cannot say that Tulihal Airport is ready for international flights, informed an official source.
As of now, Tulihal Airport does not have space required for an international airport.
30/10/13 The Sangai Express/E-Pao

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Lohegaon airfield upgrade from Jan 8: AFS chief

Pune: The Lohegaon airfield modernization works will commence from January 8 and will continue till April 8, Lohegaon Air Force Station chief Air Commodore Surat Singh confirmed on Tuesday.
A total of 17 flights, including the services to Dubai and Frankfurt, are likely to be impacted and will have to be rescheduled owing to runway closure, as the works will be carried out during night time, between 10 pm and 8 am during the three months.
The laying of new embedded lights along the centre line of the 8,300 feet runway length will necessitate closure of runway. "Initially, the works were to start in December, but we are squeezing as much time as possible to see that the impact on civilian flights is minimal," said Surat Singh, Air Officer Commanding of Air Force Station (AFS), Lohegaon.
30/10/13 Vishwas Kothari/Times of India

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Paris airport ordeal for Indian fliers

Mumbai: When Jay Shah (24), a business professional, boarded the Air France flight AF 17 from JFK Airport, New York on October 9, he had no inkling of the ordeal that awaited him. He and his fellow passengers were not only stranded for more than 24 hours at the Charles De Gaulle Airport, the largest airport in France, but they also claim to be ill-treated by the airport staff on the basis of their ethnicity.
First their connecting flight to Mumbai from Paris was delayed and then cancelled apparently due to technical issues as cited by the airline officials. A delay or cancellation of flights require the airline to provide passengers with two free phone calls, free meals, free accommodation and compensation for the ordeal, according to European law.
“We were denied access to the Air France, lounge which is supposedly meant only for business-class passengers. Instead, we were made to sleep in the airport’s upper deck resting area which had a limited number of seats, so most of us ended up sleeping on the floor. All the occupants of this resting area were mostly Indian,” says an enraged Shah.
30/10/13 Karishma Goenka/Daily News & Analysis

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Mist Led to flight diversions: CIAL MD

Nedumbassery: V J Kurien, managing director of Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL), has said that heavy mist was the reason for as many as four flights being diverted from the airport on Sunday. Kurien told reporters here on Monday that nearly 400-metre-area of the runway was covered in thick mist early on Sunday, rendering it highly risky for landing of aircraft.
Oman Air WY225 flight from Muscat to Kochi was the first one diverted to Bangalore early on Sunday. Then, an Air India Thiruvananthapuram-Kochi-Delhi flight, AI466, was sent back to Thiruvananthapuram. The third flight to be re-routed, again to Thiruvananthapuram, was Air India flight AI054 from Mumbai to Kochi.
29/10/13 New Indian Express

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Cabs resume services at Bangalore airport

Bangalore: Cab services to and from Bangalore International Airport resumed around Sunday midnight after police lathi charged striking cab drivers to disperse them.
According to sources, the police asked the cab drivers to withdraw their stir over compensation for their colleague, who died earlier in the day on Sunday. When they refused to take back the stir till the family was suitably compensated the police resorted to lathi charge.
28/10/13 Sharath S Srivatsa/The Hindu

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Robbed woman flyer goes through hell at police station

Mumbai: A woman had to spend over four hours in a police station trying to lodge a proper FIR after she had been hit and robbed while transiting from the international to the domestic airport soon after Sunday midnight.
Sonali Sabherwal, 24, had arrived from Goa and was going by an autorickshaw around 12.15am to catch a connecting flight to Bhopal when her bag with jewellery worth Rs 12.5 lakh and Rs 20-25,000 in cash was snatched by the pillion rider on a bike near the airport colony gate in Vile Parle.
Distraught, she made for the nearest police station, where the officer on duty asked how he could be sure that she was transiting as she claimed she was and whether she was carrying the bills for the jewellery she alleged were robbed. When she left almost four hours later, the officer had only registered a theft case of Rs 30,000.
The officer included the ornament details after senior officers at the police station intervened. On Monday evening Sonali's husband Sachin - both professionals settled in Goa - came from Goa and produced the jewellery bills before the police.
30/10/13 Vijay V Singh/Times of India

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Akola airport expansion map submitted to collector

Akola: The land records department here has prepared the map for runway extension at Shivani airport, 5kms away from Akola city on Akola-Murtizapur road. The proposal has been submitted to district collector for approval, said official sources.
Valuation report of land required for expansion has also been submitted to the district land acquisition department by Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth (PDKV) and PWD. The extension requires 95 hectares land, of which 34 hectares is private property.
29/10/13 Times of India

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Panel suggests relocation of Punnamada waterdrome

Thiruvananthapuram: The expert committee constituted by the state government to study the objections raised by the fishing community regarding the seaplane service has suggested relocating the landing and take-off zone and waterdrome at Punnamada to an area with the least fishing activities.
Tourism department officials have agreed to the location and informed the venue to Kairali Aviation managing director K R Sashikumar. The committee has asked the government to conduct test flights at various locations so that it can study the impact first-hand. The seaplane operator has agreed to conduct the test flight for study, provided the government pays for fuel, pilot fees and other charges.
29/10/13 Sangeetha Nair/Times of India

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Bangalore airport upgrades its carbon accreditation certification

Mumbai: Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has announced that it has successfully upgraded its airport carbon accreditation certification to Level three 'Optimisation' of the programme. Airport Carbon Accreditation is the only institutionally-endorsed, carbon management certification standard for airports. The programme independently assesses and recognises the efforts of airports to manage and reduce their carbon emissions with four levels of award: 'Mapping', 'Reduction', 'Optimisation' and 'Neutrality'.
Sustainability is a priority for all operations within the aviation and airports industry. Bengaluru International Airport's approach to sustainability incorporates understanding and learning from experience and has progressively developed capabilities to respond accordingly to industry best practice.
29/10/13 Indian Express

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Relief for fliers as runway closure put off by 2-3 days

Mumbai: The Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), which had announced the closure of the primary runway from October 28 (Monday) till May 2014 every day between 9am and 5pm, has now delayed it for two-three days due to “technical reasons”. So, for the next few days, flights are expected to take off and land without much delay.
The primary runway was to undergo major changes from Monday as construction of two rapid-exit taxiways was planned. While all technical and administrative formalities, including the approval of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), have been completed, the work was deferred at the last moment due to errors in the calibration of the runway. Larsen & Toubro is entrusted with the task of constructing the rapid-exit taxiways.
The rapid-exit taxiways will help the aircraft in exiting quickly after landing, which is a necessity at Mumbai airport, the second busiest airport in the country. The airport, which currently has two rapid-exit taxiways, handles more than 30 million passengers annually.
29/10/13 Daily News & Analysis

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Pune international airport work to take off soon

Pune: After years of delay, the work on the much-awaited project of proposed international airport for Pune is likely to take off soon as authorities are confident that the Pune international airport will become operational before Navi Mumbai international airport.
Divisional commissioner Prabhakar Deshmukh on Tuesday said that after the report of the obstacle level survey (OLS) being carried out by an agency from Nashik, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) would give its nod for the proposed international airport at Khed.
Deshmukh said that the OLS is in its final stages and after the agency submits its report to the AAI, subsequent action would be taken. The administration already has made it clear that for the new site no cultivable land is required to be acquired and there are plans to acquire more than 1,700 hectares for the international airport project.
29/10/13 Daily News & Analysis

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AI, AAI launch vigilance awareness week

New Delhi: Air India and Airports Authority of India both today launched 'Vigilance Awareness Week' activities to educate the common man about the ills of corruption.
The Vigilance Awareness Week is to run between October 28 and November 2.
The AI vigilance department, which unearthed the LTC scam and irregularities in the complimentary free companion ticket scheme, received kudos from the airline management for its achievements.
28/10/13 PTI/Economic Times

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Lalithakala Aakademi art gallery at CIAL

Nedumbassery:  Managing director of the Cochin International Airport Ltd(CIAL), V J Kurian, announced on Monday the opening of a new art gallery promoted by the Lalithakala Akademi.
The official inauguration of the art gallery is proposed to be held on November 3 by Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation K C Venugopal.
According to Kurian more than commercial interest, the purpose behind the move is to promote budding artists as well as veterans.
The art gallery will be functioning in a 2,000-sq ft air-conditioned hall for 24 hours daily and it would be the first of its kind in India at an airport.
29/10/13 New Indian Express

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Dubai flight switches over to night slots

Pune: The Pune-Dubai direct flight service of Air India Express has now switched over to the night time slots. The flight's new arrival time from Dubai is 1.30 am and departure time from Pune is 2.30 pm.
"The change in timings is on account of the director general of civil aviation's winter schedule of flights that came into effect from Monday," Air India's Pune station manager Dhairyasheel Vandekar said.
The Air India Express, which is a subsidiary of Air India, had earlier approached the DGCA for a change in the flight timings as part of its strategic business plan.
The Pune-Dubai direct flight was the first international flight service to be launched from the city's Lohegaon airport on December 12, 2005. Initially, the service was operated by the Air India for over a year before it was taken over by the Air India Express.
30/10/13 Vishwas Kothari/Times of India

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PM to hold Navi Mumbai Airport meet on Nov 13

Thane:  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to convene a meeting in New Delhi on November 13 to discuss over the bottlenecks in the progress of the greenfield airport at Panvel in Navi Mumbai.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said this at a public meeting in Panvel yesterday.
Terming the proposed airport a key infrastructure project, Chavan expressed confidence that the unresolved issues related to it will be sorted out in the meeting.
27/10/13 Business Line

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Heavy fog leads to five flight diversions

Kochi: The Cochin international airport today witnessed a few diversions in the morning due to fog which lasted from 6 am to 8 am despite the recent installation of sophisticated radar equipment.
Five flights were diverted to different destinations and one hovered over the airport for two hours before being able to land. The flights included the Oman Air flight from Muscat (WI225) which came at 6.30 am and was diverted to Bangalore. The flight came back and landed at 9.30 am.
The Air India flight AI 054 which came from Mumbai at 7.20 am was   diverted to Thriuvananthapuram and it came back and landed at 10 am. Another Air India flight AI0466 which came from Thriruvananthapuram at 6.45 am and was bound for Delhi was redirected to Thiruvananthapuram. It came back at 10 am and proceeded to Delhi.
28/10/13 Decan Chronicle

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Lohegaon airport's new director has a total revamp on mind

Pune: The Pune Lohegaon international airport is all set for a facelift. In a bid to make the airport more passenger friendly in the coming days, the newly joined airport director Manoj Gangal said his top priority will be to open new food outlets at the airport which currently has just one canteen and that too in a very poor shape.
Gangal said plans are afoot to enhance the security at the airport as more footfall would mean more threat.
Addressing the media, Gangal said, “We are planning to make Pune airport more passenger friendly. Therefore we are planning to add more food outlets in the airport premises. This will be done for the convenience of passengers so that people can come and spend some quality time here.”
28/10/13 Anuj Ismail/Daily News & Analysis

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AAI-Navy 'MoU soon' for parallel taxiway land

Dabolim:  Airports Authority of India is preparing to sign an MoU with Indian Navy to procure land to build a parallel taxiway alongside the runway at the international airport, Dabolim.
"With this taxiway landing aircraft will be able to vacate the runway within three minutes and aircraft can land one after the other without delay.
At present, it takes 15 to 20 minutes for each aircraft to backtrack along the runway and reach the parking area and no other flight is able to land during that time," explained airport director M Suresh, admitting the airport faces congestion and delay during peak hours.
Apart from the naval land, part of the old airport terminal will also be demolished for the taxiway after the new terminal is commissioned.
28/10/13 Times of India

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Jet Airways withdraws Bhubaneswar services from today

Bhubaneswar: Jet Airways to withdraw Bhubaneswar services from Monday. Due to heavy loss Jet Airways withdrew all three flights from Bhubaneswar.
Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata-bound Jet flights will not be available from Sunday. Jet Airways discontinuing its operations from Bhubaneswar as Bhubaneswar it is commercially a less viable option.
28/10/13 Odisha Dairy

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Al Maktoum International-India routes a possibility

Dubai: European-low cost carrier Wizz Air could one day fly to India using Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central as a hub.
József Váradi, Chief Executive Officer of Wizz Air, said on Sunday at the opening of Al Maktoum International that flying into India was “certainly something being evaluated” by the airline.
“We had discussion with India. Nevertheless, this is still premature,” he told Gulf News at the opening of Al Maktoum International on Sunday.
Wizz Air, a Hungarian no-frills airline, flew 12 million passengers across 290 routes in 35 different countries last year. The airline currently has 17 operational bases in nine Central and Eastern European countries.
27/10/13  Alexander Cornwell/Gulf News

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Mumbai airport's main runway to be shut for 8 hours till May 2014

Mumbai: The main runway at the Mumbai airport will be shut for 8 hours a day starting from October 28 till May 2014 in order to build two rapid exit taxiways. All airlines have been told to reschedule their flights. A secondary runway has been planned but implementation proving difficult. The Juhu aerodrome runway's use is also limited due to the tall buildings surrounding it. The Mumbai airport is the second largest airport in India and handled 30 million passengers last year. The Delhi airport handles the largest number of passengers in the country, that is 34.4 million passengers handled last year . The total operating area is 5,100 acres. There is no encroachment in Delhi airport.
28/10/13 Shawan Sen/CNN-IBN

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Consumer court notices to airline, airport, hospitals

Mumbai: The state consumer court has sent notices to Cooper Hospital, Nanavati Hospital, GoAir and the airport authorities asking them to explain why a man who fell from an escalator at Mumbai airport had to wait for six hours for medical attention. The court has asked their representatives to be present in the court on Wednesday. The incident took place in July end, and the victim paid for the delay with his life.
Siddhesh Borkar (27) lay unconscious for 45 minutes with severe injuries before medical help arrived. It was another 45 minutes before the airline staff took the injured passenger to a hospital, where treatment did not begin for another six hours. Siddhesh, who was planning to get married this year, succumbed to his injuries on August 14.
28/10/13 Lata Mishra/Mumbai Mirror

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Passengers stranded as airport taxis go on snap strike

Bangalore: Passengers travelling to and from the Bengaluru International Airport were in for a shock when they found that none of the airport taxis were plying on Sunday.
About 1,700 to 2,000 taxi drivers went on strike after one of the taxi drivers died following a suspected heart attack. The drivers claimed that the BIAL had made no immediate arrangements for transporting the driver to a hospital and alleged that he died due to negligence.
One of the airport taxi drivers, on the condition of anonymity, said: “Around 11.30 a.m., a Mega Cabs driver, Maruti Prasanna, aged about 38 years, was in a nearly faint state and we suspect his blood pressure was abnormal. Looking at his condition, we informed the airport personnel. However, they did not act immediately and it was nearly an hour before the ambulance arrived. He was being rushed to the hospital when he died on the way.”
28/10/13 The Hindu

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Govt scraps airport project in Kanpur

Lucknow: The state government has scrapped the airport project proposed in Kanpur Dehat following its decision to provide 50 acres of land to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to develop a civil enclave at Chakeri Air force station in Kanpur city.
The decision was taken at a meeting held between Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani and officials of several departments, including Civil Aviation.
Usmani is learnt to have directed officials to send a request to the Union Ministry of Defence to equip the Chakeri airport with facilities for night landing of flights.
The Chakeri airport is under the control of Ministry of Defence and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) uses the Ministry's building and other set-ups to operate flights.
27/10/13 Lalmani Verma/Indian Express

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No wings for foreign flights

Chandigarh: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has crashed the foreign dreams of two private airlines from the city airport, unwilling to give the go-ahead to international flights from the terminal on technical grounds.
Last month, Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA) accorded permission to Indigo and Spice Jet to operate international flights for Dubai from the existing terminal of the Chandigarh airport subject to approval of the ministry of defence (MOD). The MOD, which controls the airbase, had sought opinion from the air headquarters. The permission was required because IAF handles the technical area like runway and air traffic control (ATC).
Sources confirmed to TOI that the air force authorities expressed its inability to handle international flights on account of its tight schedule of handling its operational flights from the local airbase sorties for the strategically important Ladakh area.
26/10/13 Ajay Sura/Times of India

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Bangkok holidays to now be more Spicy

Bangalore: If one is looking for indicators, one of the best would be a low-cost carrier (LCC) launching a direct flight to Bangkok. SpiceJet on Thursday became the first airline to gauge and act on the trend by launching a service that will operate four days in a week.
V Raja, senior vice-president (commercial), SpiceJet Ltd, said, “Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand, is also the major financial and economic hub of Thailand. There is huge growth potential in trade between India and ASEAN nations, and Bangkok would be one of the important centres for trade”
The direct flight between Bangalore and Bangkok will provide convenience and also help in reducing travel cost and time for all the passengers.
“Bangalore is one of the most important destinations for SpiceJet as well as other carriers operating in the country. Bangalorehas provided ample opportunity to SpiceJet for connecting destinations across the country,” Raja said.
26/10/13 Daily News & Analysis

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Delhi Aerocity a boost for the aviation sector: experts

New Delhi: Delhi Aerocity, a 43-acre hospitality and commercial district near the Indira Gandhi International Airport, is finally seeing the light of the day and is expected to usher in volumes and growth for both the aviation and hospitality industries.
Expected to ultimately house 16 luxury hotels and commercial spaces, it was conceived and approved as a part of the Delhi Airport master plan five years ago.
“The hospitality district of the Aerocity offers quick access to the airport, besides being centrally located between the business areas of Delhi and Gurgaon,” Rajiv Chib, associate director of PricewaterhouseCoopers said. “It is thus a logical extension of any major international airport and needs to be made functional at the earliest.”
Chib’s views were corroborated by national carrier Air India, which made the IGI airport as its hub way back in 2010.
According to the airline, Aerocity provides convenience to passengers. “Worldwide, frequent travellers prefer to stay in places like an Aerocity to conduct their business as fast as possible and then depart, avoiding traffic or any other hindrances.
26/10/13 Gulf Times

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Poor visibility forces diversion of 3 flights at Kochi

Kochi: Due to poor visibility,two Air India flights - Thiruvananthapuram-Kochi-Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram-Mumbai-Kochi - were diverted to the Kerala capital due to poor visibility conditions which prevailed from 6.30 am to 8 am, they said.
27/10/13 India Tv News

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Man arrested with 16 gold bars at Ahmedabad airport

Ahmedabad: In third such incident at Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport this month, the customs department arrested a man for smuggling gold worth Rs 40 lakh on Friday night. Naresh Kumar Vadilal Soni of Viramgam was caught with 1.5kg gold in his baggage.
When Soni arrived by Spicejet flight SG-016 at 11:30 pm, the officials found his behaviour during regular checking 'suspicious' and they detained him. When frisked, 14 gold bars of 100 gm and two gold bars of 50 gm were found in Soni's baggage, wrapped in polythene.
The officials produced Soni at Metropolitan Court on Saturday from where he was sent to judicial custody. "Soni is a first-time offender. Last month, he got his passport and flew out of the country for the first time," said an official.
27/10/13 Times of India

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Another haul: Gold worth Rs 14.62 lac seized at Mangalore Airport

Mangalore: For the fourth time in three days, the customs officials at Mangalore International Airport on Saturday October 26 arrested a passenger for trying to smuggle in gold from Dubai.
The arrested passenger is identified as Mohammed Arshad (38), a resident Kalanad, Kasargod.
He arrived by Air India Express flight on Saturday morning from Dubai.
The gold, weighing 457.05 grams, worth Rs 14.62 lac, was in the form of wires coated with silver.
26/10/13 daijiworld.com

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Air India 'hijack': Court registers suo motu case

Kochi:  The Kerala high court has registered a suo motu case on an Air India pilot sounding a hijack alert when passengers protested over neglect by the crew after a flight was delayed for several hours and then diverted.
The incident took place on October 19 last year when an Air India Express flight bound for Kochi from Abu Dhabi was diverted to Thiruvananthapuram airport citing bad weather.
Upon landing at Thiruvananthapuram, the passengers (over 150) had declined to deboard the plane in protest against the flight diversion and neglect by the crew. Some of them had also allegedly tried to force their way into the cockpit.
A police case was registered after the pilot, Commander Rupali Waghmare, complained that a passenger even threatened that he would not hesitate to kill her if anything happened to his six-month-old child. Based on the pilot's complaint an FIR was registered against six passengers.
26/10/13 Times of India

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More baggage woes at Chennai's new airport terminal?

Chennai: Passengers may have to wait for a long duration to retrieve their baggage in the new international terminal of the Chennai airport.
Airport sources said the international terminal, which was commissioned recently, has just one baggage ramp, unlike the domestic terminal which has two ramps that facilitate two-way movement of passengers’ baggage.
Hence, the movement of the battery-operated vehicles, which carry the baggage to and from the aircraft, on the ramp is expected to be slow.
Only the departure operations are on at the new international terminal now and the arrival hall is likely to start operating in December, said officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
“We are able to manage now since the departure hall alone is functional; hence, the load handled is relativ
ely less,” an official said.
26/10/13 The Hindu

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‘Dimapur Airport is the most neglected’

Dimapur:  A delegation of Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) called on Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Ajit Singh, at his official residence in New Delhi today and submitted a memorandum highlighting the plight of Dimapur Airport.
The Federation in its 3-point memorandum urged the Union Minister to increase the frequency of flights to Dimapur from the present four days a week to a daily basis. It further called for introduction of direct flights from Delhi to Dimapur and to initiate immediate developmental measures to bring Dimapur Airport at par with airports in other metropolitan cities.
According to NSF, Ajit Singh, gave a patient hearing to the delegation and assured to pursue the matter with all seriousness before the present UPA tenure came to an end. While regretting the “pathetic condition” of the only airport in Nagaland, the minister informed that one very important aspect for development of any airport requires sufficient land. He advised “Nagas to look into that aspect too.”
25/10/13 Morung Express

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New air traffic control tower to be fully operational in 2 months

Mumbai: The newly inaugurated Air Traffic Control ( ATC) tower will take about two months to be full operational.
Officials at the airport said that the tower was inaugurated to hand it over to the Airports Authority of India ( AAI) officials so that they can install and run trials for the equipment. The process of training and installation would take at least two months, said officials.
25/10/13 Chinmayi Shalya/Times of India

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Immigration proves a pain for flyers at international airport

Mumbai: When Sudhir Shah (name changed), a media professional, arrived at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) after a long flight from Europe, all he wanted was a smooth immigration and customs procedure. A jet-lagged Shah wanted to rush home to get some proper rest.
However, after waiting in the queue for some time, an immigration officer asked him to move to a neighbouring counter. But after he was half-way through at the counter, another officer asked all the passengers queuing up there to move to another counter. This infuriated all and they insisted on knowing the reason for the closure of the counter. In her reply, the officer said she had to go the washroom and as there was a staff crunch she had no other option but to ask the passengers to shift to the neighbouring counter.
26/10/13 Shahkar Abidi/Daily News & Analysis

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South African arrested with heroin in airport

A South African national was arrested today at NSC Bose international airport here for allegedly carrying heroin and other banned drugs worth Rs 2.5 crore.
"38-year-old West Bharmule was held during security and customs check for a flight bound to Doha in Quatar early this morning," Assistant Customs Commissioner R S Meena told reporters.
He had come to Kolkata from New Delhi yesterday, police said.
26/10/13 Business Standard

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Rs 55 lakh worth gold recovered from passenger

Chennai:Customs officials today recovered 1.5 kg of gold valued at Rs 55 lakh from a passenger who had arrived from Dubai on Friday.
Abdul Rasheed (40) of Ernakulam in Kerala was arrested for allegedly smuggling the gold hidden in a registered package.
26/10/13 PTI/Business Standard

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FIR against Mallya, Kingfisher for non-payment of airport fees

Bangalore: An FIR has been filed against liquor baron Vijay Mallya and his cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines on a criminal complaint by Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) for non-payment of user development fees and passenger service fees to it.
"We have filed an FIR against Vijay Mallya and Kingfisher Airlines...," Assistant Police Commissioner Kamal Pant told PTI on Friday.
The FIR has been registered at Bengaluru International Airport police station on a direction by a magistrate court here, where BIAL had filed the complaint on October 21, he said, adding that they received the court order on Thursday.
In its private criminal complaint, BIAL has sought action under IPC Sections including 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 418 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) with a direction to police to probe the matter.
25/10/13 NDTV.com

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Andal airport land lock- BAPL officials confined during survey

Durgapur: Over 100 farmers whose land has been earmarked for acquisition to shift electricity towers from near the runway of the under-construction Andal airport allegedly confined for four hours officials doing a land survey today.
The farmers accused Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd (BAPL), which is promoting the Rs 10,000-crore Airport City project on 1,818 acres, of stepping on their land “illegally” and “forcibly” as they had refused to sell their plots several times.
The attack comes a little over a month after the Singapore government-owned Changi Airports International, a stakeholder in BAPL, requested chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her government to help remove impediments in shifting six electricity towers from near the airport runway and a speedy resolution to the land problem.
BAPL requires around 70 acres in Andal and Laodoha to shift the transmission towers of power utilities DVC and WBSETCL. BAPL is willing to purchase the land directly from the owners but a section of villagers is reluctant to give up their plots alleging that the private company was more interested in real estate than setting up the airport.
25/10/13 Abhijeet Chatterjee/Telegraph

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Call for visa on arrival facility at Karipur

Kozhikode: The tourism fraternity as well as industry and trade groups in Malabar are making a determined push for Visa on Arrival (VoA) facility at the Karipur International Airport, to give a fillip to the region's tourism prospects.
The hospitality sector in Malabar feels let down as Karipur airport was not included in the VoA facility recently granted to the Thiruvananthapuram and Cochin International airports.
They said the decision was a setback for the emerging tourism circuit in Malabar, especially as the government plans to extend the tourist Visa on Arrival facility to an additional 40 countries.
"The launch of VoA facility at Karipur airport would have provided a boost to the tourism industry in north Kerala in its attempt to attract international visitors. It would also have aided in the development of the Malabar tourism circuit," said K R Vancheeswaran, secretary of Wayanad Tourism Organisation.
25/10/13 Times of India

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Strike to affect Karipur airport functioning

Malappuram:  With the Airports Authority Employees' Union (AAEU) members set to intensify strike as part of their national-level protest against privatization of airports, the functioning of the Karipur International Airport could be affected in the days to come. Members of the union have already launched a token hunger strike.
The protesters have been demanding that the government step back from its move to privatize 20 profitable airports under the Airports Authority of India (AAI). "Protests would be intensified soon, though it may affect flight operations," said V V Chandran, assistant secretary, AAEU.
The union pointed out that AAI, a public sector undertaking, has been consistently making profits for over two decades and pays the highest service tax in the aviation industry. "The civil aviation ministry has already started the process of privatisation of six airports for throwaway prices," he said.
25/10/13 Times of India

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Sharjah bound man arrested with Rs25L cash

Nagpur:  A 47-year-old Nagpur-based businessman was caught smuggling Rs24.61 lakh cash from the city airport to Sharjah on October 23. The customs department, however, refused to disclose the identity of the accused. They did not reveal his name, reportedly a resident of Jaripatka who deals in mobile phones and has shops in Sitabuldi.
The accused was going to fly by Air Arabia Nagpur-Sharjah flight on Wednesday morning when he was caught by the air customs unit after receiving intelligence reports.
"According to our investigation and interrogations which continued through the day on Wednesday, the accused does not have any criminal history and has a clean record," said an official of Air Customs Unit, Nagpur.
The accused has been arrested and a statement has been recorded under Section 108 of Customs Act 1962. According to the press release issued, the accused has, in his statement, admitted the ownership, knowledge, non-declaration, possession and carriage of the seized cash.
25/10/13 Times of India

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Mozambique national held with drugs at IGI airport

New Delhi: A Mozambique national has been arrested for allegedly smuggling Rs 40 lakh banned narcotic drugs from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport.
The 29-year-old youth, identified as Massanngo Filipe Carlos, was intercepted by a CISF check squad in the wee hours yesterday when he was entering the Terminal 3 of the IGI to catch a flight to Johanesburg in South Africa.
25/10/13 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

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Indian man collapses at Sharjah Airport, dies later in hospital

Abu Dhabi: The body of a 22-year-old Indian sailor has been lying in a mortuary in Sharjah for two weeks and his family is still in the dark about their son’s sudden demise, XPRESS has learnt.
“We do not know what happened to him. He was supposed to come home on October 3. His company has not even bothered to inform us about his death until now,” Ravi Selvam, brother of deceased Anbarasu Selvam told XPRESS over the phone from Chennai, India.
According to the family, Anbarasu joined the ship Al Majed H under the Dubai-based company Majeed Al Bazony Shipping as a trainee marine engineer on May 14. He was employed on a one-year contract.
Anbarasu informed his family on October 2 evening that he was going to Chennai on an Air Arabia flight from Sharjah the following morning.
“That was the last we heard from him. He was already at Sharjah Airport, but sounded very disturbed. He told me the company was sending him back due to some health reasons,” said Selvam.
The family grew worried when Anbarasu did not arrive in India, and he remained unreachable on his phone. On October 6, a friend of Anbarasu in Dubai informed them that he had passed away at the Kuwaiti Hospital in Sharjah.
23/10/13  Anjana Sankar/Gulf News

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Delhi Aerocity finally takes off; welcomed by industry

New Delhi: Delhi Aerocity, a 43-acre hospitality and commerical district near the Indira Gandhi International Airport, is finally - after clearing a lot of hurdles - seeing the light of the day and is expected to usher in volumes and growth for both the aviation and hospitality industries.
Expected to ultimately house 16 luxury hotels and commercial spaces, it was conceived and approved as a part of the Delhi Airport master plan five years ago.
"The hospitality district of the aerocity offers quick access to the airport, besides being centrally located between the business areas of Delhi and Gurgaon," Rajiv Chib, associate director, PricewaterhouseCoopers, told IANS. "It is thus a logical extension of any major international airport and needs to be made functional at the earliest."
Chib's views were corroborated by national carrier Air India, which made the IGI airport as its hub way back in 2010.
According to the airline, Aerocity provides convenience to passengers. "Worldwide, frequent travellers prefer to stay in places like an Aerocity to conduct their business as fast as possible and then depart, avoiding traffic or any other hindrances.
22/10/13 IANS/News Track India

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Transport Dept for dropping Idukki, Wayanad airport porjects

Thiruvananthapuram: The transport department submitted a written request during the annual conference of district collectors, that the Wayanad and Idukki airport projects should be abandoned, as they have triggered protests from residents. The chief secretary, however, clarified that the state government would not stop any private party that comes forward to take up construction of airports. "At the same time, the state government is not that particular in making the projects a reality," he said.
23/10/13 Times of India

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Airports Authority Employees Union start hunger strike

Chennai: Airports Authority Employees Union started a relay hunger strike to protest the proposed privatisation of operations of Chennai airport.
The Airports Authority of India has initiated the process of privatisation of the Chennai airport.
Potential bidders are expected to submit their Request for Qualification (RFQ) on November 4.
By January, the airport will be handed over to the private company, according to officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at Chennai.
According to L. George, Regional Secretary, AAEU, the fate of over 1,000 employees of Chennai airport remains uncertain with privatisation of the airport gathering momentum. However, there is no clarity in the RFQ document given to private companies regarding airport employees — whether they will be absorbed by the private company or retained by AAI.
22/10/13 Business Line

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Tiruchi airport employees begin four-day relay fast

Tiruchi: Employees of the Tiruchi Airport, owing allegiance to the Airports Authority Employees’ Union, launched a four-day relay fast at the airport here on Tuesday protesting the Centre’s move to privatise six airports across the country, including the Chennai International Airport.
A group of 25 members of the union observed fast on the first day on Tuesday. However, airport operations were not disrupted.
“We do not want airport operations to be affected and that is why we have launched a relay fast. However, we strongly condemn the Centre’s move to privatise six airports, including Chennai, Lucknow, and Kolkatta.
23/10/13 The Hindu

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Mysore to lose air connectivity with B'lore again

Mysore: Mysoreans have bad news in store ahead of Deepavali. Starting October 27, there will be no direct flight between Mysore and Bangalore from Mysore Airport.
SpiceJet has rescheduled its operations, cancelling the services between the cities from the said date, while there will be a direct air connectivity between Mysore and?Chennai.
In the changed timings, the flight will arrive at the Mysore airport at around 10.30 am and will depart at 10.50 am. After Kingfisher stopped its commercial operations from Mysore Airport in the fag end of 2011, the airport jumped back to life, when SpiceJet resumed services from January 14.
23/10/13 Deccan Herald

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No security clearance yet for major Aerocity hotels

New Delhi: After the first hotel in Aerocity, JW Marriott, opened its gates to visitors last Friday, more clearances were expected by other hotels in the 43-acre complex. However, these hotels may have to wait longer for their NOCs.
Right after inspection and partial clearance to Marriott, two other hotels-Red Fox and Lemon Tree-had been queued up for inspection. Sources say the inspection has just been conducted by a Delhi Police team and a report is being compiled on it. The report is said to have highlighted several deficiencies in the security of both the hotels. Though no major security loophole was found, the team is said to have found some minor aberrations and so clearances have been postponed, at least for now.
22/10/13 Suhas Munshi/Times of India

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Bullets on flight: American released on bail

Bhubaneswar: After spending nearly 33 days in judicial custody, American engineer William Michael Hurtubise was released on Monday. Though his conditional bail was granted on October 9, he could not be released from Jharpada special jail following delay in arrangement of bail bond and surety amount.
"He was released from judicial custody after depositing Rs 50,000, passport and visa in the court. He was granted conditional bail by the sessions court. His health is fine," said his lawyers Sarat Gajendra and Raj Kishore Das. "We will move the Orissa high court, seeking speedy trial there," Das said.
22/10/13 Times of India

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R6.5m drug bust at King Shaka airport

Durban - Two people were arrested in Durban after being found in possession of drugs with an estimated street value of R6.5 million, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Wednesday.
The couple aged between 28 and 29 were caught on Tuesday night at the King Shaka International Airport after they landed from India, said Colonel Jay Naicker. Police confiscated 36kg of crystal methamphetamine in their luggage. A 36-year-old woman was later arrested in the Point area in Durban waiting for the delivery of drugs from the couple, said Naicker.
23/10/13 SAPA/IOL News

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Man held for stealing bag at IGI airport

New Delhi: A Syed Mohd (45) who holds a doctorate degree from Lucknow University, has been arrested for allegedly stealing a bag containing valuables of a fellow passenger from the baggage belt of Indira Gandhi International Airport here, police said today.
On October 15, a couple travelling from Hyderabad to New Delhi by an Air India flight complained to police that they had checked in with three bags but they received just two when they landed in Delhi, they said.
"During investigation, the CCTV footage of Hyderabad Airport and Delhi Airport were closely analysed and it was found that one person who checked in only one bag at Hyderabad Airport and was travelling in the same flight picked two bags from the baggage belt of Air India at the New Delhi airport," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI Airport) M.I Haider.
His mobile number was found on the details given to Air India while booking the ticket and it was put on surveillance during which his location was found in Aligarh.
23/10/13 PTI/Business Standard

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Air connectivity of Tier-II cities on the cards

Bangalore: In a renewed bid to provide air connectivity of Tier-II cities, the state government is planning to call for an expression of interest afresh for the development of smaller airports in Karnataka.
This followed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s statement in Gulbarga recently that the government wants to develop airports in Tier-II cities.
Recently, Infrastructure and Information Minister Lad had told reporters that the government may shelve airport development projects in Gulbarga, Bellary, Bijapur, Hassan and Shimoga cities due to the economic slowdown.
Close on the heels of the CM’s statement, senior officials of the Department of Infrastructure held a meeting, chaired by Lad, and decided to make renewed efforts to develop the airports. As the first step, the department is planning to invite expression of interests from both Indian and foreign companies for taking up airport development in Tier-II cities.
21/10/13 Shyam Sundar Vattam/New Indian Expres

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Maharashtra keen to develop airport in every district

Mumbai: Notwithstanding the complexities associated with the proposed airport in Navi Mumbai, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan says that Maharashtra’s goal is to establish an airport in every district.
He is particularly keen that the State develops airports with facilities for night landing.
“It is the State’s endeavour to have the best civil aviation infrastructure than anywhere else in the country. We want to have all-weather airports in all districts; we look forward to building a robust civil aviation infrastructure,” Chavan said, without articulating a time-frame for this vision.
The State has already identified two locations in Pune for what will be a single runway airport, with the potential to add additional runway in the future, he said.
Maharashtra has 35 districts in all.
“We wish to cover all small airports with commercial services…We have some offers for the same,” he said without providing more details.
According to ourairports.com, Maharashtra has 29 airports of which only eight (Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Aurangabad, Nashik, Nanded, Latur and Kolhapur) are used for commercial airline services.
20/10/13 Adith Charlie/Business Line

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Govt hopeful of privatising six airports before 2014 polls

New Delhi: The ministry of civil aviation is hopeful of completing the process of privatising six major airports, including those at Chennai and Kolkata, within a time-frame and ahead of the general elections, scheduled to be held next year.
The ministry's move to award management contracts of these airports to private sector entities suffered a setback with the sale of bid documents for Chennai and Lucknow airports being postponed by several weeks.
Civil aviation secretary K N Shrivastava said, "We are quite optimistic about doing it within the time- frame. There is some cushion period available which we are using now.” The ministry is in the process of incorporating changes in the bid documents by holding consultations with various stakeholders.
"We are going through the process of consulting all stakeholders, including Planning Commission. We have held pre- bid consultations with prospective bidders. Our effort is to see that Request for Proposal (RFP), Requests for Qualification (RFQ), the concession agreement and other documents are properly drafted so that no issues are raised later," he added.
21/10/13 Sharmistha Mukherjee/Business Standard

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Flight of fancy: An airport at Panvel makes no sense

Land acquisition for Mumbai's planned airport at Panvel has dragged on, as the owners demand . 20 crore an acre — about five times the market value. The City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco), the nodal agency for the project, claims that the land purchase should be over soon, and the airport should be operational in 2017. That is unlikely. The airport site is about the worst anywhere, from the ecological and civil engineering viewpoints.
Developers will have to change the course of the Ulwe River, widen the Gadhi River to avoid flooding, construct embankments of three smaller rivers, fill up Panvel Creek and reclaim the land around Waghivli Island. They will also have to level two hillocks , cut down 160 hectares of mangrove forests that protect the coast against erosion, and 130 hectares of reserved forest.
21/10/13 Hormuz P Mama/Economic Times

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Aviation Ministry rejects inflation-indexed airport charges

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry has rejected a Planning Commission model to link landing and parking charges at airports to inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI).
The differences have surfaced in the discussions between the two for the award of Chennai, Lucknow, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Guwahati airports to private parties for operations. loss making airports
“We have asked the Planning Commission to change the draft concession agreement accordingly,” said a senior government official in the know. The changes are significant for passengers as higher charges will translate into higher fares. He explained that linking the charges to a price index introduces an upward bias to them. “Linking them to WPI will ensure that the charges will only increase from here”.
According to the ministry it should be the other way round with the construction of an index that allows for progressively lower charges as the airports recoup their construction costs.
21/10/13 Mihir Mishra/Financial Express

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Jet Airways seeks more time to pay enhanced security deposit

New Delhi: With regulatory clearances yet to come by for Etihad Airways to buy out 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways for over Rs 2,000 crore, the Indian carrier has written to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) seeking extension of deadline till March 31 for paying the enhanced security deposit to the airport operator.
In a communication to AAI, Jet said all airlines were passing through difficult times due to increase in fuel prices and rupee-dollar parity, which had resulted in banks delaying sanction of addition funds.
Jet said when regulatory clearances come through, its financial situation would improve and, therefore, sought an extension of deadline for enhancement of security deposit.
The airline’s board is to meet on October 23 to consider and approve the un-audited financial results of the company for quarter and half year ended September 30.
21/10/13 Business Line

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New payment gateway for airport charges

Thiruvananthapuram: The newly installed GPRS-enabled Electronic Data Capture (EDC) machine at Trivandrum International Airport will make it easy to receive payments such as airport charges from non-scheduled flights.
"With India opening its market to private airline operators, this new mode of payment for non-scheduled operators would be quite beneficial for the users," said Asok Kumar, joint secretary at the ministry of civil aviation, government of India. He said the new facility would be introduced in all airports in the country by December 31.
While addressing the gathering, V N Chandran, director of the Trivandrum International Airport said the commissioning of the GPRS-enabled EDC machine would allow non-scheduled airlines to make payments related to airport charges to AAI through credit/debit or corporate cards, which until now was remitted through casual operators in cash.
21/10/13 Times of India

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Draft Aerocity security plan: Govt to operator

New Delhi: Citing the need to have a comprehensive area security plan at Aerocity, Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MCA) has asked the airport operator Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) to provide adequate security apparatus around the 62-acre project.
In a meeting, which was held last week and chaired by the Joint Secretary Internal Security of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), DIAL was asked to provide infrastructural and manpower support to the area security plan. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the Delhi Police, Ministry of Civil Aviation (MCA), the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and DIAL.
DIAL has been asked to provide security cover at parking spaces, transport points and pedestrian roads, which are not covered by the individual hotels.
21/10/13 Shalini Narayan/Indian Express

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Oman Airport Awards announced

Muscat: The 1st ever Oman Airport Awards was announced during the Oman Airports Management Company (OAMC), annual party held at Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa last night under the patronage of Dr Ahmed Mohammed Salem al Futaisi, Minister of Transport and Communications. The Oman Airport Awards have been instituted for the first time to recognise and reward the best airport management, services and hospitality practices across Muscat International and Salalah Airports. The 2013 award ceremony included many categories namely Best Low Cost, Best Inflight Service, Fastest Growing, Best Airline Marketing, Best Cargo Airline, Best MCT Airport Service, Best SLL Airport service, Best Retailers (Restaurant, Coffee Shop and Food). The event attracted more than 400 industry representatives, including CEOs from major airports, airlines, air traffic management, national governments and the airport institutions.
The guests were welcomed to a fantastic opening party with breath-taking views of Shangri La’s Barr al Jissah Resort and Spa on the award night. The ABC ballroom at Shangri La created the perfect setting and atmosphere for these greatly anticipated awards, and attendees enjoyed the event followed by a gala dinner with entertainment.
21/101/3 Oman Observer

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Aviation Min rejects inflation-indexed airport charges

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry has rejected a Planning Commission model to link landing and parking charges at airports to inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI).
The differences have surfaced in the discussions between the two for the award of Chennai, Lucknow, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Guwahati airports to private parties for operations.
"We have asked the Planning Commission to change the draft concession agreement accordingly," said a senior government official in the know. The changes are signficant for passengers as higher charges will translate into higher fares. He explained that linking the charges to a price index introduces an upward bias to them. "Linking them to WPI will ensure that the charges will only increase from here".
21/101/3 Mihir Mishra/Indian Express

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CIAL declares 17% dividend

Kochi: The Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) has declared 17 per cent dividend for the financial year 2012-13.
Managing Director V.J. Kurian said the entire dividend warrants have been dispatched to all the shareholders. CIAL now has 17,844 shareholders and the paid up equity capital as on date is Rs 306.06 crore.
With the payout of the dividend, the company has repaid to shareholders more than the paid-up capital. The company, which declared dividend from 2003-04, has cumulatively paid out 114 per cent as dividend, Kurian said.
21/10/13 Business Line

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Wi-fi wake-up call for airport

The Airports Authority of India had apparently given the contract to set up a Wi-fi network at the new terminal to BSNL. Parts of the terminal did get Wi-fi connectivity under a pilot project, only for BSNL to withdraw it in May.
Airport officials said several rounds of communication between the AAI and BSNL had failed to end the impasse.
Wi-fi allows digital devices within a particular area to connect to the Internet and one another. For travellers on the move, especially foreign tourists, Wi-fi access is the ideal alternative to a high-tariff mobile phone connection with international roaming.
Many use the facility to check in by showing e-tickets on their tablets or send WhatsApp, Skype or FaceTime messages to those waiting outside airports to receive them.
“A pilot project was started in March for a month but there was a delay at our end in making the system fully operational. Three months back, we wrote to the AAI to say that we were withdrawing,” Gautam Chakravarty, chief general manager of Calcutta Telephones, told Metro.
According to a senior airport official, four to five passengers verbally complain to the airport managers every day about the absence of Wi-fi in the terminal.
21/10/13 Kaushik Ghosh/Sanjay Mandal/Telegraph

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Two drug smugglers sent to prison

Ahmedabad:  Customs department on Monday produced the two Malawi nationals - a man and a woman - in the metropolitan court. The couple were allegedly carrying 31 kgs of illegal drugs at the city airport on Sunday. The duo was charged with violating sections of the Customs Act and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and was sent to judicial custody.
"Export of the substance the accused were carrying- ephedrine hydrochloride-is prohibited under NDPS Act," said a customs official. Customs claimed this is the biggest seizure of drugs at any airport in India in 2013.
Najaidi Fraser Chimatro (23) and Masangana Annie Maria (22) were held by customs with 31.627 kgs of ephedrine hydrochloride while attempting to board an Emirates fight to Dubai. During the baggage screening some suspicious material was noticed by Customs officials. Immediately, a customs sniffer dog was called to confirm.
21/10/13 Times of India

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Opposition-ruled states cry deliberate delay.4 airports await ribbon-cutters

New Delhi: As airports are being constructed and opened without any glitch in Congress-ruled states like Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, opposition-ruled states are seeing a pattern in their projects. Though projects are awarded and airports are constructed in these states, inordinate delays are making some states cry foul. Worse still, what’s standing in the way of many of these projects is a ribbon!
Take, for instance, Bhatinda in Punjab. An airport has been constructed and the infrastructure is in place here, but it is yet to be formally inaugurated.
The state government has held several rounds of meetings with civil aviation minister Ajit Singh.
Ditto with the Chandigarh project. For the international airport here, the infrastructure, including immigration and customs, is ready. But the ribbon is yet to be cut.
In BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, the story repeats in Indore and Bhopal. The two airports have been accorded international status, but the government is yet to give the green signal to any operator.
On the contrary, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra have only pleasant tales to tell.
20/10/13 Rohinee Singh/Daily News & Analysis

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Airport employees threaten boycott over proposed privatization move

Lucknow: Agitated over the government's proposed move to privatise Lucknow airport, employees of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) have resorted to a strange way of protest. They greet the passengers flying to and from Lucknow airport with a pamphlet that decries the proposed privatization and describes how it would drill a hole in the flyers' pocket, raising the cost of flying up to 30%.
The employees quietly deploy themselves at the security hold area (SHA), the boarding area and the ticket counters and hand over flyers the one-page anti-privatisation pamphlet. "We have to make the passengers aware of the consequences of privatisation," president of Airports Authority of India employees union, Vivek Pandey, told TOI.
20/10/13 Times of India

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Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai airports named among world's worst airports in 2013

Karachi: Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai airports have reportedly been named among the world's worst airports in 2013, along with Islamabad airport, according to an online survey.
Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport has come third on the list of the world's worst airports as compiled by the survey by an online travel company, ahead of Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto International Airport, which is in the fourth place.
Chennai International Airport has been awarded the sixth place, while Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport has come eighth on the list.
20/10/13 ANI/Daily News & Analysis

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AAI wants 1,800 trees chopped

Bhubaneswar: Residents staying around the Biju Patnaik Airport here are up in arms against the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for serving them a notice to chop off about 1,800 trees on the ground that those pose danger to safe aircraft operation.
While the AAI says it is imperative from the passengers’ safety point of view, the locals feel that the move is unwarranted since the trees have been there for long and never did the AAI complain of any problem in the past.
The residents have been given 15 days’ time by the AAI to comply with the order failing which local administration would step in to cut the trees, the cost of which would be borne by the locals.
Interestingly, such a move to fell trees around Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport in Patna had brought the AAI to a confrontation with the Janata Dal (JD) Government last year after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had put his foot down saying that trees in the green belt will not be sacrificed.
The local residents here too are unwilling to do away with the trees saying that felling them is not necessary. “There are so many trees within the airport area besides the plantation undertaken by public sector undertakings and corporate houses,” said a resident of Palashpalli.
20/10/13 New Indian Express

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DGCA initiates GAGAN certification process for satellite air navigation

New Delhi: The certification process for India's satellite-based air navigation system, GAGAN, has been initiated by the DGCA, with its makers AAI and ISRO submitting necessary papers as part of their plans for a full-fledged launch next year.
"We have started the process of certification of GAGAN. It is a long process as there are large number of technical issues and several documentations that have to be examined," DGCA chief Arun Mishra told PTI here.He said GAGAN, or GPS Aided Geo-Augmented Navigation system, would make India "a global leader in air navigation services." India would become the fourth country after the US, Europe and Japan to have this technology.
Developed jointly by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), GAGAN would expand India's navigation coverage not only over the entire country's and neighbouring airspace, but also over Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.
20/10/13 PTI/Business Standard

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Flyers to Chandigarh offloaded from overbooked flight

Mumbai:  For some flyers, a cricket match in a non-metro can be like bad weather. It can ruin travel plans like it did on Saturday when over 20 passengers booked on a Jet Airways Mumbai-Chandigarh flight were offloaded.
The airline had overbooked in response to the spike in demand brought on by the India-Australia match played in Mohali. That is the latest lesson of the season.
If one is travelling to a non-metro on a weekend or during peak travel months and if there is a cricket match or another crowd-pulling event at the destination one is flying to, then it is prudent to reach the airport as early as possible.
20/10/13 Times of India

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CISF jawan shoots self at Pune airport, critical

Pune: A Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) jawan was critically wounded after he shot himself with his service rifle at the Pune airport on Saturday.
The jawan, B P Miri from Chhattisgarh, has been admitted to a private hospital here and his condition was said to be serious.
"The 7.62-mm bullet, fired from his rifle, pierced through his throat and came out of the head," senior inspector Dilip Naukudkar of the airport police station said.
CCTV cameras could not capture the incident as a pillar blocked the view of the place where the jawan shot himself.
20/10/13 Aseem Shaikh/Times of India

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2 held with 3kg diamond at airport, released

Bhopal:  The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) intercepted two persons for carrying 3 kg diamond studded gold ornaments at the Raja Bhoj airport Bhopal on Saturday.
The two identified as Sanket Shah and Gaurav Matre had reached airport to board the Jet Airways flight to Mumbai when the ornaments worth nearly Rs 2.3 crore was found in their baggage during the scanning. These traders were questioned separately for more than two hours by the officers of Central Excise and investigation wing of the Income Tax department. But later the officers were satisfied as the two produced documents regarding the jewellery.
20/10/13 Times of India

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Jet flight reaches Bhopal 7 hrs late

Bhopal: A Bhopal bound Jet Airways flight from Delhi reached Bhopal seven hours late on Saturday. The flight was delayed because of two emergency landings at the Delhi airport, sources claimed. The flight reached Bhopal around 3 pm, which was scheduled to reach here about 8 in the morning.
20/10/13 Times of India

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First hotel opens at Aerocity

New Delhi: After many delays, the first hotel at Aerocity has finally opened its doors in New Delhi. The 523-room JW Marriott Hotel was opened at the Aerocity on Friday. This is the fifth JW Marriott in the country.
Nearly 4,800 rooms across various brands will be coming up at Aerocity, next to the Delhi international airport, under different brands. While some hotels are almost finished, others are in the process of construction.
However, despite being ready the hotel projects faced delays after security agencies raised objections due to the proximity of these hotels to the airport.
18/10/13 Meenakshi Verma Ambwani/Business Line

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The 'world's worst' airport terminal

Manila: The Philippines' main Manila airport terminal has been named the world's worst for the second year in a row in a survey by an online travel website.
Officials on Friday brushed off the survey results, insisting conditions were being improved.
"The Guide to Sleeping in Airports" website said Manila's crowded Terminal 1 was ranked the world's worst by travellers based on comfort, convenience, cleanliness and customer service.
Reviews posted on the site mentioned "dilapidated facilities", dishonest airport workers -- particularly taxi drivers -- long waiting times and rude officials.
"These are old issues," Terminal 1 manager Dante Basanta told AFP, adding that the problems were already being addressed by the government.
18/10/13 Agence France-Presse/NDTV.com

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Air India engineer taking blame for 787 issue

It appears Boeing isn't to blame for a large panel falling off an Air India 787 this week.
An India newspaper reports an Air India maintenance engineer has been suspended for likely causing the problem.
The airline says the engineer was the last person to handle the panel and likely forgot to screw it back into place.
Air India says the 4-by-8 foot panel came off when the plane landed in Delhi, not while the plane was in flight.
18/10/13 Chris Sullivan/NY Northwest.com

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China-India visa row escalates

New Delhi: Indian politicians complained on Friday after a Chinese airline blocked two Indian archers from a disputed border state from travelling to China, raising territorial tension just days before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits Beijing.
Despite fast-growing economic ties and cooperation on global issues, the nuclear-armed neighbours have long disagreed about large areas of their 4,000-km border and fought a brief, high-altitude war in 1962 over India-administered Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as South Tibet.
Two teenage female archers from Arunachal Pradesh, who were due to participate in the World Archery Youth Championships in Wuxi, were barred from boarding a Guangzhou-bound flight late on Thursday. China refuses to stamp visas on Indian passport holders from disputed territories, but staples them instead, a practice that infuriates India. At times, even Chinese companies, like China Southern Airlines involved in Thursday’s incident, reject such visas.
19/10/13 eTN Global Travel Industry News

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Man pays Rs 2.8 lakh duty for 1 kg gold

Nedumbassery: A passenger who arrived at the Kochi international airport from Dubai by an early morning Air India Express flight on Friday had to pay Rs 2.87 lakh on finding that he was carrying one-kg gold bar in his trouser pocket.
Ashraf, a native of Muvattupuzha, passed through the newly fixed door frame metal detector, and the alarm went off putting the Customs officials on alert. It was reported that following the alarm, Ashraf walked over to the Customs counter and informed that he was carrying a gold bar with him.
19/10/13 New Indian Express

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Gold smuggling case: Official, driver sent to CBI custody

Kochi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court on Friday sent Customs Assistant Commissioner S Anil Kumar and his driver Rejith alias Jikku in CBI custody for five days.
Both were arrested for receiving money and gifts from T K Fayaz, alleged gold smuggler.
The CBI submitted before the court that Anil Kumar had received financial assistance from Fayaz for his marriage last month.
The CBI said it has recovered an LED TV, treadmill, watch and several crockery items gifted by Fayaz to Anil Kumar.
“The case against Anil Kumar is not just of receiving monetary gain, but of misusing his position as a public servant. Anil Kumar had used Fayaz’ car for a month for his marriage purpose. Rejith was the driver of the car.
When the CBI registered a case against Customs officials, Anil Kumar had shifted Fayaz’ gifts to Rejith’s house. The money was deposited to bank accounts maintained by several people in various banks, which Anil Kumar could not identify,” the CBI submitted.
It also filed the case diary before the judge in which details of gifts received by Anil Kumar was given.
19/10/13 New Indian Express

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India's navigation tech closer to certification

Bangalore: The indigenous Satellite-Based Regional GPS Augmentation System (GAGAN), which is expected to enhance navigation for aircraft movement over the Indian airspace, is in the process of certification to make it operational by the end of the year.
The certification document for GAGAN has been handed over to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for approval. Further, the GAGAN System is planned to be certified for required navigation performance (RNP 0.1) service.
The RNP is a type of performance-based navigation, which allows an aircraft to fly a specific path between two 3D-defined points in space.
Earlier, the Final Operational Phase was completed following a 30-day stability test conducted during the month of May-June.
18/10/13 Daily News & Analysis

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Govt looking at reducing scope, concession period for non-aero facilities at Chennai, Kolkata

New Delhi: The ministry of civil aviation is planning to reduce the concession period for the commercial contracts floated for operating food and beverage (F&B) outlets, retail units and duty-free shops at the Chennai and Kolkata airports. While earlier the plan was to award the contract for non-aeronautical facilities for a period of 10 years, the government is examining possibilities to bring it down to two years to leave a window for the private party which wins the management agreement to renegotiate terms for commercial ventures.
 “We have to bid out the contracts for essential services such as F&B at least till the time the private player winning the management contract stabilizes operations. Instead of awarding the commercial contract for a 10-year period, we can bid it out for two years or five years. We are exploring the options”, informed a senior official in the ministry of civil aviation.
 While the Airports of Authority of India (AAI) would take a final decision on the issue shortly, a reconsideration of the tenders floated for commercial contracts is underway as management agreements for the two airports are also being bid out simultaneously to private concessionaires.
18/10/13 Sharmistha Mukherjee/Business Standard

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Mumbai gets India's tallest Air Traffic Control tower

Mumbai: India's tallest Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower - standing at 84 metres or nearly as high as a 30-storey building - was inaugurated outside the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport on Friday.
By virtue of its location and height, the ATC tower, jointly inaugurated by Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh and Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, will enable the controllers have an uninterrupted view of the entire operational area and help optimize air traffic separation and enhance traffic handling capacity.
Spread over a 2,800 square metre area, it is equipped with the latest technology, including electronic flight strips which will lessen the workload of the controllers, increase safety and overall capacity at the airport.
Speaking on the occasion, Singh said that India is the ninth largest aviation market in the world with the traffic growing at 10% per annum, propelled by policy initiatives and modernization of both airports and air navigation systems (ANS) infrastructure.
18/10/13 IANS/Daily News & Analysis

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Flights between Daman, Diu from December

Surat: The twin tourist destinations of Daman and Diu, located 700 km apart, are set to come closer with the administration deciding to introduce air service between them from December 19. While it takes more than 12 hours to travel between Daman and Diu by road via Bhavnagar, the tourists could fly down from one place to another in just 25 minutes.
BS Bhalla, administrator, Daman and Diu told TOI, "We have started the process of making a civil terminal outside the Coast Guard airport in Daman. In Diu we have our own terminal. We want to start the air service beginning December 19, the Liberation Day."
He added that the administration has received a couple of proposals from private airline companies to start operations. "We will invite tenders from the interested companies," he said. Sources said that the administration has started the process of acquiring around 25 acres of land in Daman for developing its own airport.
18/10/13 Melvyn Reggie Thomas/Times of India

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Plea for extra fog equipment hangs in air

New Delhi: As the capital sees the first sign of winter, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) has redoubled its efforts to get a parallel set of equipment to improve the runway visual range (RVR) in dense fog. The request has acquired immediacy with haze and fog appearing over IGI airport.
According to sources, DIAL officials have in the past few months approached various wings of the aviation ministry to speed up the procurement of a secondary support system, which can be used in case the fog-safety devices break down.
The RVR is a visibility indicator and the devices are installed mostly at three points on the runway-touchdown or the beginning, middle, and rollout, the point of takeoff. The RVR readings indicate the visibility on different points to help pilots navigate the aircraft using CAT II and CAT III systems for visibility during dense fog.
18/10/13 Suhas Munshi/Times of India

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Rameswaram to get airport

The civil aviation ministry has proposed to connect smaller towns with larger ones in the country and among the first on the radar are Kanyakumari and Rameswaram.
According to the ministry, both have huge tourism potential but are hampered by a lack of connectivity.
Currently, Madurai is the nearest airport to Rameswaram and it is 170km away from the town. Similarly, Kanyakumari is 100km away from the nearest airport at Thiruvananthapuram.
18/10/13 Oman Tribune

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CM peeved by condition of airport in Dimapur

Dimapur: Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, on Thursday, led a contingent of volunteers requisitioned from various government departments to clean up the Dimapur airport. With the 50th Statehood anniversary, the Hornbill Festival and the prospect of tourists hanging in the air, the CM was visibly concerned about making the airport presentable to visitors as well as travellers from Nagaland at least for the festive season. At around the same time last year, a similar exercise was carried out.
In casual wear, Rio was accompanied by Planning and Coordination Minister, TR Zeliang and other Assembly colleagues. Going by his remarks, as he made the rounds marshalling the volunteers, on the amenities available at the airport, the CM was clearly unhappy. The peeved remarks, on the overall unkempt condition of the airport, ranged from thick overgrowths left untrimmed, randomly discarded plastic wastes, ill-maintained VIP lounge and other passenger amenities like washrooms.
“It is our only airport, we feel ashamed seeing its condition... I hope it (the day’s clean-up exercise) will be like a lesson for them,” commented the CM, interacting with newspersons as well as the Airports Authority. According to the CM, the people who are shouldered with maintenance jobs should have a “sense of ownership.”
17/10/13 The Morung Express

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Cost, viability nix high-speed rail link to Bengaluru International Airport

Bangalore: The proposed High Speed Rail Link (HSRL) between the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) and the city has been scrapped.
Bangalore in-charge minister Ramalinga Reddy on Friday said the central government had done it keeping in mind its viability and cost.
"Namma Metro will be extended to BIA," he said, during an inspection of ongoing works on the underground corridor. He was accompanied by food & civil supplies minister Dinesh Gundu Rao and Bangalore South MP Ananth Kumar.
While Gundu Rao said HSRL wasn't practical, Ananth Kumar said it was not cost-effective. Experts felt it wasn't a good idea to invest so much money on a project that would benefit only a section of passengers.
The proposed Metro link will take passengers from the city to BIA in 44 minutes.
18/10/13 Times of India

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Delay in Chennai's second runway ruins plans of airlines

Chennai: Protracted delays with the second runway have put a cap on flights operating out of Chennai airport and deterred airlines from starting new services from the city.
This has limited the options of people travelling to or from the city, even as Bangalore and Hyderabad's airports are in the process of increasing their passenger handling capacity by expanding their facilities.
The Bangalore airport currently has passenger traffic well in excess of 13 million. Bangalore International Airport Ltd has fast-tracked an expansion project to cater to 17 million passengers a year and plans to extend this to 36 million with the addition of facilities at the airport's second terminal.
The expansion of Chennai airport has suffered repeated setbacks, resulting in the Airports Authority of India not being able to allocate departure slots for new flights.
19/10/13 V Ayyappan/Times of India

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Nagpur runway recarpeting to begin by December

Nagpur: The hot mix plant for the runway recarpeting work of Dr Babasaheb International Airport, Nagpur, is being set up in MIHAN area of the airport. Unlike previous occasions, the plant is not being set up in the open area near the radar building as the authorities realized it might affect the upgraded air traffic control (ATC) equipment.
"We realized that the fumes coming out of the plants clog the air filtering systems in the radar building and that could affect our equipment. So it was decided that the hot mix plant will be shifted from there," said an airport official. The location of plant has been shifted to MIHAN side of the airport from where it will have direct access to the runway.
Currently, the level survey of the runway is being conducted in which variations in the levels of the runway strip is measured in grids of three metres each.
18/10/13 Aparna Nair/Times of India

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Mysore airport gets exclusive security force

Mysore: After two-years full-fledged operation, the Mysore airport at Mandakalli on the Mysore-Nanjangud road, has finally got an exclusive security force.
A total of 44 police personnel, in different cadres have been deployed at the airport from September, Police?Commissioner M?A?Saleem told Deccan Herald. The force will work in tandem with the City Armed Reserve (CAR) policemen, already posted on airport duty.
The men have been trained in airport security from a dedicated team of experts of the Bureau of Civil Aviation, Hyderabad. In addition, the operator (SpiceJet) has also conducted five-day training classes. The force has been entrusted with the task of keeping a tab on the arrival and exit of travellers. It will also carry out individual profiling by keeping an eye on passengers in the lounge.
The force has also been briefed on the existing contingency plan, which calls for several departments to work together to mitigate emergencies.
18/10/13 Deccan Herald

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Navi Mumbaikars are sitting on a gold mine: V Radha

Belapur: Referring to her posting in Navi Mumbai as both, challenging and beautiful, joint managing director of Cidco, V Radha has said those in the satellite city are sitting on a gold mine.
“To make it better, Cidco will be planning the Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area, which will transform the city. Mega projects like the ones for the airport and metro will add to the re-emergence of this beautiful city,” she said.
“Though there are many complex issues hampering our progress, we have been working upon putting up a systematic plan, so that the area becomes a different city in itself,” she added.
“Though there are many complex issues hampering our progress, we have been working upon putting up a systematic plan, so that the area becomes a different city in itself,” she added.
18/10/13 Bhalchandra Chorghade/Daily News & Analysis

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Modi leaves stagnant traffic, delayed air passengers in his 'trail'

Chennai: Passengers who were hoping to check-in on time for their flights on Friday night had a bit of a shock - with traffic on GST Road being stalled to make way for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to leave the city between 8 pm and 9.30 pm, most people were in a state of panic by the time they reached the airport.
With the state police pulling out all stops to ensure that no untoward incident happened to the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, there were cops stationed all along the road from the Kathiapara flyover to well past the airport. As Modi was travelling along the length of Mount Road from Madras University to the Airport via Guindy, traffic was "temporarily kept to a minimum", according to a policeman.
Luckily for passengers in the cars, with the number of distressed calls made to Spicejet, Indigo and Air India, the airlines agreed to keep the check-in counters running for as close at 10 minutes prior to take-off. Airport sources said that passengers on at least 9 flights arrived in a panicked state, hoping that they'd be allowed to board the flight.
18/10/13 New Indian Express

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