Govt to scan ICAO report on viability of airports in Goa

Panaji: The Goa government will examine the feasibility of two airports in the coastal state, keeping in view the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) report, which termed the idea as "unviable".
"I will personally examine the report before commenting anything on it," Chief Secretary J P Singh told reporters today.
Singh, who is in Delhi along with Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat to attend a Finance Commission meeting, said that he will take up report on priority once he is back in the state.
ICAO study stems from stiff opposition meted out to the proposed international airport at Mopa in North Goa. The state already has Indian navy-run airport at Dabolim, which is also engaged in civilian services.
According to sources, ICAO has pointed out that new airport will require at least 12 million departing passengers and 24 million total traffic.
Goa's Dabolim Airport currently handles 2.2 million passengers and the estimated traffic rise here is pegged at four million by 2022.
24/10/07 Economic Times

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Smog shuts Mumbai airports

Mumbai: Scores of passengers were stranded on Saturday morning after both Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and the domestic airport were shut down for over an hour.
Increased pollution, leading to smog, had affected visibility on the runways, forcing the airports to suspend operations. “All operations were shut down from 6.45 to 8.15am,” a spokesperson for the Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) said.
Flights expected to land in Mumbai were diverted to Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Nagpur and Vadodara. Four Air Deccan flights, two Jet Airways flights and one each from SpiceJet and Kingfisher were hit.
“No take-offs or landings could take place either,” according to MG Junghare, general manager, Aerodrome of the Western Region.
30/09/07 Manisha Singhal/Daily News & Analysis

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Flights from Chandigarh touch full-capacity sky

Chandigarh: It is advisable to get your air ticket booked well in advance in case you are planning an air travel in immediate future, as almost all the flights from the city are flying to their full capacity these days.
The Indian Airlines flight 1C 863 (Chandigarh-Delhi-Mumbai), delayed by two hours due to bad weather conditions in Mumbai today, had just a single ticket available on its 145-seater flight.
According to the airline officials, they are having an average of 135 to 140 passengers on their flights these days.
Air Deccan flight to Delhi and Jammu, too, is doing a thriving business, and its 48-seater aircraft rarely goes with an empty seat.
The officials of Air Deccan believe that being the last flight, from the city to Delhi in the evening (4.45 pm), has made their flight popular.
Jet Airways has a 122-seater plane. It gets around 105 to 110 passengers.
The Station Manager of MDLR Airlines attributes its full capacity flight to better timings and great service of the airlines.
30/09/07 Sandeep Yadav/Chandigarh Newsline

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One held for smuggling diamond at airport

Chennai: A passenger who arrived at the Chennai airport from Sri Lanka in Jet Airways flight on Thursday night was found to have swallowed plastic bag containing diamonds and precious stones worth Rs 9 lakh.
Musthafa Jamal, 43, a resident of S P Pattanam of Ramanathapuram district, was detained by Customs officials when they found strange objects in his stomach during a scan after he arrived in a late night flight to Chennai from Colombo.
When the contents were extracted from his stomach, the Customs officials were startled to find a pouch having diamonds and precious stones worth Rs 9 lakh and Jamal was detained for interrogation by the police.
During the enquiry of Jamal, it was found that he owned a house at Triplicane in the city and might have evaded the Customs many times at Chennai airport while smuggling diamonds in the flights from Colombo.
29/09/07 News Today

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Pune airport dream takes off afresh

Pune: A vast expanse of 2,565 hectares (over thrice the size marked for the original airport project at Chakan); state-of-the-art passenger and cargo terminals; two runways with instrument landing system (ILS) and night-landing facility; a star hotel; convention centre; golf course; business centre and entertainment avenues... That's just a glimpse of what the planners have envisaged for Pune's new airport project.
After seven years of planning, debate and disappointment over the scrapped Chakan project - the city's quest for a "world class aviation infrastructure"has begun all over again.
Signalling the fresh take-off of the airport dream was the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation's (MIDC) move on September 25, inviting tenders for a techno-economic feasibility study (TEFS) and a topographic survey and investigation (TSI) of the proposed alternative site at Rajgurunagar, which is 6 km ahead of the old site.
The alternative site has since been rechristened as ‘New Chakan', owing to its proximity to Phase II of the Chakan industrial estate, and is located 35 km north of the city, off the Pune-Nashik NH No 50. The TEFS will focus on the new project's overall impact vis-à-vis technical, environmental, social, economic and financial aspects - taking into account an estimated demand for the next 30 years.
29/09/07 Vishwas Kothari/Times of India

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AAI team surveys Rourkela airstrip

Rourkela: A threemember survey team of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Friday made a spot assesment of the Rourkela airstrip to find out the feasibility of re-introduction of air connectivity to the city.
Led by senior civil aviation consultant and former executive director of AAI D P Chakravorty the team comprised Air Traffic Controller (East) Timir Bandhopadhyay and AAI's Chief of Communication R K Chandra.
They have reportedly expresed satisfaction over the existing insfrastructure.
The team found the aristrip insfrastructre here better than that at Ranchi and Jamshedpur. The team, however, felt the need for a passenger terminal besides further strengtheing of the existing fire services.
29/09/07 Newindpress

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Work on Mangalore airport will resume soon

Mangalore: J.R. Lobo, Deputy Project Director, Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC), Mangalore, has said that the work on airport will be restarted soon.
Mr. Lobo said that the request for the construction of an approach road to the proposed airport terminal building was made by the Airport Director, Airports Authority of India, Mangalore, to the KUIDFC on March 15, 2005.
Survey
The KUIDFC commenced survey with the Airport Director and finalised an alignment for a four-lane approach road to the new terminal building from Kenjar village.
After obtaining approval of the Airport Director vide his letter dated March 17, 2006, the tender process was initiated and awarded on November 13, 2006.
28/09/07 The Hindu/Mangalorean.com

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Gammon to develop airport in Africa

Mumbai: Airport development is big business not only in India but also in other parts of the world.
With delays in bidding process for airport projects in India, domestic companies are chasing opportunities abroad.
After GMR bagged the Istanbul airport project, it is Gammon Infrastructure that is all set to grab mega airport project in Africa.
Gammon will be holding 26 per cent equity in African airport project in a consortium with other international players including an airport operator. The project size is estimated at Rs 3,000 crore.
Internationally, there are many international airport development projects coming up for bidding including the ones in Europe besides Africa.
Not only Gammon, other Indian companies like GMR and GVK are also lining up to bid for them. 28/09/07 Rumi Dutta Hardasmalani/NDTV.com

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Two held for bid to smuggle currencies

Chennai: Two air passengers, who allegedly attempted to smuggle foreign currencies valued at over Rs 20 lakh by concealing them in their rectums, have been arrested by the Air Intelligence Unit of Customs at the airport here.
Abdul Razack Abdul Bakki (39) and Ameer Ali Sarpudeen (37) of S P Pattinam in Ramanathapuram district, bound for Singapore in an Indian flight, were arrested late last night for violation of the Provisions of the Customs Act, Commissioner of Customs (Airport) C Rajan said in a release here today.
In yet another customs violation, a Chinese national bound for Hong Kong by a Malaysian Airlines flight was found to be carrying undeclared money to the tune of $ 15,600 equivalent to Rs 6.28 lakh. The currency was seized for violation of the provisions of the Customs Act.
27/09/07 Chennai Online

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Permit foreign airlines or face agitation: KMCC

Kozhikode: Peeved at the delay in allowing foreign airlines to operate from the Karipur international airport here, a Gulf-based pro-League organisation on Thursday threatened to go on an agitation if the Centre failed to meet the demand by October 15.
"We will observe fast in front of the houses of Union Ministers and MPS representing the state to realise our genuine demand," office-bearers of the Jeddah Chapter of Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre told a press meet here.
Even after the airport was granted the international status over an year back, the Centre was not allowing foreign airlines to operate from the terminal, they said, adding national carrier Air India, operating a majority of the aircraft, was also frequently putting the passengers to hardship.
Despite taking out protest march to the airport, picketing the Air India office and sending representations to the Civil Aviation Ministry, nothing had materialised and the passengers continued to face difficulties to reach their destinations in the Gulf, they said.
27/09/07 PTI/Economic Times

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Airlines give wings to Gujarati fliers

Ahmedabad: Shortly after Air Arabia, Kuwait Airways and Jet Airways kicked off direct flights from Ahmedabad to Sharjah, Kuwait and London, others like Emirates, Qatar Airways and Air Etihad are raring to fly in.
While Emirates has already announced a six-flights-a-week service to Dubai from October 28, Qatar Airways will be kicking off daily direct flights to Doha from December 13.
With a Rs 290-crore makeover set to give Ahmedabad a new world-class terminal by early 2009, European carriers like Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways may be keen on taxiing in, said sources. The new terminal will have a capacity to accommodate nearly 500 passengers at any given point of time and big aircraft like A-380 too, airport sources said.
International passenger traffic from Ahmedabad has already zoomed to 3.37 lakh in 2006 from 3.18 lakh in 2005 riding on only four carriers — Air India, Indian Airlines, Singapore Airlines (2003) and Kuwait Airways (started in October 2006).
28/09/07 Swati Bharadwaj-Chand/Times of India

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AI Express reschedules flight to Mangalore

Qatar: Effective tomorrow, Air-India Express will have flights on Saturdays to Mangalore from Doha. This service replaces the flight which used to be operated on Sunday.
That would be the only change in the budget carrier’s winter schedule, which came into force today, said sales manager Sebastian Joseph.
Altogether, the airline would continue to have 10 flights a week from Doha to five destinations in India, including three in Kerala.
On Sundays, services are available to Kozhikode and Kochi; on Mondays to Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi; and on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays to Mangalore.
To Mumbai, it offers services thrice a week - on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, arriving at the destination on the following days.
On Wednesdays and Fridays, IX operates to Kozhikode and Kochi. It will mean that to Kochi, services are available on four days a week - Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
28/09/07 Gulf Times, Qatar

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Shilpa detained, interrogated!

Tuesday night, Shilpa Shetty encountered airport problems again — she was off to Germany with her troupe of dancers and choreographers, about fifty of them, to perform for her musical ‘Miss Bollywood’ which unveils in Berlin on September 29. However, at the airport, she was accosted by the immigration authorities and detained in an isolated room for at least half an hour while the rest of her team were allowed to go.
Apparently the infamous Richard Gere kiss case is still pending a notice (a look-out notice, generally issued in criminal cases and served at exit points of the country) issued by a court in Rajasthan, disallowing her from flying out of the country.
But soon after, the Supreme Court had stepped in and given her the required permission to fly anywhere she wants to. But apparently the notice hasn’t reached the airports as yet and officials were not sure if she should be allowed to fly out of the country at all. Shilpa was not carrying the relief note with her. After a gruelling interrogation lasting about 30 minutes, she was finally allowed to go.
Earlier in June too, when Shilpa was flying to the UK, the same problem had cropped up and she was made to go through a similar gruelling session by immigration officials.
27/09/07 Shubha Shetty-Saha/Daily News & Analysis

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Rat grounds AI flight

Chennai: A rat in an A320 aircraft sent Air India's staff at the Chennai airport into a tizzy on Wednesday.
Passengers on the Chennai-Kuala Lumpur service scheduled for 2 am suffered a delay of more than two hours after the rat was spotted by ground personnel inside the aircraft when it was being readied for boarding.
The aircraft was towed away and another pressed into service, said officials of Air India. The 130 passengers who were booked on the flight had to wait in the lounge for two hours before they were put on another flight.
In the meanwhile, Air India's maintenance and cleaning crew hunted and killed the rat on the originally scheduled plane which was inducted back into service after checks revealed that the rodent had not chewed up wires or components in the aircraft.
27/09/07 V Ayyappan/Newindpress

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Sri Lankan travelling on fake documents arrested

Bangalore: Yet another Sri Lankan national who was trying to illegally fly out of India was apprehended at the Bangalore airport in the early hours of Wednesday.
The Immigration officials at the Bangalore airport arrested Thushyanthan (23), who was possessing fake passport and visa, when he was about to board a Lufthansa Airline flight to the U.K., sources in the police told The Hindu.
Thushyanthan alias Kumaran, who had come to Chennai three months ago, had obtained a fake Indian passport through an agent there.
As advised by the agent, Thushyanthan purchased a domestic ticket from Indian airline counter and entered the terminal building.
The agent, who had come there, handed over a Lufthansa airline ticket and fake visa to Thushyanathan and tore the domestic Indian Airline ticket, the sources said.
When Thushyanthan was trying to sneak in without getting the immigration clearance, the officials apprehended him.
On verification of the documents, they found that he was possessing fake passport and visa with fake immigration seal, the sources said.
27/09/07 The Hindu

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Plan to cut free time for cargo imports upsets traders

Chennai: The industrial and trade community is unhappy with the government’s plan to reduce the free time given for cargo imports at all airports.
Under this policy, the government wants to ensure that the cargo clearance time is reduced to three working days from the present five working days, effective from October 1. Importers will incur demurrage charges if goods are left at the airport beyond three days. However, industrialists and customs agents say this is unreasonable, given the situation on the ground at the Indian airports, especially at the Chennai airport.
“...you need to understand the infrastructure constraint that inhibits quick removal,” said J. Krishnan, chairman of the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s expert committee on logistics. “The situation in Chennai, in particular, is that it takes a minimum of two-three days till the cargo is put at the disposal of the importer.”
Mr. Krishnan argued that the counting system itself was flawed. If a flight arrived at 11 p.m., one working day of the free period was counted by midnight. The second Saturdays when Customs functioned with skeleton staff to clear urgent shipments were also counted as working days. Asad Cassim, of the Air Cargo Agents Association of India, said the AAI handled cargo only in two shifts.
26/09/07 The Hindu

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Rat aboard: Flight cancelled

Chennai: A Port Blair-bound 'Indian' flight cancelled its journey minutes before take off from here today as the pilot noticed a rat inside the aircraft.
All 142 passengers had boarded the Airbus A-320 aircraft when the rat was found, airport sources said.
As the pilot refused to take off with the rat onboard, all passengers were disembarked and a thorough search was launched for the "ticketless passenger", sources said. As the search proved fruitless for hours, the flight was cancelled and the passengers were accommodated in various city hotels, Indian sources said.
26/09/07 PTI/The Hindu

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Jharsuguda to have airport

Bhubaneswar: The Centre plans to set up an airport at Jharsuguda in Western Orissa besides upgrading the existing Biju Patnaik airport here to that of international standards, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel announced here on Monday.
Addressing a meeting here to mark the merger of State unit of the Janata Dal (S) and Orissa Gana Parishad (OGP) with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Patel said as one airport is not adequate for the State, the Centre has decided to develop another one in Orissa.
Referring to the substantial decrease in air tariff, Patel said the Centre aimed to make air travel affordable for the middle and lower middle class people who constitute majority of the country’s population.
25/09/07 Newindpress

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Two women held for theft at Delhi's international airport

Indian police arrested two women for bag lifting at the international airport in the capital Delhi on Sunday night, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported Tuesday.
The arrests came after a visitor chased and caught one of them running away with a bag from his car, police said. Her accomplice was caught by a constable as she tried to divert attention by opening a door of the visitor's car.
Police believed the duo was part of gang of thieves that struck passengers and visitors at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, according to the news report.
In the past one month, around ten cases of theft have been reported at the airport. Police suspected the gang members hailed from south India. The thieves return to their native places to sell off the stolen article and travel down to Delhi again to make fresh strikes, police said.
26/09/07 Xinhua/People's Daily Online, China

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Qatar Airways launches flights to Nagpur

Qatar Airways yesterday celebrated the launch of scheduled flights to the central Indian city of Nagpur marking the airline's seventh destination in India.
The Civil Aviation Minister of India, the Honourable Praful Patel, was among the guests at Dr. Ambedkar International Airport in Nagpur to welcome the first flight and the airline's Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker who flew on the inaugural from Doha.
Flight QR288 touched down at the city's airport to a welcome ceremony, which included Indian dancing and the symbolic traditional lighting of the lamp, seen as an auspicious occasion to herald launches.
Qatar Airways is the only full-service scheduled international airline from the Middle East flying to Nagpur. The launch of twice-weekly flights between Doha, capital of the State of Qatar, and Nagpur takes the airline's burgeoning network across India to 44 services a week.
The Nagpur route is being operated with an Airbus A320 aircraft in a two-class configuration of 12 seats in Business Class and 132 in Economy.
25/09/07 ArabianBusiness.com (press release), United Arab Emirates

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Amausi airport apron area to be expanded

Lucknow: Aiming to handle air traffic in a better way, the Amausi Airport is all set to have larger apron capacity by 2008-end.
At present, the airport has the capacity for seven aircrafts like Airbus-300, Airbus-310, Airbus-320 and Boeing-737.
Besides, separate space for four VIP aircrafts is also available. With the construction of the new apron, the area would increase from 33,966 sq metres to 98,250 sq metres.
As per the Rs 39-crore project prepared by the Airport Authority of India, the airport would be able to accommodate 13 aircrafts.
According to the officials, apron is the part of airport where the aircrafts are parked, loaded, unloaded, and re-fueled.
At present, apart from some non-scheduled flights, the Amausi Airport operates 12 domestic flights a day while 6 international flights a week on an average.
26/09/07 Deepak Pandey/Lucknow Newsline

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Lankan airlines now eyes Mangalore

Mangalore: Sri Lankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka , with connectivity to 51 destinations in 30 countries, may include Mangalore in its destination map in the near future.
Manoj Gunawardena, Head, Worldwide Passenger Sales, Sri Lankan Airlines, told Deccan Herald that the company was looking at the possibility of launching tier-2 city operations. Mangalore and Port Blair had been listed in this regard.
The airline would operate 100 flights every week to India by October end, with the launch of Colombo-Coimbatore operations by October-end. Coimbatore would be the airline's 11th destination in India .
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan Airlines Manager (TN and Karnataka) Mohan de S Meegolle said that the airline offered a host of services. He also said that he had held talks with the Mangalore airport director on the proposal to introduce flights between Mangalore and Colombo .
25/09/07 SahilOnline, United Arab Emirates

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GVK set to tie up with HDIL in airport project

GVK, the company managing Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL), is close to finalising Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) as its partner for the airport slum rehabilitation project.
The project envisages the rehabilitation of 85,000 families on 276 acres, or 1.2 crore sq ft, of land.
Both MIAL and HDIL are in the process of concluding an agreement, sources from Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) said.
MMRDA is the nodal agency for the survey and rehabilitation of slum- dwellers.
"They are negotiating on the structure of the deal and profit-sharing ratio," said sources close to HDIL.
An MIAL spokesperson said: "We have received Expression of Interest (EoI) from four developers. We are in talks and will be announcing the partner soon," he said.
HDIL managing director Sarang (Sunny) Wadhawan refused to comment.
26/09/07 Rajshri Mehta & Tinesh Bhasin/Sify

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Maytas Infra looking to enter airport development biz

Mumbai: Hyderabad-based construction and infrastructure development firm Maytas Infra Ltd plans to enter the airport development and operation business through alliances with strategic partners.
“We are looking to enter the airport development business,” said B. Teja Raju, vice-chairman. Raju is the eldest son of B. Ramalinga Raju, co-founder of India’s fourth largest computer services firm by revenues, Satyam Computer Services Ltd.
Maytas will team up with an experienced airport operator in order to qualify to bid for upcoming projects, said Raju, declining to elaborate. Maytas is looking to bid for low-cost airports in Karnataka, a company official said.
The proposed entry into airports comes ahead of plans by Maytas to sell 8.85 million shares in an initial public offer with plans to raise up to Rs327 crore. The share sale, scheduled to run between 27 September and 4 October, will constitute 15% of the post-issue capital of the firm. Maytas posted a net profit of Rs55 crore on revenues of Rs641 crore in the year ended March. It held orders worth Rs3,600 crore as on June 30.
25/09/07 P.Manoj/Livemint

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MIAL knocks on AI’s doors for integrated terminal

New Delhi: The Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) — the joint venture between the GVK-South African airports combine and Airports Authority of India (AAI) — has approached Air India for the proposed integrated terminal at the Mumbai airport.
The GVK-led consortium is in talks with Air India for getting some land under the latter’s possession to build an integrated terminal at the Mumbai airport. The move comes after MIAL decided to give up constructing a second runway as decided in the master plan due to unavailability of land around the running airport.
Mumbai international airport has about 2,000 acres of land, of which only 990 acres are in use currently. About 275 acres of airport land are occupied by slums, a major hurdle in the development of airside infrastructure.
MIAL had earlier planned to have two terminals — one at Sahar for international traffic and the other at Santa Cruz for domestic passengers.
25/09/07 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

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Cabinet approval for airport transfer awaited: Patel

Nagpur: Union Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel on Monday categorically said the international passenger and cargo hub project in the city was a "certainty", and the transfer of city airport from the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) was now only a matter of approval from the Union cabinet.
"No one should have any doubt in their mind about the entire project and particularly the transfer of airport to MADC, since, it was before the cabinet," Patel said after inaugurating the AI Express flight from Nagpur to Dubai today.
It is the prerogative of the Prime Minister to include it in the cabinet agenda and when it comes it will be done.
Referring to the statement that his ministerial colleague Vilas Muttemwar made where he allegedly accused him of putting an obstacle in the setting up of a cargo hub, Patel said it was uncalled for people to blame him.
24/09/07 PTI/Economic Times

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Punjab CM meets defence minister to Seek NOC for three Airports

Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Monday called on Union Defence Minister A.K Antony to seek No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Ministry of Defence for three airports coming up in Punjab at Mohali, Sahnewal (Ludhiana) and Bhisiana (Bathinda).
Badal said that the up-gradation and extension of the existing airports at Mohali and Sahnewal would further boost the process of modernizing infrastructure in the state.
Mr.Badal informed the Union Defence Minister that Ludhiana which was an industrial hub of Punjab and carrying big business all over the world required an airport be used for domestic landing and small business aircrafts. Whereas Mohali being the central place for the neighbouring three states and being developed as IT hub and this International Airport would connect Punjab to the rest of the world in a big way.
Badal exhorted the Defence Minister a joint survey to be conducted early by Ministry of Defence, Indian Air Force and Government of Punjab with the Airports Authority of Indian for setting up of this International Airport. He said that the Airport Authority of India had agreed to share this project on the basis of 51% and 49% with the State.
24/09/07 PunjabNewsline.com

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Nagpur airport to get hi-tech medical centre

Nagpur: Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport here will soon have a state-of-the-art medical inspection centre to take care of passengers in case of emergencies.
There have been several cases in the past wherein authorities had to handle passengers suffering from cardiac arrest and other medical complications. In its bid to take on such situations, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has a plan to jointly set up a 24-hour medical care centre with a renowned hospital group in city.
The centre will have the latest medical equipment, such as an automatic external defiblirator (AED), vital in saving persons suffering strokes, ECG machines, life savings drugs, and other equipment.AAI has further plans to set up a child care centre on the airport premises and provide total privacy to mothers. During flight delays or in case of cancellations, the child care centre will provide all necessary facilities to the passengers, Borkar added.
25/09/07 Times of India

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Orissa to get second airport at Jharsuguda

Bhubaneswar: The Centre plans to set up another airport at Jharsuguda in western Orissa besides upgrading the existing Biju Patnaik Airport here to that of international standard, Civil Aviation minister Praful Patel said on Monday.
Announcing the Centre's plan, he said that as one airport is not adequate for the state, the Centre has decided to develop another one in Orissa.
"The Centre will also upgrade the Bjiu Patnaik Airport since there are a lot of activities here," Patel told a meeting here.
Mentioning that the air tariff had subsantially come down, Patel said the Centre aimed to make air travel affordable for the middle and lower middle class people who constitute majority of the country's population.
The union minister's announcement about an international airport came in the wake of rapid industrialisation drive in the state with investors making a beeline for it.
24/09/07 PTI/Economic Times

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Migrant workers in limbo at Kuala Lumpur airport waiting for employers to collect them

Kuala Lumpur: Thousands of migrant workers are being forced to camp for days in a stuffy car park at the airport in Malaysia's biggest city, sleeping on the floor surrounded by garbage and urine, while they wait for their new employers to collect them.
Every day, more than 1,000 migrant workers arrive at the Kuala Lumpur international airport, with the number swelling to 3,000 at the weekend, said Saravana Kumar, deputy head of immigration at the airport during an interview last week.
Most of them arrive from Bangladesh, and a few from Nepal, Pakistan, India and other countries, eager to join a burgeoning labor force of menial workers, such as carpenters, cleaners, security guards, waiters and shop clerks who help keep Malaysia's economic success humming.
But complaints that migrants were loitering among tourists at the pristine airport, sprawling about with their piles of scruffy luggage, prompted authorities to set up a makeshift immigration processing center in the airport's multistory car park, Saravana said.
The processing center was meant to facilitate a speedy processing — within eight hours of their arrival — and enable immigration officials to keep track of everyone in one place. But some workers are forced to spend several nights in the car park because their employers or agents are either late to collect them, or do not show up at all, Saravana said.
23/09/07 The Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, France

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Painter sent back as visa is cancelled

Manama: A Painter, who left Bahrain four months ago for medical treatment was told his visa had been cancelled upon his return to Bahrain yesterday.
P K Ragukumar, from India, was forced to return to Kerala after Bahrain International Airport officials informed him that he could not enter the country.
He was stranded at the airport until he received a ticket to Mumbai from his sponsor, his brother P K Ashok told the GDN.
The GDN reported in July that several expats had been barred from entering Bahrain after they returned from vacation because their sponsors had cancelled their visas without informing them.
Embassy officials had criticised the practice, describing it as "an inhumane gesture from the employer and it must be stopped".
The General Directorate of Nationality, Passports and Residence has advised victims of such practices to complain to airport authorities.
25/09/07 Alistair Baptista/Gulf Daily News, Bahrain

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US help for Kolkata airport?

Kolkata: Modernisation of the Kolkata airport turned out to be one of the areas in which state commerce and industries minister Nirupam Sen expressed interest for collaboration with US companies during his meeting with a US delegation from California today.
This is what Suja Lowenthal, councilperson of Long Beach, California, said at a media conference organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI). “Some airport operations management companies may also be part of the trade mission slated to visit the state in January 2008,” she said.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Sen said the meeting with the California delegation had gone off well and possible avenues of US investments in the state were discussed. Regarding the airport modernisation issue, however, Sen declined to comment, saying: “The Government of India is dealing with the issue.”
“The meeting with the commerce and industry minister was very productive,” said Lowenthal, “the minister was supportive of the agenda.”
24/09/07 Expressindia.com

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For 5 mins, Delhi’s air traffic control went blind

New Delhi: For almost five tense minutes early last Friday, the entire air traffic over north India vanished from the radar controls of Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. The blip threw air traffic authorities into a tizzy and heightened fears of possible mishaps for a brief while.
The unacceptable lapse was the result of a faulty radar system that controls air traffic over the region, sources told DNA. The malfunction sent shock waves all around as there is only one approach radar to monitor and control all air traffic movement coming into Delhi.
Radar malfunctions are a very serious business because, when the screen goes blank, air traffic controllers (ATCs) do not know the location of aircraft flying into Delhi. The incident took place around 1 am when the airport handles mostly international flights. At the precise moment, four aircraft were flying in and around Delhi airspace, sources said.
The Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been informed of the radar failure and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has initiated an internal investigation.
24/09/07 Yogesh Kumar/Daily News & Analysis

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States told to provide infrastructure support for more airports

Kolkata: The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation plans to have 500 airports across the country and has urged the State Governments for infrastructure support through public-private partnerships.
“There is a need to increase the number of airports in the country. We now have 80 operational airports compared to US where there are more than 5,000 airports. There should be at least 500 airports across India. Several airstrips in different parts of India are lying unused where we can develop smaller airports,” Mr Praful Patel, Union Minister for Civil Aviation, told newspersons on the sidelines of a ceremony to upgrade the Behala airstrip and inauguration of the Flying Institute of the Camellia Group.
According to him, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh have already approached the Ministry for development of airports in their States.
23/09/07 Business Line

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Wipro may offer services to Boeing`s MRO facility in Nagpur

Wipro Technologies is in the advanced stages of negotiations with aviation company Boeing to provide technological support for its upcoming facility in Maharashtra, reports Business Standard.
If Wipro receives this contract, the company will gain around 20-25% of the total USD100 million investments planned for IT services by Boeing, the New York Stock Exchange-listed company.
This will be the second contract to be received by an Indian IT company by Boeing. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) had received the first contract.
Wipro intends to offer software, technology and installation support and services for Boeing`s maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Nagpur.
Wipro will look at a joint venture deal or an alliance with Boeing for the project. Boeing plans to start another MRO facility in Delhi.
Wipro is also considering providing software tools to enable checks on various passenger aircraft of Boeing.
24/09/07 Myiris.com

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Doha, Dubai flights take off today from Nagpur

Nagpur: There will be double bonanza for international air-travellers of Orange City from September 24 onwards as international airliners Qatar Airways and low-cost airliner Air India Express will be commencing their respective Nagpur-Doha and Nagpur-Dubai operations from Dr Ambedkar International Airport here.
On Monday the inaugural flight of Qatar Airways will arrive at Nagpur at 10 am and take off for Doha at 11.15 am, while the Air India Express flight will arrive from Mumbai at 11.30 am and take off for Dubai at 1.30 pm.
The low-cost airliner Air India Express will be operated on Mumbai-Nagpur-Dubai sector with 188 seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft, on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. It will take off from Nagpur at 1.30 pm and reach Dubai at 3.40 pm. In its return journey, the flight will take off from Dubai at 4.30 pm and reach Nagpur at 7.25 pm. The aircraft will have single-class economy, but it will provide all its passengers all the essential on-board services needed for a comfortable flight.
Qatar Airways will operate flights on Monday and Thursday with 144-seat Airbus-320 aircraft on the Nagpur-Doha route. The flight will arrive at Nagpur at 4.30 am and will take off for Doha at 5.35 am. An official of Qatar Airways said the inaugural flight will be carrying 144 passengers (100% load) to Doha, similar is the situation with Air India Express flight, sources said. Doha and Dubai will be destinations to be linked with the city after Sharjah (Air Arabia) and Bangkok (Indian).
24/09/07 Times of India

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Rough day at Kolkata airport

Kolkata: It was an ordeal that the 240 Bangkok-bound passengers won’t forget in a hurry. They were confined to the international terminal of NSCBI Airport for over 12 hours because of a delay by a Thai Airways flight. One hundred and fifty seven doctors had to endure the travail, too.
The wait, which began at 11 pm on Saturday, ended at 2 pm on Sunday when Thai Airways flight TG 314 finally took off.
The passengers reported at the check-in counter between 11 pm and 12 pm on Saturday for the flight scheduled to take off 2 am on Sunday. By 1 am, the passengers had undergone security check, immigration, customs clearance and were seated in the security hold lounge.
But the boarding announcements never came. It was only an hour after the scheduled departure that an airline official informed the passengers that the flight was delayed. “The aircraft has been diverted to Dhaka due to bad weather. It will land here in an hour,” he assured them.
The officer appeared twice during the next two hours making similar noises. Thereafter, he disappeared, leaving the 240 passengers in the lurch.
The flight landed only around 2 pm, exactly 12 hours after it was scheduled to depart.
An airline source said the flight couldn’t land due to strong crosswinds. The passengers could not be provided accommodation as their passports were stamped and were “deemed to have exited Indian soil”.
24/09/07 Times of India

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Narrow Escape for Jet Airways Passengers

Srinagar: More than 120 passengers of a JetLite flight had a narrow escape when the aircraft developed a technical snag while landing at Srinagar International Airport and skidded off the runway Sunday morning.
Sources quoting eyewitnesses said that panic gripped airport when the wheels of JetLite flight No S2-165 coming from Delhi to Srinagar got jammed while landing at the airport. The plane skidded off the runway and went into the nearby field.
More than 120 passengers, including some foreigners, were on board. However, all of them escaped unhurt, officials sources said.
They said emergency was declared and all passengers were later evacuated from the plane safely.
"The flight took off from Delhi airport and it was about to land at the Srinagar airport when pilot informed the control tower about the jammed wheel", sources said adding, "Though the situation was alarming the pilots managed to control the situation".
Plane remained grounded at the airport till late evening and engineers were being flown from Delhi on Monday to examine it, sources said.
23/09/07 Kashmir Observer

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Patel announces Behala airport project

Kolkata: At a foundation stone laying ceremony for air-side development work at the Behala Flying Club, Mr Praful Patel, union minister of state for civil aviation said the ministry is planning to develop the airport in Behala as an auxiliary one to the NSC Bose International Airport in Dum Dum, for operating smaller aircraft. The announcement came with a rider that the state government will have to provide land for stretching the runway to facilitate landing of ATR aircraft.
“The airport in Behala will be developed to handle commercial operations of smaller aircraft. For this the runway has to be extended to 4,500 feet from the present 3,500 feet. About 30 acres of land will be required for that and to build a passenger terminal building,” Mr Patel said.
“This airport, when it comes up, will reduce the pressure on Dum Dum airport as the smaller aircraft and helicopters could be operated from here,” Mr Bhattacharjee said. He evaded the land issue and requested local members of parliament to help the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to acquire the same. The airport will develop into a modern facility for regional flights within a year and also train pilots, the minister said.
Meanwhile, the Behala Flying Club and Camelia Flying Training Institute have entered into a joint venture to set up an institute with an investment of approximately Rs 35 crore to train pilots.
23/09/07 The Statesman

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Qatar, AI Express to launch flights from Monday

Nagpur: Qatar Airways and Air India Express are all set to launch their flight from Nagpur to Doha and Dubai respectively, airlines sources said.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel will flag off both the international flights at Dr Ambedkar International Airport.
Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker is arriving with the inaugural flight from Doha and will be present at the ceremony, airline sources added.
Similarly Air India Express will introduce a Nagpur-Dubai flight tomorrow.
23/09/07 Financial Express

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Coming up: Low-cost airports

New Delhi: After low-cost carriers, get ready for no-frills airports.
The man who made flying an option for train and bus travellers — Air Deccan founder G R Gopinath — has formed a joint venture with GVK Group (which is developing Mumbai airport), Raheja Developers and Infrastructure Development Finance Corp to build basic low-cost terminals. The focus of this JV will be on small towns across India but it will also bid for big cities where such terminals don't exist. The strategy is two-pronged — develop real estate and airports side by side to help both survive.
Gopinath, now relatively free from running Air Deccan as Kingfisher's Vijay Mallya is on his way to acquiring a majority stake in the company, explained: "These will be bare bone airports with the focus primarily on instrumental landing, night landing, runways and technical side and not on the terminal. The idea is to allow planes to get in fast and leave fast as airlines make money by flying planes rather than by keeping them on ground."
What about the fixed cost incurred on operating aircraft, like lease charges? According to Gopinath, airlines should be able to recover it as the number of passengers increases due to more flights. This would also reduce their average cost per flier.
23/09/07 Saurabh Sinha/Times of india

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Duty-free shops fly on aviation boom

New Delhi: It seems that the current boom in the aviation sector has transpired across all the segments closely or remotely related to the industry. After ancillary services, its now the duty-free industry, which plans to ride on this success wave. The latest quest is to make India a duty-free haven on the lines of Dubai, Singapore and Bangkok.
Experts believe that if the Indian aviation sector continues to maintain this current growth rate, India may soon emerge as a transit hub for all passengers from south Asia namely Kabul, Lahore, Karachi, Kathmandu, Bhutan, Dhaka, Colombo and Maldives.
“With India’s own international pax growth of over 18% CAGR, more & more terminating flights being introduced and the existing ones increasing their frequencies, for duty-free shopping to gain is axiomatic,” feels Paul Topping, MD Asia, Alpha Airports Group.
According to Generation group, the global duty-free and travel retail industry is forecast to reach $45 billion in retail sales in 2012. The main engines for this growth, in terms of markets, will be Asia and the Middle East. As per rough estimates, the duty-free industry in India is pegged at around Rs 300 crore.
Duty-free players in India believe that with the upgradation of infrastructure at Delhi and Mumbai Airport and new airports coming up in other major cities such as Hyderabad and Bangalore, it will provide the much required impetus to the duty-free industry.
23/09/07 Aman Dhall & Dheeraj Tiwari/Economic Times

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Jet coach collides with IOC tanker at airport

Mumbai: A Jet Airways ferry coach collided with an Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) oil tanker at Mumbai airport on Saturday morning, resulting in 10 passengers suffering minor injuries. According to witnesses, the glass door of the ferry coach shattered on impact.
Although the IOC authorities denied the incident, one of the passengers in the coach, Swamy Brahmabhutananda, said, “I saw a vehicle hit our ferry coach, which resulted in the glass door breaking. Our coach was going at just 5km per hour.
The other driver was reversing his vehicle and consequently rammed into our coach. Though I was not hurt, many of my fellow passengers were injured.”
Sources at the airport said that the accident occurred as the ferry coach driver, who was driving in from the international side of the airport, could not see the oil tanker.
“The accident happened near the fire station close to Apron 1 on the international side,” said an official at the airport.
23/09/07 Daily News & Analysis

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Behala airport revamp takes off

Kolkata: The much-awaited Behala airport revamp will get under way with civil aviation minister Praful Patel flagging off the the first phase of the project on Sunday.
If things go as scheduled, the airport on the southern fringe of Kolkata could graduate beyond an airfield for flight training to servicing regional passenger flights in a couple of years.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) executive director (east) S P S Bakshi said Rs 10 crore has been sanctioned for upgrading the runway, installing ground lighting system and securing the facility with a boundary wall.The air traffic control tower has been equipped with a VHF set to provide navigational support.AAI has also floated tenders for installing approach lights on both ends of the 3,500-foot runway and erecting the peripheral wall. Work on these will commence next month.
Once the first phase of development is completed in six-eight months, private firm Camellia can begin operating the Cessna planes for round-the-year flight training. In the second phase, the runway will be extended to 4,500 feet to allow ATR operations. A passenger terminal will also be built.
If it gets additional land, the runway will be concretised.
22/09/07 Times of India

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Rupshi airport in rough weather

Dhubri: Political turbulence is clouding the fate of the airport at Rupshi, caught as it is in a tug-of-war between the Bodoland Territorial Council and residents of Dhubri district.
Rupshi airport, 15km from Dhubri town, was previously under the jurisdiction of the Dhubri administration. It was brought under Bodoland after the formation of the BTC.
Several organisations of Dhubri district have mounted pressure on the state and central governments to reopen Rupshi airport.
Sources in Gossaigaon said the BTC had decided to construct a new airport, as it had promised earlier. But a suitable plot of land has to be made available to the Airports Authority of India.
At present, the BTC administration is trying to acquire land in Bhomrabil, Polashguri, Serfanguri and Malaguri villages in Kokrajhar district. This is being vehemently opposed by villagers and several students’ organisations, including the local units of the All Assam Minorities Students’ Union and the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad, sources said.
A meeting was held recently with Basir Ahmed as chairman on the campus of Srirampur Junior College. Villagers and activists who attended the meeting expressed resentment over the BTC’s decision to construct a new airport in a populated zone.
Those at the meeting noted that the proposed aerodrome would hardly serve any purpose and argued that instead of constructing a new airport, the defunct Rupshi airport, which is under the BTC’s jurisdiction, should be upgraded into a modern airport.
22/09/07 The Telegraph

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InterGlobe plans exclusive airport to handle private, business jets

Mumbai: Gurgaon-based airplane selling and servicing company InterGlobe General Aviation Pvt. Ltd is in talks with several companies, including Reliance Industries Ltd, the Tata group and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG) to set up a dedicated airport facility for private and business jets.
InterGlobe, promoted by InterGlobe Enterprises, which has promoted low-fare airline IndiGo, plans to invest in fixed base of operations, popularly known as FBO, for private jets that are much smaller than passenger planes. FBOs are exclusive facilities that offer parking, fuelling, ground handling, maintenance, pilot management and other services for private jets of wealthy individuals or corporate houses.
However, a personal familiar with the situation, who didn’t want to be named, said InterGlobe was in discussions with business groups such as Reliance and the Tatas. Executives of these companies declined to comment for this story.
Some of these companies are keen to develop the Juhu airport as a FBO while other options are evaluated in Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata.
21/09/07 P.R. Sanjai/Livemint

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Govt 'no' to land for Kozhikode airport

Kozhikode: The State Government has informed the Airport Authority of India that government cannot acquire additional land for the development of the airport. This will clip the wings of the international airport, which is raring to take off to a new zone of development.
The Airport Authority of India has demanded 162 acres of land on the southern side of the runway, for developing parking space for 30 aircrafts, constructing a new terminal and car parking facility. AAI has already prepared projects worth Rs 300 crore for these schemes.
Airport sources said the government stand on land acquisition would upset the plans of the AAI.
Developmental plans will not take off in the absence of the required land. The present domestic terminal has the capacity to give shelter for only 500 passengers. It is already a congested area. Hence, the demand for the new terminal.
The proposed parking facility for 30 planes is also vital for the development of the airport. Several private airlines had earlier sought night parking facility at Karipur airport.
20/09/07 NewIndpress.com

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Holidays to Goa on offer from East Midlands Airport

First Choice Holidays is to begin flying from East Midlands Airport to Goa, on the west coast of India, next year.
A weekly service to Goa's Dabolim Airport will begin on February 7, 2008, with First Choice Holidays offering 14-night breaks.
Goa, which is famed for its sunny beaches, is a popular spot with backpackers and package tourists alike.
Other destinations on offer from East Midlands include Banjul (the Gambia), Cancun (Mexico), Agadir (Morocco), as well as various new low-fare routes such as Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm from Sterling Airways (beginning on October 28).
East Midlands Airport is located near Nottingham, Leicester and Derby.
19/09/07 Cheapflights.co.uk, UK

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SA team manager alleges security lapse

Dharamsala: South Africa A cricket team manager Mustafa Khan today blasted the Indian security arrangements for laxity, claiming his travellers cheques worth USD 2800 were stolen from his bag at Pathankot airport.
Mustafa said the incident occurred when the South African team's flight, en route to Dharamsala ahead of their second and final four-day match against India A, was made to land at Pathankot due to some technical problem.
"It was a long wait under the bright sun, so the team members were asked to come out of the small air plane. But Werner Coetsee returned to get his laptop computer which he had left behind and saw people going in and coming out without any restriction.
"Any Tom, Dick and Harry was allowed to go in and out and police said no one went inside the plane. But the fact is that my cheques were stolen from my bag," said Mustafa.
19/09/07 PTI/The Hindu

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Cochin airport issues tenders for licence to display of channels

Mumbai: The Cochin International Airport authorities have invited applications from television broadcasters for the display of channels at various locations of the airport's passenger terminals.
A letter dated 15 September issued by the the Cochin International Airpot Limited (CIAL) states: "Tenders are invited from TV channels, on behalf of CIAL for awarding licence for display of TV channels in the passenger terminals of Cochin International Airpot at 10 diffrent locations.
"Interested agencies may contact the office of General manager - Commercial CIAL for purchase of Tender documents. Tenders will be issued from 15/09/07 to 16/10/2007 during office hours on payment of Rs 260/- as cost of tender forms."
19/09/07 Indiantelevision.com

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Merchant, small cargo airports free to fix charges

New Delhi: Small private sector airports — known in trade parlance as merchant airports — would have the freedom to fix all aeronautical charges, including passenger fee. Unlike other airports, merchant airports would not come under the purview of the Airports Regulatory Authority of India (Area).
Airports handling less than 1.5 million passengers annually would lie outside the purview of the regulatory authority. Small cargo airports would also enjoy this exemption.
“All aeronautical charges at cargo airports, including private ones, would be fixed by the operators and Area would not intervene in setting any tariff at these airports. A private airport having licence to handle commercial aircraft would also not be regulated by the proposed agency till it starts handling 1.5 million passengers annually,” a senior official in the ministry of civil aviation said.
As dedicated cargo airports are yet to take off in the country, this category does not find mention in the Area Bill. But once the need arises, changes would be notified.
19/09/07 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

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GVK, RIL may link up for Navi Mumbai airport

New Delhi: A strategic alliance may be in the works between the Reliance group and the GVK group for the proposed Navi Mumbai airport. Various options, including Reliance group picking up a possible stake in MIAL — the Mumbai airport operator — or the GVK Group first increasing its stake in MIAL and then diluting in favour of Reliance group, or associate company or fund are being considered.
Sources said exploratory talks are on — though at informal levels — with the preliminary understanding that Reliance group will support the GVK-led consortium’s bid for the second airport in the city. The greenfield airport — expected to be ready by 2012 — will be the gateway for two SEZs at Navi Mumbai and Maha Mumbai promoted by Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and his close associate Anand Jain.
In another significant though unrelated move, the GVK group — the lead partner in MIAL — is believed to be looking at increasing its stake in the consortium to 51% from the current 37%, giving the group a majority stake in the JV.
MIAL, the airport operator, is a joint venture owned by the GVK group (37%), Airports Company South Africa (10%), Bidvest group (27%) and Airports Authority of India (26%). MIAL operates the existing Mumbai airport at Santacruz, India’s largest in terms of the volume of traffic.
19/09/07 Sudipto Dey/Economic Times

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Heathrow catering worker sacked over nose stud

Amrit Lalji of Weston Road in Stanmore, who works for catering company, Eurest UK, at Heathrow Airport was dismissed on Thursday, September 3, for failing to remove the nose pin she wears as a mark of her Hindu faith.
Mrs Lalji, 40, had been working for more than a year before she was asked to remove the piercing by a manager, for health and safety reasons.
But she was suspended and subsequently sacked after refusing to obey management instructions.
Mrs Lalji said: "They sacked me from work because of my nose stud - I have to prove to them that it is in my religion to wear it."
Mrs Lalji is receiving support for her case from the Fwaminarayan Hindu Temple in Woodlands Road, Stanmore.
Her union, GMB, is also calling for her immediate reinstatement.
GMB organiser, Tahir Bhatti, said: "Eurest UK have always known Amrit Lalji would not remove the nose pin. Her employer knew she considered the pin to be a requirement of her religion and she had every reason to believe that that had been accepted."
Mrs Lalji's case recalls Nadia Eweida's fight to wear her Christian crucifix after she was suspended, but later reinstated by British Airways last year.
A statement from Eurest UK said Mrs Lalji had been advised "on a number of occasions" that "jewellery may not be worn on duty and facial piercings are not permitted".
The statement said: "Jewellery can harbour bacteria, create a hazard when working with machinery and find it's way into the food people eat," it said.
18/09/07 Alex Barham/Harrow Times

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Mayor backs catering worker

The Mayor of London has condemned the sacking of a Heathrow catering worker for wearing a Hindu nose stud. Amrit Lalji, 40, of Stanmore, north-west London, said she wore the tiny piercing as a mark of her Hindu faith. She was asked to remove it by a manager but when she refused she was suspended and later sacked. Mr Livingstone said, "I unreservedly condemn the sacking of Mrs Amrit Lalji for wearing a Hindu nose stud.
"It is an attack on her right to freely express her religion and an attack on her right as a woman to dress as she wishes.
"Hundreds of millions of people follow the Hindu religion and it is difficult to imagine a worse way to welcome visitors from the Indian sub-continent to London than sacking a woman for wearing a Hindu nose stud."
The nose stud has been worn by Hindu women for thousands of years as a sign of chastity.
18/09/07 Asian Image, UK

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Finally, Chennai is granted its decade-old wish: second airport

In a change in policy, the Union government has approved a 4,000-acre site for Chennai’s second airport at Sriperumbudur, an hour’s drive from the city centre.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party, which runs the Tamil Nadu government and is a key ally in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre, had proposed the site.
The government has also approved a plan to upgrade the current Chennai airport, at Meenambakkam, at an estimated cost of betweenRs1,700 crore and Rs2,000 crore. Bids for modernizing the airport, run by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), are likely to be invited by January, and awarded on a turnkey basis rather than splitting the contract between multiple engineering firms.
Chennai’s Anna International Airport, spread over 1,152 acres, is India’s third largest by air traffic and traffic is growing at 17.3% annually. At that rate and amid a paucity of land to expand operations, the government now believes Chennai will need a second airport. The airport, which handled 8.7 million passengers in 2006-07, is likely to reach its saturation capacity of nine million this year.
19/09/07 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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‘Busy’ airport spurns drill

Calcutta: Two special planes sent to check communication and navigation systems at Calcutta airport returned to Delhi with the job unfinished, allegedly because the air traffic control didn’t cooperate.
“Whenever they sought information from the ATC, they were told the officials were busy handling other flights. The aircraft returned after flying for about two-and-a-half hours,” an official of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), which sent the planes on Monday, said from Delhi.
The airport authorities had been told about the drill “well in advance”, the official said.
The planes — called calibration aircraft in aviation parlance — would have checked the newly installed Category II instrument landing system.
The checks are usually carried out when traffic is light. “Since night traffic is very heavy at Calcutta airport, with planes bound for Southeast Asia taking off or flying over the city, afternoon was thought to be the best time. The ATC had agreed to the plan,” the official said. But when the two Donniers took to the skies around 1.30pm on Monday, they were allegedly not given information by the ATC.
18/09/07 Calcutta Telegraph

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40 more cities to be on air map

The Ministry of Civil Aviation is planning to start flights connecting about 120 cities in the country from the current 81 cities, said Praful Patel, Union Minister for Civil Aviation.
Inaugurating the new arrival terminal 1B at the Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) at Mumbai, he said the new routes would be announced in near future.
The modernisation and expansion of airports at Banagalore and Hyderabad will be complete by March next year. Once the proposed airports at Navi Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Aurangabad come up by 2011-12, the Centre would open up new routes to these destinations connecting Lathur, Nanded, Amaravati and Akola in Maharashtra, Patel said.
Commenting on the proposed expansion plans of the airport, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh said the rehabilitation of people would be done "with a humanitarian face" while acquiring land for the expansion.
GV Krishna Reddy, chairman, Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL), said the new terminal was constructed with an expenditure of over Rs 130 crore (Rs 1.3 billion). MIAL has spent over Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion) since May 2006 for the upgrade of the airport. It plans to install 11 aerobridges at the CSIA by next year and tenders have been floated, he said.
MIAL is the first public-private partnership in India to maintain airports, a joint venture between the GVK-SA consortium and Airports Authority of India (AAI) to modernise and upgrade the Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport(CSIA).
17/09/07 Business Standard/Rediff

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Bangalore airport safe exit for illegal migrants?

Bangalore: Bangalore airport has apparently turned out to be a safe exit point for those who want to illegally sneak out of the country, thanks to the laxity on the part of the immigration officials..
On an average, 40 migrants are annually deported back to Bangalore from various countries for travelling on a fake passport or visa. In the latest incident, the UAE authorities on Friday deported a Sri Lankan national from Dubai after he was found travelling on a stolen visa. Immigration officials at Bangalore airport had cleared Nimala Kasan (21) of Jaffna, who boarded an Emirates Airline flight to Dubai.
According to sources in the Bangalore police, in five years, three persons on an average, have been deported every month. Most of them were Sri Lankan nationals and were sent back mainly from Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, Germany and the U.S.
People who want to travel on fake/incomplete documents preferred to fly from Bangalore as checks were reportedly not strict here, the sources said. In fact, Nimala Kasan was advised by Senthil of Chennai, who allegedly got him the visa, to board a flight from Bangalore and not from any other airport, the sources said.
18/09/07 K.V. Subramanya/The Hindu

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Approach radar, en route radar for Chennai airport

Chennai: An approach radar and an en route radar will soon be installed at the Chennai airport to help track aircraft movements.
K. Ramalingam, Southern Regional Executive Director, Airports Authority of India (AAI), said the AAI Board approved the acquisition of approach radar recently.
The site survey for fixing the instrument within the airport had been completed and a report sent to the AAI Board, he said.
The en route radar would be installed outside the airport premises, at an AAI property near Porur. The new radars would track the movement of aircraft, which would be displayed at the Air Traffic Control tower.
The secondary runway had been provided with an Instrument Landing System (ILS) recently. The runway would be extended to ease peak-hour movements. Lights were fixed at the secondary runway, he said.
18/09/07 P. Oppili/The Hindu

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Monkey stalls IGI operations for hours

New Delhi: After a recent incident when a dog bit a passenger at the international airport, a monkey caused operations to be stalled for a few hours on Sunday.
According to airport sources, the monkey was spotted by passengers and CISF officials at the international airports security hold area about 5 pm. Consequently, gates 10 and 11 were closed for a few hours.
The team from Wildlife SOS was called in to take care of this ‘unusual visitor’ and till late evening, the simian lay hidden ‘‘ somewhere and managed to evade capture’’ . Said Karthik Satyanarayan from Wildlife SOS: ‘‘ The monkey had apparently been frequenting the airport for a few weeks now and has been found staying between the false and actual ceilings. But we have not been able to capture him since there is a huge tangle of wires there. We got a call in the evening and have been trying to trap the animal since then.
17/09/07 Neha Lalchandani/Economic Times

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Maharashtra assures help for airport revamp work

Mumbai: There may be some relief in sight for companies involved in the modernisation of Mumbai airport over uncertainties surrounding land acquisition for the project. Maharashtra Chief Minister Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh on Sunday assured GVK consortium, which has undertaken the modernisation work, that the State government will give support on the land issue.
Inaugurating the new arrival hall at the domestic terminal 1B, Mr Deshmukh said, “The slum-dwellers living in the proximity of the airport will be rehabilitated soon.” He added that the Government will render full support to the modernisation work of the Mumbai airport.
According to the airport authorities undertaking the modernisation work, large tracts of land around the airport are occupied by slums and pose a challenge to the modernisation of the Mumbai international airport.
The new hall would be opened for passengers from Monday (September 17). It would cater to about 65 per cent of domestic arrivals, which would now shift from Terminal 1A to 1B.
17/09/07 Business Line

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Touchdown at new CSIA terminal

At least 65 per cent of the domestic arrivals at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) have been shifted to the new terminal IB, built adjacent to the departure section. The new terminal, which promises to be of international standard, was inaugurated by the Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on Sunday.
The Rs130 crore terminal refurbishment is part of the Mumbai International Airport Limited’s (MIAL) endeavour to upgrade the existing infrastructure at the CSIA. The departure area of the terminal had already been upgraded earlier, with the Airports Authority of India starting the construction and then MIAL completing the upgradation work.
The new terminal will cater to 65 per cent of the existing domestic arrival traffic, most of which would be shifted from existing Terminal IA, from where the national carrier operates all its flights.
All private airlines, barring Kingfisher Airlines, will be now operating from this terminal.
17/09/07 Manisha Singhal/Daily News & Analysis

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Move to develop low-cost airports

Hyderabad: Air Deccan, GVK Airports, Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation and Rahejas have formed a consortium to look at opportunities for developing low cost airports in the country.
Speaking on the sidelines of a lecture here on Friday, Air Deccan Managing Director Captain G. R. Gopinath said the consortium would look at opportunities wherever they existed. Stating that there was huge potential in the country, he cited examples of proposed airports at Shimoga and Bijapur (Karnataka) and Nellore and Kadapa (Andra Pradesh).
He recalled that he had suggested in the past at a meeting of the Travel Agents Association that States should develop airports on their own without waiting for the Centre to do so. They should allow private sector to develop the airports if they were not in a position to implement such projects.
Earlier in his lecture on “In pursuit of dreams” at the Indian School of Business, narrated how an idea hit him like a “tsunami” for starting low-cost airlines in the country during a visit to Phoenix, the USA.
A board at the Phoenix airport proclaiming that it handled 100,000 passengers and 1,000 flights a day set him thinking. In India, 40 airports were handling 420 flights a day.
16/09/07 Siasat Daily

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More Singapore Airlines flights from Chennai

Singapore Airlines has announced the commencement of three additional services from Chennai, taking the total number to 10 times a week. In addition to the night flights seven days a week, there will be morning flights every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday from Chennai to Singapore.
The airline will use the Boeing 777-200 aircraft with a two-class configuration - 30 Business and 293 Economy Class seats - for this service, offering more connection options to several cities in the carrier's global network especially Australia, New Zealand and the north Asia region.
The airline will switch to a three-class seat arrangement from October 2007.
17/09/07 R Rangaraj/Chennai Online

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MRPL awaiting clearance for direct supply of ATF

Mangalore: Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) is awaiting clearance from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to supply aviation turbine fuel (ATF) directly to aircraft operating to and from the Bajpe airport here from its refinery, MRPL Managing Director R Rajamani has said. At present, Indian Oil Corporation is meeting the ATF needs of aircraft from its terminal on the airport premises, he said.
Addressing presspersons after the 19th annual general meeting of MRPL here on Friday, he said in order to earn better margins, the company had decided to market ATF directly to airlines and agreements were expected to be signed shortly. MRPL, with approval from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, had placed orders for ATF bowsers and was expecting them by end of next month, he said.
Stating that MRPL was in touch with airport authorities in Bangalore, Goa, and Kozhikode, to supply ATF to aircraft there, Rajamani said there were a few technical and administrative issues to be sorted out in this regard. MRPL was also in touch with authorities of the international airports in Bangalore and Hyderabad and expected the agreements for supply of ATF to materialise during the next fiscal, Rajamani said.
17/09/07 Udayavani

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More flights from Mangalore to West Asia by the end of the year

Mangalore: This coastal city is likely to have more flights to West Asia by the end of 2007 putting more pressure on the Bajpe (Mangalore) airport of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to expand its departure hall.
Air India Express is planning to increase its services between Mangalore and Dubai from five times a week to seven from October 28. It will be a day service. The airline is also planning to increase its services from here to Abu Dhabi and Muscat from two times a week to four by November. In addition, it plans to introduce a new flight between Mangalore and Kuwait, according the Karnataka NRI Forum, Dubai, UAE.
Rajesh Sequeira, coordinator of the forum who was in the city recently, told that the forum had been urging the State-owned airline to increase its services to destinations in West Asia and connect more West Asian cities to Mangalore.
The authorities of Air India Express have informed the forum that its Dubai-Mangalore service would be a daily service from October 28. It will also connect Dubai with Kozikhode via Mangalore. According to the tentative schedule, the flight would depart from Kozikhode at 10.30 a.m. and arrive in Mangalore at 11.15 a.m. It would leave Mangalore at noon and reach Dubai at 2.10 p.m. (Dubai time) (3.30 p.m. IST).
The flight will depart from Dubai at 1.35 p.m. (Dubai time) (3.05 p.m. IST) and land in Mangalore at 6.30 p.m. and depart from here to Kozhikode at 7.15 p.m. and reach Kozhikode at 8 p.m.
17/09/07 The Hindu/Bellevision

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Kingfisher to use expats on ground

Government’s refusal to give permission to use foreign cabin crew in domestic flights has not deterred liquor baron Vijay Mallya from giving an international touch to his domestic airline operations. Read On >>

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Cops bust gang stealing aviation fuel in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad: Eight members of a gang were arrested on Saturday for allegedly stealing and blackmarketing aviation turbine fuel (ATF) and high speed diesel (HSD) in Ahmedabad, police said.
The arrests were made from Chandkheda locality after police got a tip-off that the thieves had recently diverted the fuel from a tanker of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), they said.
Police said fuel worth nearly Rs 18 lakh was also seized, adding further probe was underway.
15/09/07 PTI/Times of India

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Duty free shops sell ethnic India theme

New Delhi: Theme India is the new mantra of duty free shops at Indian Airports. Items such as Indian beedi, tea and country liquour is the new fad among those splurging at duty free shops. So, out goes Blue label, Louis Vuitton and in comes desi brands such as Khwaja beedi, and Old Monk (Rum).
Alpha Future, a JV between UK-based Alpha Airport Group and Kishore Biyani promoted Future Group of India, has on display ethnic brands such as Sancha Tea, at its Delhi Airport outlet.
A Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) official, reveals that the last six months has seen the sales of the desi items jump by around 10%. "Tea has been by far the fastest selling Indian item. Especially, packed elegantly in ethnic designs & motifs, it is a hot pick among the tourists, particularly Chinese and Japanese," the official said.
Seeing the huge demand, duty free shops are now planning to add more destination products such as incense sticks, packed sweets, local whiskey and vodka brands to their current portfolio.
As per rough estimates, the duty free industry in India is pegged at around Rs 300 crore. According to an ACNielsen study, shopping at duty free shops is more impulse driven than planned and hence they have a high conversion ratio of visitor to shopper.
16/09/07 Aman Dhall & Dheeraj Tiwari/Economic Times

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Heroin seized at Mumbai airport

Mumbai: An alert staff of a no-frill carrier helped the airport security officials seize Rs 50 lakh worth of heroin at the airport. The goods were seized but the man carrying the narcotics in his baggage gave them the slip.
A Nigerian passport-carrying passenger, Bhola Salam, was booked on Spice Jet's evening flight SG-114 from Mumbai to Delhi, an airline spokesman said.
As his movements were found suspicious, the airline's security in-charge, Santosh Kumar, asked him to open his baggage.
But, Salam gave him the slip saying he was going to collect the keys which, he claimed, were with his colleague standing at another check-in counter at the airport.
15/09/07 PTI/Times of India

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Mumbai airport opts for fresh blueprint

Mumbai: Sixteen months after it took over India’s busiest airport, Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL)—the GVK-led joint venture consortium undertaking the overhaul of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA)—will on Saturday submit re-worked plans to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Curiously, most aspects of the master plan MIAL had submitted to the ministry nearly a year ago have significantly changed—including the design and look of the integra-ted terminal building at Sah-ar and the location of the Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower.
While MIAL is tightlipped about the finer details, Newsline has learnt that the design drawn up by MIAL’s master planners—Netherlands Airports Consultants BV (NACO)—has now been trashed and swapped for a fresh blueprint executed by the New York office of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), one of the largest architectural firms in the US.
Now, the peacock-inspired design handpicked by MIAL Managing Director G V Sanjay Reddy himself of the terminal building has been drastically changed since it was a “compromise on efficiency and aesthetics”.
14/09/07 Lekha Agarwal/Expressindia.com

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MRPL Awaiting Clearance for Direct Supply of ATF

Mangalore: Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL) is awaiting clearance from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to supply aviation turbine fuel (ATF) directly to aircraft operating to and from the Bajpe airport here from its refinery, MRPL Managing Director R Rajamani has said. At present, Indian Oil Corporation is meeting the ATF needs of aircraft from its terminal on the airport premises, he said.
Addressing presspersons after the 19th annual general meeting of MRPL here on Friday September 14, he said in order to earn better margins, the company had decided to market ATF directly to airlines and agreements were expected to be signed shortly. MRPL, with approval from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, had placed orders for ATF bowsers and was expecting them by end of next month, he said.
Stating that MRPL was in touch with airport authorities in Bangalore, Goa, and Kozhikode, to supply ATF to aircraft there, Rajamani said there were a few technical and administrative issues to be sorted out in this regard.
15/09/07 The Hindu/Daijiworld.com

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Delhi airport switches to digital telephony

New Delhi : Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL) has commissioned a new IP based digital EPABX system with advanced multimedia applications and services to improve passenger facilitation.
With the implementation of the exchange, the airport now receives a new set of telephone numbers. Callers can now dial: (011) 2566-1000 for terminal 1 (both 1A and 1B), (011) 2560-2000 for terminal 2 (international) and (011) 2560-1000 for international cargo terminal.
The users at airport can avail advanced voice and multimedia features. The system is also beneficial to the security agencies based at the airport as it can trace malicious calls through caller line identification (CLI) and call detail log.
14/09/07 UNI/NewKerala.com

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India reconstructs Tajikistan's Ayni aerodrome

Dushanbe: Tajik authorities are planning to move aircraft of the French Air Force which are deployed in Dushanbe to the Ayni aerodrome, which is rented by Russian servicemen and being reconstructed using funds from Russia, the Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta has said attributing to the Russian Defence Ministry.
The report said that according to the head of the Russian Defence Ministry’s quartering department, army Gen Anatoliy Grebenyuk, the Tajik aerodrome is in the composition of No 201 Russian military unit deployed in Tajikistan.
"The construction of structures at the Ayni air base near Dushanbe is at its final stage, and we are planning to complete it next year," the general said.
However, if, as expected, French Mirages [fighters] are redeployed, it will be the first case in Central Asia when aircraft of NATO and the Russian Air Force will be deployed at one military airdrome.
In the meantime, the Tajik Defence Ministry denied rumours about the redeployment of the French Mirages to the Ayni aerodrome.
"First, it is not Russian specialists who are reconstructing the military aerodrome, but specialists from India, and they are using their own funds," a representative of the Defence Ministry said. "Second, there are too many rumours around the Ayni aerodrome. At the beginning they claimed that Indian military contingent would be deployed there, and now they say French ones. This aerodrome is a property of Tajikistan, and it is up to the Tajik government and the Defence Ministry to decide who will be deployed there after the reconstruction.
According the Tajik Defence Ministry representative, at present, specialists from India are continuing the reconstruction of the Ayni aerodrome, which is a strategic military facility of Tajikistan.
13/09/07 Avesta website, Dushanbe/EurasiaNet, NY

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Kochi airport plans JV to fuel low-cost flight plan

Mumbai: Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) is looking at forming a joint venture (JV) to kick off its much awaited low-cost carrier (LCC), Air Kerala.
A company official said CIAL has put aside its plan to fly to the Gulf and Middle East and plans to concentrate on domestic operations. The domestic operation would be launched with a partner since the company doesn’t have enough funds to go it alone, the official said, adding, it could be “an existing domestic airline who shows interest or preferably a new regional airline company.”
Three new regional airlines in the South— Air Dravida, Star Aviation and Emric Air - are gearing up to start operations, even as others like the Bird group and Megha Airways also plan to fly as regional airlines.
A regional airline is allowed to operate flights from its designated region to all airports in any other region other than the metros. However, regional airlines flying in the south would be allowed to connect the three metros including Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.
14/09/07 Shweta Bhanot/Daily News and Analysis

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Govt nixes Delhi airport debt plan

The Union government has shot down an ambitious debt-raising plan by Delhi International Airport Ltd, or DIAL, to part-finance the modernization of the airport in the Capital by seeking deposits and selling bonds to private developers looking to lease space at India’s second busiest airport.
Through its Delhi Aerotropolis Pvt. Ltd unit, DIAL had planned to secure a Rs2,835 crore refundable deposit for a period of 28 years, apart from a licensing fee, for leasing out 45 acres of land to realty firms through a bidding process initially planned for this month.
A deal structured thus would have reduced the revenues of DIAL while easing financing costs. But, DIAL is to share nearly 46% of its revenue with the government, which would have ended up getting less money than anticipated under a 2006 privatization deal.
The ministry of civil aviation has concluded that DIAL’s financing method would reduce substantially the shared revenue for the state-owned Airports Authority of India, or AAI, because the security deposit and bonds may not be treated as revenue which the government can lay claim to.
“It is just not going to be allowed (and) it has been communicated (to DIAL),” said a senior government official familiar with the process who didn’t want to be named.
DIAL says it remains confident the issues would be resolved.
14/09/07 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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More greenfield airports on anvil

New Delhi: The aviation industry in India is gearing up for the next phase of its airport modernisation and expansion programme for greenfield airports.
The ministry of civil aviation has given its approval for construction of greenfield airports at Navi Mumbai and Goa in public-private partnership model.
Navi Mumbai is the most significant new airport project in India, and will be Mumbai’s second airport. The construction of this facility is critical for the city with the current airport expected to reach maximum capacity by 2012.
Meanwhile, the Airports Authority of India last week announced details of its upgrade plans for Kolkata, Chennai and the existing Goa airport. Punjab government recently announced that a new airport will be built at Mohali, and the government of West Bengal is keen to see the development of a greenfield airport in the industrial belt of Durgapur-Asansol, one of the most highly populated regions in India without an airport.
The civil aviation ministry has submitted legislation to Parliament during the monsoon session for the establishment of an Airport Economic Regulatory Authority with the responsibility of looking after airport charges and service levels.
13/09/07 The Statesman

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Rain snag rein on flights

Calcutta: Flight operations came to a halt at Calcutta airport for around 20 minutes on Thursday afternoon, as a key component of the Category II Instrumental Landing System (Cat II-ILS) and three radar went out of order following a thunderstorm.
Five flights had to hover over the airport and three others were stranded on the parking bay, unable to land or take off because of poor visibility.
The airport has two instrumental landing systems to guide aircraft to take off or touch down — Cat I and Cat II. For Cat I, the minimum visibility should be 550 metres, while the more advanced Cat II can function even when the visibility drops to as low as 350 metres.
On Thursday, the visibility at the airport started falling as soon as the thunderstorm struck at 12.42pm.
Soon after, the fuse of mid-runway visual range, a key component of the Cat II-ILS, blew off due to a short-circuit and three radar, scanning aircraft movement in the south, west and east, became defunct.
At 12.50pm, the visibility dipped to below 500 metres, making it impossible for flights to land or take off as the CAT-II system was not working. Visibility shot up to 1,500 metres after around 20 minutes, but the flight operations had been disrupted by then.
Five flights scheduled to land at Calcutta had to be kept on hold.
14/09/07 The Telegraph

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Nigerian held with 30 gm cocaine at Delhi airport

New Delhi: A Nigerian national, who is pursuing a computer course in Mumbai, was arrested at the IGI airport here for allegedly possessing 30 grams of high quality cocaine.
Oluwasegun Sesan (28) was caught by a Delhi Police team last night from the exit gate of airport after a tip off that an African would come to the capital by 'Go Air' flight with the contraband, a senior police official said today.
Thirty grams of cocaine, with a street value of about Rs 1.5 lakh, was recovered from his possession. Sesan, whose family is involved in business in Nigeria, had visited India in 2004 and had stayed in Mumbai for about six months. He again came to Mumbai two years later on an employment visa and was pursuing a computer course. It was one Ibrahim, an alleged drug peddler, who introduced Sesan into the contraband trade, the official said, adding he came to the capital to supply cocaine to some customers here.
13/09/07 PTI/The Hindu

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Burial ground closure irks locals in Cooch Behar

Cooch Behar: With Cooch Behar airport authorities locking the century-old burial ground to pave way for the resumption of air services here, the Christian community is in a fix here.
The burial ground, offered to the Christian community by Maharaja Nripendra Narayan, the then ruler of Cooch Behar State on 8 August 1885, was locked by the airport authorities on 15 August this year.
After Independence, the Indian Christians took possession of the church here, said Reverend James Prashata Paul, in-charge of the Cooch Behar Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church ( NELC).
The Cooch Behar Airport started functioning in 1942. The burial ground was also open then.
When renovation of the airport began in 1995, the Cooch Behar Airport Authority constructed a boundary wall with an iron gate and a separate entrance for the burial ground by informing the Cooch Behar NELC authorities. The NELC authorities were assured that the gate would be opened as and when required.
The Cooch Behar district magistrate, Mr Rajesh Kumar Sinha, said the existing entrance was closed for security reasons. "An alternative approach road and a bridge over the Mara-Torsa may be constructed for exclusive use of the members of Christian community," the DM, added.
Secretary of NELC burial ground committee, Mr Tridip Paul said it would be a problem for them to enter the burial ground with a body by crossing about 5-kilomere from the NEL Church compound after funeral service through Chakchaka.
The DM, Mr Sinha, however did not agree that it would be difficult for anyone to go to the burial ground by crossing an additional 3-kilometre.
12/09/07 The Statesman

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Foreign airlines to help new Hyderabad airport take off

Hyderabad: Six months before a new international airport is set to open here, the company operating the facility says it has lined up several foreign airlines—Kuwait Airways, Etihad Airways, AirArabia, Iran National Airlines and British Airways—for flights.
“Even some other airlines which are not very well-known also want to start (flights),” said T. Srinagesh, chief operating officer of Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (Hial).
The Hyderbad airport is nearly 80% complete and is finalizing most of the concession agreements, he said.
Both the airport here and a new one also coming up in Bangalore are set to start around the same time—around March—and are now wooing airlines with new facilities that promise better aircraft turnaround times, efficient processes and substantial passenger traffic.
The new airport, an hour away from much of the city and spread over a 5,000-acre site, can also handle new aircraft, including the world’s largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380 or the heaviest, the Russian-made cargo plane AN-225.
13/09/07 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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Blue Dart calls for dedicated cargo space in top airports

New Delhi: talks with airport operators in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata for dedicated cargo space to be shared with its international parent company, the DHL Group.
In these major airports, the express company is looking at taking around 15,000-30,000 sq metre of space while in smaller ones like Kolkata, the space requirement would be below 5,000 sq metre.
The move will help cut down on turnaround time for loading and unloading cargo and courier in airports, Blue Dart managing director Anil Khanna told ET.
“We are keen on dedicated cargo space in major airports with access to both air and city sides. The private airport operators are receptive to our needs,” Mr Khanna added. While Delhi and Mumbai airports are getting upgraded and modernised, Bangalore and Hyderabad will have new greenfield airports by middle of next year.
Blue Dart already has some dedicated space in the Delhi airport but company executives said there is a need to expand this further with growing demand from the air expresss business.
12/09/07 Sudipto Dey/Economic Times

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Vehicles permitted only on third bay from portico in Chennai airport

Chennai: Vehicles going into the airport (both domestic and international terminals) are not allowed on the two bays located near the portico since Friday.
Under the new system introduced as part of measures to enhance security, the vehicles are permitted only on the third bay from the portico.
A senior police officer said the new system came into force following an increased threat perception in the recent weeks.
Though the change, covering the parking system too, would cause some inconvenience to the passengers, the system became necessary in view of security considerations, he said.
Permitting the vehicles near the portico posed a major threat, another officer pointed out.
Recalling the Glasgow airport incident sometime ago, he said the police did not want to take any chance, hence the decision.
12/09/07 The Hindu

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MIAL Chooses Nortel for New Communications Infrastructure

Mumbai International Airport Private Limited (MIAL) has chosen Nortel(1) (TSX: NT)(NYSE: NT) to build one of the most extensive and comprehensive IP communications networks ever deployed by an international airport in India.
Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), managed by MIAL, plans to consolidate the majority of its data, telephony and video systems onto a converged wired and wireless IP-based network, powered by Nortel Enterprise Solutions and its innovative Metro Ethernet-based Provider Backbone Bridging (PBB) and Provider Backbone Transport (PBT) technologies. As a long term technology partner to MIAL, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will provide systems integration for the converged triple-play communications upgrade project.
A joint venture between the GVK-SA consortium and Airports Authority of India, MIAL was awarded a 30-year contract to modernize, operate and maintain CSIA in April 2006. When completed, the new wired and wireless infrastructure will provide network coverage throughout the airport terminal buildings and outside maintenance areas. Passengers, airline staff, retailers, security and airport operations employees will benefit from a variety of airport-wide WiFi and VoIP services.
11/09/07 CNNMoney.com

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Plane rams into Amritsar airport aero-bridge

Amritsar: All 166 passengers and crew members of a Turkmenistan Airways flight (T-555) had a miraculous escape when the plane rammed into an aero-bridge of the under-construction building of the airport shortly before takeoff at Raja Sansi International Airport here today, damaging the right wing of the aircraft.
Utter chaos prevailed at the airport soon after the incident. The plane which was bound for Ashgabat-Birmingham had 160 passengers and six crew members on board.
Official sources said the right wing of the aircraft hit the aero-bridge while the plane was taking a turn on the runway. Preliminary inquires revealed that the ground staff did not move the aero-bridge to a safe distance after the plane was cleared for takeoff by the air control tower. Another plane of Air-India was standing on the side when the Turkmenistan flight rammed into the aero-bridge.
The passengers and crew members were taken to the “security hold” area of the airport. The damaged right wing of the air carrier is being repaired by ground engineers.
Airport director Arun Talwar said a probe had been ordered to fix the responsibility of the mishap.
10/09/07 The Tribune

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