Dense fog wreaks havoc at IGI, affects over 400 flights

New Delhi: An unprecedented dense fog today left flight operations in disarry at IGI airport, affecting 400 flights and giving a harrowing time to flyers.
The fog enveloped the airport around 4.00 AM and general visibility reached near zero while the runway visibility dipped to less than 50 metres leading to suspension of operations for seven hours.
"The situation prevailed till 11.00 AM, during which almost all flight operations were affected as the runway visual range Runway 29 (new) and 28 (main) were lower than the prescribed minima for flying in CAT III B conditions (below 50 metres)," an airport official said.
According to rules, the flights should take off when the runway visibility is more than 125 metres and 150 metres for different types of aircraft.
Though the two runways of Delhi airport are CAT III B compliant, under this an aircraft can land when the runway visibility is not less than 50 metres, but the runway visibility went below 50 metres.
30/12/11 PTI/Economic Times

Read More

8 hours in plane but no flight

New Delhi: For the time it would have taken them to fly to London, passengers of a British Airways flight sat inside the aircraft at IGI Airport. After eight hours spent cooped up inside the plane, passengers were finally told that the flight had been cancelled and were then shifted to a hotel.
This flight was just one casualty of the dense fog that crippled Delhi airport on Friday morning. With flight operations almost completely suspended for about six hours in the city, many passengers spent time seated inside planes at several airports across the country as they waited to depart for the capital.
Glady Robinson, a resident of Chennai, also reported a harrowing time at Delhi airport. "Our flight to Chennai was scheduled for 6.45am. We boarded at 6.20am and waited inside till 12.20pm when the flight finally took off. The doors had been kept open but it was dreadfully cold and very uncomfortable. The airline did serve breakfast but sitting for so long was quite a pain," he said.
The Air India morning flight to Patna was similarly delayed and passengers were made to sit inside for almost four hours.
31/12/11 Times of India

Read More

Christmas spoiler: 349 AI flyers stranded in Canada for 3 days

Chandigarh/Ludhiana: Passengers of an Air India plane were stranded at a Canada airport for three-odd days on Friday. All the 349 passengers were coming to India on Christmas.
The airlines perhaps spoilt the Christmas of its 349 flyers as their flight took off three days behind the schedule on Monday.
Air India's Toronto-New Delhi-Amritsar Flight 188 was scheduled to leave Toronto on Friday but due to some technical glitches, it could not be allowed to take off till Monday.
Nishant and Hardayal Dhaliwal, who arrived here on the flight, said that the airlines officials did not provide them the information regarding the delays in the flight service. "Every time they answered, they sited a different reason," they alleged.
Minutes before its take off, the decision to quash the service was taken by the airlines officials.
31/12/11 dailybhaskar.com

Read More

Bachchan Jr stranded at Jaipur airport

Jaipur: Actor Abhishek Bachchan was among hundred other passengers stranded at Jaipur airport on Friday morning . He left Mumbai for Delhi on 9.30 morning flight. After hovering over Delhi airport for over 15 minutes, his flight was diverted to Jaipur around 12 noon, said airport sources.
The moment the flight landed at the airport, Bachchan tweeted: "Bhaiyya, jaana tha Delhi pahunch gaye Jaipur' . The news spread followed by shutterbugs at the airport hoping to capture his picture. Junior Bachchan, however, preferred to stay inside the airplane rather than wait at airport's VIP waiting lounge.
31/12/11 Times of India

Read More

Regulator to look into complaints

New Delhi: A directorate general of civil aviation team, led by DG EK Bharat Bhushan, spent most of Friday at IGI Airport, reviewing the fog preparations by airlines and airport management Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd (DIAL).
"It was a very tough time for everyone involved since visibility was almost zero between 4.30 am and 10.30 am and practically no operations took place then. However, we received several complaints from passengers that the airlines were not giving out timely or complete information on flight schedules. We had told everyone that information flow is of utmost importance and the matter will be adequately addressed to ensure that this does not happen again. It will have to be seen whether the airline call centers are suitably equipped to handle passenger queries at such a time," said Bhushan. The DG added that he would also be looking into the issue of passengers being made to sit inside aircraft for extended periods of time.
31/12/11 Times of India

Read More

4am-2pm: KF passengers fend for themselves

New Delhi: About 30-35 passengers of a Kingfisher flight from Abu Dhabi were stuck in Delhi after their onward flight to Lucknow got cancelled on Friday morning. The passengers said they landed in Delhi around 4 am only to be told that their Lucknow flight had been cancelled. Till 2 pm, when the airline issued fresh boarding cards for a 5.10 pm flight, the passengers were made to wait without any refreshments or even water.
The passengers complained that once the flight was cancelled, they were made to run from one end of the airport to the other as airline officials were clueless about what to do with them. Around 1 pm, they were finally asked to sit in the reservation room at Terminal 3's Gate No. 1.
31/12/11 Times of India

Read More

Pune airport to get 209 extra security personnel in 2012

Pune: An additional force of 209 personnel from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will soon be deployed at the Pune airport. The decision to increase the security force was taken based on a survey conducted about two years ago on the issue.
Deputy commandant S K Saraswat, CISF spokesperson, said, “At present, the strength of CISF personnel deployed for security at the Pune airport is 149. We will add 209 personnel to the force. The personnel will be brought in for additional infrastructure and the extended security hold area (SHA).”
31/12/11 ExpressIndia

Read More

Dense fog wreaks havoc at IGI, affects over 400 flights

New Delhi: An unprecedented dense fog today left flight operations in disarry at IGI airport, affecting 400 flights and giving a harrowing time to flyers.

The fog enveloped the airport around 4.00 AM and general visibility reached near zero while the runway visibility dipped to less than 50 metres leading to suspension of operations for seven hours.

"The situation prevailed till 11.00 AM, during which almost all flight operations were affected as the runway visual range Runway 29 (new) and 28 (main) were lower than the prescribed minima for flying in CAT III B conditions (below 50 metres)," an airport official said.

According to rules, the flights should take off when the runway visibility is more than 125 metres and 150 metres for different types of aircraft.

Though the two runways of Delhi airport are CAT III B compliant, under this an aircraft can land when the runway visibility is not less than 50 metres, but the runway visibility went below 50 metres.

30/12/11 PTI/Economic Times

Read More

EC's Air intel unit to keep vigil at airports

Lucknow: In an effort to keep a strict vigil on poll expenditure, the Election Commission on Thursday made its Air Intelligence Unit functional. The unit will keep track of transfer of money by political parties through airports. The unit would be headed by a joint director-rank officer from the Enforcement Directorate.

Officers of the income tax department would be heading the units at Lucknow's Amausi and Varanasi's Babatpur airports. Smaller airports such as Allahabad, Kanpur,Agra and Allahabad will be managed by senior inspectors from the Enforcement Directorate. Making an announcement to this effect, chief electoral officer, UP, Umesh Sinha, reiterated ECI's stand on poll expenditure.

"The ECI is going to very strict on this count and any violation will not be tolerated," he said, adding that the Election Commission call centre also got functional during the day. "Anyone can call on this toll free hotline 1800-180-5132 in case they find any candidate or political party trying to intimidate voters with cash, liquor or anything else," said Sinha.

30/12/11 Times of India

Read More

Aranmula airport project has got all clearances: MP

With the Centre granting environmental clearance recently, the private airport company has obtained all necessary clearances required for its proposed airport project in Aranmula, said Mr Anto Antony, MP.
In a statement issued here on Friday, the MP said the Union Defence Ministry, Airport Authority of India and Civil Aviation Ministry have granted clearances for the private airport project much earlier.
He said the State Government has also informed the Centre accepting the clearances given to the project by the previous Left Democratic Front Government.
Mr Antony said the proposed private airport project was a dream project as far as Pathanamthitta was concerned, adding that it would bring about a great leap in the development profile of the district.
According to him the proposed airport would give a facelift to different sectors like tourism, information technology, road and development in the district, making a blessing to the future generation.
30/12/11 The Hindu

Read More

Chennai airport holds mock bomb drill

Chennai: The hoax call on Monday claiming to blow up the Prime Minister’s aircraft and the impending visit of the President on January 2 prompted aviation authorities and security agencies to carry out a mock drill at Chennai airport on Thursday to check the preparedness of agencies involved in such situations.
“The mock bomb threat drill is an exercise conducted every six months to check the efficiency of the people in adhering to contingency plans. However, because of the ongoing construction work and the difficulties in evacuation, we had not carried it out for two years,” said Chennai airport director E.P. Hareendranathan.
On Thursday, the airport officials got into a frenzy when the Air India office at the Anna International terminal received a call at 12.30 pm claiming that a bomb would go off at the arrival hall.
30/12/11 Deccan Chronicle

Read More

Busiest airport creates buzz but dogged by landing woes

New Delhi: Delhi's IGI Airport became the busiest airport in the country in 2011, with its newest and biggest terminal finally running smoothly and the third and longest runway in simultaneous operation along with the main runway. From an average of 850-860 flights a day at the beginning of the year, 2011 is finishing off with the airport handling an average of 920 flights a day.

In 2010, air traffic movement at IGI Airport was 2.67 lakh with a passenger movement of 28.53 million. The data for January to November 2011 shows that flight traffic has grown to 2.84 lakh with passenger traffic of 30.01 million.

"Several airlines are looking at Delhi as a future hub. The airport has made several changes to that effect. We now have an airport hotel for both domestic and international transit passengers . The Metro connectivity has also given the airport an edge. While this is making us a favoured port of entry and exit for passengers, airlines, too, have several advantages here. IGI Airport is the only airport with three functional runways (new, main and secondary ). On March 30, the day of the India-Pakistan cricket world cup semifinal , the airport handled more than a 1,000 scheduled and unscheduled flights," said an airport official.

30/12/11 Times of India

Read More

3 flights cancelled as coach rams aircraft

Mumbai: Three GoAir flights were cancelled and two delayed on Thursday after a GoAir Airbus A-320 aircraft was damaged when an empty Jet Airways coach rammed it at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA).

No one was hurt in the incident as the coach and aircraft were empty. The aircraft may be grounded for repairs, said a spokesperson for the airline. The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

A spokesperson for the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) said the incident took place around 5 am on Thursday. “The GoAir flight was scheduled to fly from Mumbai to Delhi at 6 am. A Jet Airways coach, which was near the washing area, rammed the aircraft which was parked on the tarmac. The nose of the aircraft was damaged and after inspection, it was not allowed to fly,” he added.

While the airline said it didn’t know how the incident happened, an MIAL source said the Jet Airways coach was left on by the driver. “Drivers usually start their coaches in the morning to warm up the engine. The driver of the coach did that and then turned it off. However, he forgot to apply the brakes and got off. When he got into another mini bus, he saw the coach moving and tried to stop it by blocking its way with the mini bus. However, the coach rammed the aircraft,” said the source.

30/12/11 Indian Express

Read More

Passengers stranded for hours at Kochi airport

Nedumbassery: Over 500 passengers travelling to different countries from the Kochi Airport were stranded for over three hours after the SITA connectivity network assisting the clearance of check-in operations and issue of boarding passes failed country-wide on Thursday evening. The passengers of three Jet Airways flights and an Air Arabia flight were the worst affected. The check-in operations and issue of boarding passes for passengers of various airlines are controlled by SITA.

With the failure of connectivity, the ground handling staff at the airport were forced to take up the check-in and issuing of boarding passes manually, which turned into a time-consuming process. Serpentine queues were seen in front of the check-in counters of various airlines from 6.30 pm. The connectivity was restored by 9.30 pm.

30/12/11 IBN Live

Read More

AAI officers' stir may delay Kolkata, Chennai airport work

Kolkata: Modernisation work at Kolkata and Chennai airports is likely to be delayed following an agitation by a section of officers of the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The possible delay will be on account of a section of engineers refusing to put in the extra hours needed to complete these projects.
While the proposed Rs 2,500 crore modernisation programme at the Kolkata airport is expected to be completed by March 2012 - after it missed its deadline twice; the new deadline for the Rs 2,350-crore Chennai airport is likely to be in mid-2012.
Close to 250-odd in Kolkata and another 230-odd in Chennai — belonging to the International Airports Authority of India Officers' Association (IAAIOA), have refused to work overtime from December 19 alleging discrimination in promotions and perks. The employees have refused to work beyond their stipulated working hours (eight hours) from 9.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.
When contacted, Ms Neerja Rathee, Assistant General Secretary, IAAIOA, said: “The agitations may delay modernisation work at the airports. But we are helpless in this regard.”
29/12/11 Business Line

Read More

Indian carriers not worried about IAG getting more slots at Heathrow

New Delhi: IAG, the parent company of British Airways and the Spanish carrier, Iberia, wants to get around 56 more daily slots at London's Heathrow airport. But this is not worrying Indian carriers wanting to fly to London, at least not for the moment.

The need for new slots arises from IAG and Lufthansa reached agreeing to acquire British Midland Ltd for £172.5 million.

“This acquisition will not impact Indian carriers as the India-UK market is presently well served. However, future expansion into Heathrow by Indian carriers will be impacted but I do not see expansion in the near term,” said Mr Kapil Kaul, Chief Executive Officer, South Asia, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. He also pointed out that Indian carriers, particularly Kingfisher, had bought expensive slots at Heathrow in 2008-09.

The former Chairman and Managing Director of Air India, Mr V. Thulasidas, told Business Line that even in 2007 getting slots for the airline at Heathrow was extremely difficult.

A senior official of an Indian airline operating to Heathrow added that the bigger worry was the dominant position that British Airways would enjoy over a global gateway hub such as Heathrow.

30/12/11 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

Read More

Flight headed to Jodhpur lands in Jaipur, passengers enraged

Jaipur: Nearly a hundred passengers travelling in a Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to Jodhpur were stranded for almost two hours when the aircraft landed in Jaipur without any intimation to the passengers. Later, 70% of the passengers were sent to Jodhpur via road. Passengers included a man who was carrying the dead body of his wife.
The Jet Airways flight that took off from Mumbai at 11 am on Wednesday for Jodhpur landed here at 3.30 pm. The passengers were not informed by the airline about the unscheduled landing.
Shashi Shekhar, who was taking his wife's body from Dubai to Jodhpur and was the most annoyed of all.
Sources cited no clearance by Jodhpur to land the flight as the reason.
29/12/11 Times of India

Read More

Flight stuck, kin wait for body

Jaipur: The MiG-23 was once again in news on Wednesday, this time not for a fatal crash, but for forcing over 80 Jodhpur-bound air passengers and a lady’s mortal remains to travel 350-km by road. The irked passengers created a huge ruckus at the Jaipur airport.
Owing to technical snags, a MiG-23 aircraft was stranded at the Jodhpur air-base forcing the closure of the runway from 11 am to 2 pm, resultantly causing diversion of two Jet Airways flights from Mumbai and Delhi to Jaipur’s Sanganer Airport. The closed runway also delayed the arrival of an Indian Airlines flight from New Delhi.
After the engineering staff failed to correct the technical snags, the IAF fighter craft had to be removed from the runway with a crane.
Jaipur Airport director RK Singh said while the Jet flight from Delhi progressed to Jodhpur after two-and-a-half hours at 3 pm, the second craft, which had come from Mumbai, disembarked 80-odd passengers at Jaipur Airport and flew back to Mumbai four hours later. “The Flight Duty Time Limitation does not permit us to fly further to Jodhpur after such a long delay,” the airline’s pilots said.
29/12/11 Daily News & Analysis/dailybhaskar.com

Read More

Faulty MiG-23 forces closure of Jodhpur runway

Jaipur: Two Jet Airways flights were today diverted to Sanganer airport here after a technical fault left a MiG-23 aircraft stranded at the runway in Jodhpur air base, forcing its closure for a couple of hours. The runway at Jodhpur air base which is also used by civilian aircraft was closed from 11.30 AM to 2 PM today after the MiG-23 aircraft developed a problem while taking off.
28/12/11 PTI/IBN Live

Read More

Rs 1.4 cr gold stolen from air cargo

Mumbai: The airport police have registered a case against unidentified people for theft of gold bars worth Rs 1.44 crore from the air cargo. The theft was reported by a jewellery courier agency when a parcel due to arrive by an Air India flight from Hyderabad went missing on December 22.
Sanjay Jain, who runs the courier agency, was expecting a parcel of gold bars from Air India flight AI 527 at 12.45 pm. But when the flight landed in Mumbai, Jain was told that his parcel was not there. He then complained to the airport police about the disappearance of the valuable parcel.
Assistant commissioner of police (ACP) of the zone, C K Chavan, told TOI that the airline system did not show the parcel among valuables on the flight. However, the duty manager of the airline in Hyderabad had informed the airline staff in Mumbai over phone.
29/12/11 Times of India

Read More

Smuggler with 50 lakh worth goods caught at Trichy airport

Trichy: A professional carrier, intent on evading customs duty, was caught red-handed at Trichy airport by an alert Air Intelligence Unit of the customs on Wednesday. Chennai-based Sarbudeen tried to sneak past the green channel carrying Rs 50 lakh worth undeclared goods on his person.
Hailing from Ilayangudi in Ramnathapuram district, Sarbudeen's passport indicated that he was coming to Trichy airport for the first time. Superintendent J Raja told TOI that the carrier had in the past carried a lot of undeclared items through the Chennai airport.
Interestingly, Sarbudeen was not carrying any contraband, but he tried to conceal the excess baggage on his person. He did not have any checked-in baggage, and was carrying only a small bag.
29/12/11 Times of India

Read More

NRI family fined R 8.5 lakh at Ahmedabad airport

Ahmedabad: Customs officials at Ahmedabad airport fined a family Rs 8.50 lakh as customs duty on Tuesday for carrying jewellery, leather and other items that they had failed to declare. The officials said the family did not know the rules and even co-operated with officials when the valuables were discovered. Senior customs officials said that the 3 passengers, who live in the US, had come to the city to attend a marriage function.
29/12/11 dailybhaskar.com

Read More

Airport officer shunted for sticking to rulebook

Thiruvananthapuram: A Customs Superintendent at the air intelligence unit at Cochin International Airport was shunted out for allegedly refusing entry into the emigration area of the airport to an aide of EMKE group chairman M K Abdulla, who is a close relative of group managing director M A Yousuf Ali, a director of the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) and an independent director of Air India.
Superintendent E Avaran was transferred out of the unit, said Customs Deputy Commissioner (Preventive) S A S Navas. “Denial of entry into the emigration area had caused mental hardship for Abdulla’s assistant, who came to receive his boss, arriving from Dubai,” said Navas.
According to sources, on December 22 a CIAL manager sought Avaran’s permission to take Abdulla’s aide to the emigration area. Since the aide was a private party, entry was denied. Besides, the unit had restricted the entry of visitors to the emigration area a few days ago at the behest of the higher-ups.
29/12/11 Shaju Philip/Indian Express

Read More

District officials want early move on Mihan land acquisition

Nagpur: Nagpur district administration has told state government to hurry up the land acquisition deal with Bhamti and Jaitala residents or else the cost of acquisition will shoot up further. The residents have been offered a fabulous Rs 1.5 crore per hectare and several have shown inclination to accept it.
The acquisition at current rates is also a strain on state's finances and offering a jacked up rate may make it unviable. Funds for acquisition will be a part of the supplementary demands as there is no budgetary provision.
The district administration is conducting negotiations on behalf of Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation (MADC), which wants the last patch 146 hectares to build the second runway for Mihan. The offer of Rs 1.5 crore a hectare will require Rs 260 crore after including the compensation to be doled out for other assets likes homes and trees on the land.
29/12/11 Shishir Arya/Times of India

Read More

Tighter inspection at airports as drug rings change their routes

Sepang, Malaysia : After uncovering five cases of drug smuggling this month alone, the KL International Airport Customs has declared all air routes into Malaysia to be at high risk of being used for trafficking.
KLIA Customs director Datuk M. Govinden said syndicates had changed their usual routes into Malaysia in a bid to deceive the authorities.
He said the syndicates used to fly from the Gulf and India, but have now switched to flights from other countries.
Govinden said the Customs Department would beef up its manpower to tighten inspection.
He disclosed that the Customs seized 3kg of syabu worth RM750,000 (S$307,575) from a 21-year-old Malaysian at 1.30am yesterday at KLIA. He was arrested.
within three months from October this year. Twenty-four people, 14 of them foreigners, were arrested.
When contacted later, Govinden told The Star that luggage arriving at KLIA would be scanned twice for suspicious items, especially drugs.
He said the first scanning would be conducted before the luggage was placed on the carousels.
29/12/11 Zuhrin Zam Ahmad and Loshana K. Shagar/The Star/Asia News Network/Asiaone

Read More

Security scans for black at Airport

Tiruchy: ‘Black’ was the most allergic colour for security personnel guarding the Tiruchy airport as they thoroughly checked the luggage of passengers for black clothes and removed them.

This was due to the black flag demonstration against the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced by the DMDK leader Vijaykant to condemn the Centre’s failure in implementing the SC verdict to raise the water level of Mullaiperiyar dam.

Black cloths, from shawls for the winter season and socks were removed from the passengers’ luggage to ensure that no one waved anything black at the PM.

The passengers, who were puzzled and perplexed, had no other option but to leave black cloths behind before entering the airport.

27/12/11 ExpressBuzz

Read More

Fog partially disrupts flight operations at IGI

New Delhi: Flight operations at the IGI Airport were partially affected due to poor visibility after dense fog enveloped the area this morning.

Fog started to descend over the airport late last night, forcing authorities to implement low visibility procedures.

About 15 flights were delayed or cancelled due to poor weather conditions at the destinations or operational reason.

Yesterday, around 78 flights were delayed and six cancelled due to operational reasons or bad weather at the destination.

28/12/11 Zee News.com

Read More

IAAI stir to tread Hazare path

Chennai: Officers of the erstwhile International Airports Authority of India (IAAI) have threatened to begin a relay-hunger strike from New Year’s Day if their demands are not met. Speaking after a massive stir by this section of the unified Airports Authority of India (AAI) at the Chennai Airport on Tuesday, IAAI Officers’ Association president SKS Murthi said that all 230 officers would defer from work and stage a relay-hunger stir if their demand for equal seniority was not met by January 1. Inspired by the impact of Team Anna’s hunger-strike, the airport officers feel that it might yield results in their 17-year struggle.

28/12/11 The New Indian Express/IBN Live

Read More

Kurien backs airport project at Aranmula

Pathanamthitta: The proposed private international airport at Aranmula, once materialised, would make a big leap in the development of the entire Central Travancore region, said P.J. Kurien, MP.
In a statement here on Wednesday, Prof. Kurien said the proposed private airport would be a milestone in the development path of the district and to his knowledge, the company had obtained all necessary clearance for executing the project in the next two years.
Prof. Kurien said the district would become a tourism hub, besides increasing the pilgrim inflow to Sabarimala from different parts of the country and abroad. According to him, the private airport would increase the popularity of the Aranmula Uthritathi snakeboat regatta, Maramon Convention, Pathanamthitta Juma Masjid, Parumala Church, Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple, Manjanikkara Mor Ignatius Diara, and the Chakkulathukavu Bhagavathy Temple.
28/12/11 The Hindu

Read More

Air India ‘snag’ leaves 300 stranded in Toronto

New Delhi: Air India may be trying to woo passengers back on domestic routes with low fares but its international operations continue to report trouble. In the latest instance of embarrassment for the national carrier, the civil aviation ministry is expected to take action against key officials responsible for a fiasco in Toronto on December 23.
After 300-odd passengers of Toronto-Delhi-Amritsar flight boarded the aircraft, they were informed about a technical snag and asked to deplane. Thereafter, the flight was cancelled but these passengers were left in the dark over when they would be able to reach Delhi or Amritsar.
A ‘relief’ flight, sent from New Delhi to get these passengers, is expected to land in Delhi only on Wednesday morning.
Passengers booked on that flight have complained that the AI staff in Toronto gave them no clear answers and did not even try to accommodate them on subsequent flights to New Delhi.
28/12/11 Sindhu Bhattacharya/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

2 detained in Chennai for making hoax bomb threat to PM's flight

Chennai: Two persons are being questioned by police in Chennai on Tuesday for allegedly making a hoax bomb threat to the special aircraft of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Tamil Nadu.
The call was received by Pallavaram police station on the city outskirts around 1 pm on Monday stating that a bomb had been planted on the aircraft in which the Prime Minister was proceeding to Tiruchirappalli enroute to Karaikudi to attend two functions, police said.
27/12/11 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Changi Airport makes fresh attempt to enter India

Mumbai: After several false starts, Singapore’s Changi Airport is making a fresh bid to get a firm foothold in India, which has eluded it for many years.
Changi Airports International (CAI), an arm of the Changi Airport Group, which runs the Singapore airport, is said to be in talks with Hyderabad-based GVK Group to acquire a stake in its lucrative airport business. GVK operates two of India’s busiest airports in Mumbai and Bangalore.
If the deal goes through, the Changi-GVK combine will handle over 40 million passengers a year, making it the biggest player in India’s airports market. Bangalore-based GMR Group, which operates the Delhi and Hyderabad airports, handles 37 million passengers a year. However, the alliance will have less capacity in India compared to GMR’s. GVK can handle 51 million passengers a year, while GMR has a capacity to handle 72 million per annum. The Bangalore and Mumbai airports are collectively valued at close to Rs 13,000 crore at recent deal prices.
Changi has been looking to enter India for a while. It tied up with Bharti Group’s Sunil Mittal to bid for the Delhi airport privatisation, but got cold feet in the last moment and dropped out of the race, according to people in the know. It tied up with Tata Realty Infrastructure (Tatas had 51 per cent and the rest was with Changi) to bid for airport projects in India, especially in non-metros. It also made a bid few months ago to acquire Siemens’ 14 per cent stake in the Bangalore airport. But GVK matched the offer and bought the stake.
27/12/11 Business Standard

Read More

Gujarat: Helipad in every taluka headquaters

Ahmedabad: The state government has decided to set up helipads at all taluka headquarters to provide better air connectivity. The move was announced after a meeting of the consultative committee of the c ivil aviation. Minister of state for civil aviation Saurabhh Patel said 225 talukas in 26 districts of the state will have helipads.
The state government is also formulating a civil aviation policy, and Gujarat will be the first state to have it. The minister reiterated that the government has plans to develop 11 new airports in the state. Patel said the first phase will involve Dwarka, Ambaji, Palitana and Ankleshwar. The airports in Dwarka, Ambaji and Palitana were being set up to provide air connectivity to these pilgrim places. He further said the state government was also studying the possibility of setting up a runway in the sea along the coast.
At present, there are eight airports in the state which are managed by AAI at Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Bhavnagar, Porbander, Rajkot, Kandla, Deesa and Keshod.
Three airports in Nalia, Bhuj and Jamnagar were under the Indian Air Force (IAF) while three airports in Amreli, Mehsana and Mandvi were being managed by the state aviation department.
28/12/11 Times of India

Read More

Aranmula airport will aid in development: DCC

Pathanamthitta: District Congress Committee (DCC) president P. Mohanraj has called upon the people to work towards materialising the proposed airport project at Aranmula.
In a statement issued here on Sunday, Mr. Mohanraj said the people of Pathanamthitta should extend all support to their elected representatives in realising the airport project which could bring about immense development to the region.
The DCC had extended complete support to the project. In another statement issued here, United Democratic Front (UDF) district chairman Victor T. Thomas said the proposed airport was a key project among those declared by the UDF.
26/12/11 The Hindu

Read More

Intl flight from Vizag likely from Jan 15

Chennai/Visakhapatnam: Visakhapatnam airport is likely to get its first international flight from January 15. After expanding the existing airport, the Airports Authority of India has created all facilities like customs and immigration to handle international passengers.
Air passengers of this region currently depend on other airports like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad for international services, said Varada Reddy, president of Air Travelers Association of India. Initially, Air India would operate its international flight from Vizag to Dubai via Hyderabad from January 15. During the last calendar year, 750,000 passengers used Vizag airport, of which about 30 per cent were international passengers. This year the number is set to touch over 900,000, KS Rao, director, Vizag airport, told Business Standard. At present, 38 domestic flight services operate from the airport daily.
In view of the increase in air passengers from here, the government has sanctioned another aerobridge, which will cost the airport Rs 3-4 crore, Rao said.
27/12/11 VDS Rama Raju/Business Standard

Read More

Jetlite flight grounded after bird-hit

Bhopal: Fifty-two passengers on board of a Jetlite flight on Tuesday morning had a close shave when the aircraft suffered a bird-hit minutes before landing at the Raja Bhoj airport here, officials said.
After the bird hit, the Boeing S2 - 791 was grounded leaving 52 passengers who had boarded the plane in Indore stranded for some time. Besides, more than 90 others who were waiting here to catch the aircraft for Delhi were stranded for hours.
Efforts were on to fix the technical snag of the grounded aircraft. Equipment from Hyderbad had reached here to repair the plane which sustained some problem in one of its engine, they said. The aircraft is likely to be ready to fly on Wednesday morning, Jetlite officials said.
28/12/11 Times of India

Read More

Joy in the air for BIA as traffic, cargo movement multiply

Bangalore: Notwithstanding the biting winter chill that has caused several delays at the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA), the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) will greet the new year with hopes that it will bring in more cheer.
For such was the year that has gone by. The BIA’s annual passenger traffic growth has gone up by 12 per cent this year as it attracted six new airlines, the highest compared to any other Indian airport.
Sanjay Reddy, BIAL Managing Director, said:?“No national airline network can be complete without including Bangalore.” Annual air traffic movements grew by seven per cent, touching 1,16,851 movements and 12.53 million passengers for 2011 and the airport at present handles over 350 aircraft movements, servicing around 35,000 passengers per day.
“Since 2008 (the year it opened), it has grown by 54 per cent and continues to grow above the national average every year,” Reddy said, adding that besides this, the airport has seen the introduction of 15 new international airlines in the last three years with six of them in 2011 alone.
26/12/11 Chethan Kumar/Deccan Herald

Read More

Ventura starts Nagpur-Jabalpur flights

Nagpur: Burgeoning air traffic from Nagpur is attracting more players. Now, Nagpur has an air connection to Jabalpur by Ventura Airconnect, a niche carrier. It has launched a Nagpur-Jabalpur direct service especially targeting corporate travellers. From there it provides further connectivity to Madhya Pradesh cities like Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, and Khajuraho, informed Lokesh Sharma, general manager (operations), Ventura Airconnect.
The Nagpur-Jabalpur service is being operated by a nine-seater Cessna Grand Caravan, the latest generation full glass cockpit commuter aircraft. It will fly thrice a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It will take off at 9.45 am from Jabalpur and reach Nagpur at 10.55 am. From Nagpur the flight will take off at 11.10 am and reach Jabalpur at 12.20 pm. The fare (inclusive of all taxes) begins at 3,750. This takes the number of domestic flights being operated from Nagpur airport to 30. The fare for further destinations is 8,500 from Nagpur, Sharma said.
27/12/11 Sachin Dravekar/Times of India

Read More

Air India mechanical issues strands hundreds at Pearson

More than 300 people are stranded at Pearson International Airport without a flight because of an Air India plane fraught with mechanical issues.
The flight, which was supposed to leave on Friday, is now scheduled to leave tomorrow morning but passengers say they've spent all weekend hearing different things and now, they don't believe anything they're being told.
Their ordeal began on Friday. After boarding the plane and waiting in their seats for four hours, passengers were asked to disembark because of a mechanical issue.
It took a while longer before passengers were given their bags and told to go home.
The delays continued throughout the weekend.
Though passengers were told to come back Saturday, once they arrived at the airport they were informed that their flight wouldn't leave until Sunday night.
On Sunday, passengers went back to the airport only to be told that they would have to wait at Pearson until 6 p.m. to find out if their 7 p.m. flight would be ready to take off tonight.
That's when some passengers began shouting at Air India workers, demanding answers. Police were called and the situation was diffused quickly.
25/12/11 Sandie Benitah/CP24.com, Canada

Read More

Singapore's Changi Airports to buy 26% in GVK Airports biz for Rs 2,200 crore

Mumbai: Singapore's Changi Airports is likely to buy a 26% stake in GVK's airports business, forming a crucial partnership just before bids are to be called for building a spanking new airport to cater to Mumbai's booming traffic.
People close to the deal said Changi Airports International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Changi Airport Group, is likely to pay GVK Airport Holdings Private Limited Rs 2,000-2,200 crore for the 26% stake, valuing the Hyderabad-based company's airport assets at 8,000 crore. The valuation and the deal size are much bigger than GVK's current market cap of Rs 1,738.70 crore, which, in turn, is a reflection of the tough times being faced by infrastructure companies such as GVK on the bourses.
"The deal is in the final stages and an announcement is likely to be made in January," a person familiar with the situation told ET. Sanjay Reddy, the GVK group's vice-chairman, said he would not like to comment on market speculation. A spokesperson for Changi Airport declined comment to an ET questionnaire some time ago.
26/12/11 Manisha Singhal/Economic Times

Read More

Pvt airport developers may be allowed to issue tax-free bonds

New Delhi: A high-level panel in the Planning Commission has recommended allowing private airport developers to issue tax-free bonds in the coming Budget, in order to help them gain access to relatively cheaper credit required to step up investments in the sector.
The panel deliberating on a long-term policy for developing airport infrastructure in the country, has proposed that the facility for raising funds through tax-free bonds, now available for public sector agencies like NHAI, Hudco, IRFC etc. should be given to airport developers also.
The proposal, if implemented, would come to the aid of not only AAI and public sector airport developers but could also benefit private companies such as GMR, GVK and L&T that are carrying out expansion and modernisation programmes of major airports in Delhi and Mumbai.
The committee in the Planning Commission also suggested a separate (more liberal) sectoral cap for airport developers to raise external commercial borrowings (ECBs).
26/12/11 Subhash Narayan/Nirbhay Kumar

Read More

Law Ministry's advice sought on amending rule for airport fee

New Delhi:The Rajya Sabha Secretariat is understood to have sought the Law Ministry's views on whether it could take up amendments to a rule relating to charging of airport development fee after the mandatory 30-day period for carrying out these changes is over.
The matter relates to amending the Airports Authority of India (Major Airports) Development Fee Rules, 2011, which authorise private-led airport operators to charge DF after an order passed by the regulator, Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA).
The issue came up after a scheduled discussion on a Statutory Motion was not allowed to be held in Rajya Sabha on Friday with Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan saying it cannot be taken up as any amendment of rules should be debated and decided within 30 days and that deadline had elapsed by a day.
25/12/11 PTI/Economic Times

Read More

Demand for air connectivity for Surat gathers momentum

Surat: The City Plus multiplex group celebrated its eight anniversary on Sunday with a 100-kg cake in the shape of Surat airport to highlight the city's long-pending demand for air connectivity.
The 16 feet long and 2.5 feet wide cake has a runway, air port building, control towers and a small plane flying over the runway, with the banner, 'We want air connectivity'.
"We hope city gets proper air connectivity in the beginning of the New Year,'' said Danny Nirbang of the multiplex, situated near to the airport.
The change of guard in the Union civil aviation ministry frustrated many businessmen of the city as the scheduled beginning of Spice jet flight from Delhi-Surat-Mumbai and return from December 15, 2011, did not materialize at the last moment.
25/12/11 Himanshu Bhatt/Times of India

Read More

Signs to aid flyers glide through customs

Mumbai: Eye-catching signboards explaining customs rules will soon welcome all international passengers at Mumbai airport.
Due to the increase in the number of duty evasion cases, the customs has decided to apprise passengers about the rules on the limit of goods and currency to be imported or carried in the luggage. The authorities are studying ways in which other countries inform international air travellers about customs regulations. The passenger-friendly signboards will be installed within two weeks.
Though most cases registered with the customs pertain to smuggling, there are other instances where the passenger's intent is not to smuggle goods and valuables into the country. "Some of them are genuinely unintentional.
In some cases, passengers do not declare goods in order to avoid small duty on personal goods," a customs official said. "In either case, if the rules are explained lucidly to passengers, they will promptly pay the duty without any excuse," he added. Though the signboards announcing customs rules, they are not within easy eye-shot for passengers.
26/12/11 Chinmayi Shalya/Times of India

Read More

Crash preparedness tested at Ahmedabad airport

Ahmedabad: The Airports Authority of India, along with several other airlines, hospitals and the state police and fire brigade personnel carried out a full-scale exercise to ascertain its preparedness in case of an aircraft crash.
The mock-drill was carried out at SVPI Airport, Ahmedabad in which a bus was used instead of an aircraft to represent a crash-landed plane on runway 23. Following the exercise, the airport director went through the actions taken to ensure that all procedures for such an eventuality was properly followed according to the rule book.
25/12/11 Daily News & Analysis/dailybhaskar.com

Read More

CAT II ILS operationalised at Amritsar airport

New Delhi: In an effort to make safe and smooth aircraft operations this fog season, the Airports Authority of India has made CAT II instrument landing system operational at Amritsar's Shri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport. "The CAT II ILS, which provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, has been operationalised from 1730 hours yesterday at Shri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport at Amritsar," an AAI spokesperson said. To improve the air navigation facilities at the Amritsar airport, AAI had taken up the initiative of upgrading the existing Instrument Landing System to Category II at Amritsar for supporting safe and smooth aircraft operations, he added. For this, AAI had to improve the airport infrastructure, remove obstacles in and around the airport, training for the controllers and the maintenance personnel. With CAT II ILS becoming operational, the aircraft can now land at Amritsar airport even when the runway visibility is upto 350 metres, instead of being diverted to other airport.
24/12/11 PTI/IBN Live

Read More

13-kg saffron seized at airport

Hyderabad: Two persons were detained by custom officials at the RGI airport in Hyderabad on charges of smuggling 13 kg of saffron. Rangrej Javed Akh-tar Abdul Saeed and Rangej Mustafa Moham-med Husain of Kalupur, Ahmedabad, who had arrived from Dubai at 2.55 pm here on Saturday, were detained by customs officials on the charges of smuggling saffron valued at about Rs 8-10 lakh. The same sells for nearly three times the amount in the open market. There has been a spate of incidents of saffron smuggling detected by the air intelligence units of the Customs department at various international terminals including Hyd-erabad, Mumbai, Manga-lore and Bengaluru.
25/12/11 Deccan Chronicle

Read More

3 places identified for possibility of setting up airports:CM

Dharamsala: Himachal Chief Minister P K Dhumal today said three places had been identified in the state for exploring the possibility of setting up airports there. These are Chamukha and Jaloti near Jawalamukhi (Nadoun), Ranital in Kangra district and Birni-Bisla in Kandaghat block of the Solan district, he said. The state already has three operational civil air fields at Jubbarhatti in Simla, Bhunter in Kullu and Gaggal in Dharamsala.
24/12/11 PTI/IBN Live

Read More

Dense fog cover at IGI, 150 flights delayed

New Delhi: Nearly 150 flights were delayed, while a few were cancelled or diverted as well due to dense fog at the IGI airport on Friday resulting in inconvenience to passengers. Sources confirmed that at least 144 flights were delayed, while at least 10 flights were cancelled.
Four flight diversions were also reported.
Sources at the IGI airport said that the fog was very dense in the early hours of Friday, peaking at about 4.30 am when the Runway Visual Range (RVR) dipped to just about 75 metres. This necessitated flight operations under the CAT-III B instrumentation landing system for RVR between 50 to 200 metres. Visibility is expected to once again reduce in the early hours of Saturday as well.
Airlines delayed, cancelled and diverted flights citing the weather at Delhi, the weather at other airports from where flights were to originate and also due to other operational reasons.
IGI sources said that out of at least 144 flight delays, 65 were cited by the airlines due to the weather at Delhi while a whopping 79 flight delays were cited due to other operational reasons.
24/12/11 Asian Age

Read More

Dense fog plays havoc with Delhi flight schedules

New Delhi: Dense fog once again played havoc with the schedule of around 175 flights at the Indira Gandhi International airport today.

Around 144 flights were delayed, 10 were cancelled and four were diverted as fog enveloped the airport early this morning. Flights were delayed by upto five hours, causing inconvinence to passengers.

As fog began to descend around 0130 AM, visibility dipped to a low of 800 metres forcing authorities to implement low visibility procedures.

Visibility dropped further at dawn and hovered between 75 to 100 metres between 5.30AM to 8.30 AM, affecting the departure of flights.

Since, the visibility was less than 125 metres, below the required minima for low visibility take-off (LVTO) of 125 metres and 150 metres for different types of aircraft, no flights could take-off, an airport official said.

However, as visibility improved, some flights took off but again operations were stalled when visibility dipped again, he said.

Two Jet Airway flights from Doha and Abu Dhabi and one Kingfisher flight from Dubai were diverted to Jaipur while one BlueDart cargo flight from Chennai was diverted to Ahmedabad.

23/12/11 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Fogged out & stranded: Nightmare at dawn at IGI

New Delhi: It was a harrowing Friday morning for passengers travelling in and out of the capital. With fog descending over the city, many flights - domestic and international - were delayed and, in some cases, cancelled. The telltale sign of the inconvenience faced by passengers was evident on their faces. While many were relieved to finally land or board the flight, some had experiences qualifying as nightmares.

Sneha Sawant, a passenger from Mumbai who flew into the capital, says she was glad to finally reach Delhi. "We reached the airport and had also boarded the Go Air flight on time. But after an hour, we were moved to another flight," said Sawant. She was not informed about the delay nor was any reason cited for it.

For another passenger who did not want to be named, the morning was a nightmare. Travelling from Mumbai to Digboi, Assam, this man had a connecting flight from Delhi. "My flight, Go Air, in Mumbai was delayed by two hours. First I was not informed about the delay. Then when I reached Delhi, I was told that I missed the connecting IndiGo flight," said the passenger. "I do not have the money to buy another ticket. I hope the airways are able to help me," he added.

24/12/11 Prerna Sodhi/Times of India

Read More

BIAL says country's third busiest in domestic traffic

Bangalore: Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), among India’s five privately owned airports, has said it is now the country’s third busiest in terms of domestic traffic. Chennai’s state-owned airport held that position earlier.

International airports at Mumbai and Delhi, both privately-owned, are the busiest ones.

Bangalore has the third highest domestic traffic in the country after Mumbai and Delhi, making it the busiest in south India,” said Sanjay Reddy, MD of BIAL, in a statement. BIAL said its domestic traffic was 10.24 million in 2011 (with the December figure forecasted). There was no separate confirmation from Chennai airport on this data. Its latest available total passenger traffic data, in 2010-11 was 12 million, of which 80 per cent is estimated to be domestic traffic.

24/12/11 Business Standard

Read More

No 'user fee' relief for air travellers

New Delhi: As Parliament on Thursday could not take up the statutory motion relating to amendment in the Airport Authority rules on technical ground, air travellers will continue to pay 'user fee' to developers.
Though the motion - moved by CPM and BJP members - was listed in the Rajya Sabha, the chair could not allow it citing certain rules. As a result, the user fee, which the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) has been charging since December 1, will be applicable on fliers till May, 2013. It may change if the motion is again moved and discussed during the next Parliament session in February-March.
CPM member K N Balagopal, who along with BJP leader S S Ahluwalia, moved the motion, said in the Upper House on Thursday that though he gave an amendment in the rules about major airport development fee much in advance, the matter was not being taken up despite having major implications of the denial.
24/12/11 Times of India

Read More

Fall in export of vegetables from CIAL

Nedumbasery: The row over the Mullaperiyar dam has taken its toll on the perishable cargo exports through the Cochin International Airport Ltd. (CIAL).
Officials at the Centre for Perishable Cargo cite a fall of about 20 per cent in the export of vegetable consignments to Middle-East destinations, which they attribute to the blockade of vehicular movement along the check-posts in Tamil Nadu.
“The average volume of outbound consignments is now hovering around 40 tonnes compared to the earlier estimate of 50-55 tonnes,” a senior official said. He attributed the shortfall to a considerable decline in the arrival of goods from stations like Coimbatore.
According to him, the seasonal demand also plays a big role in the type of goods exported. As such the export of meat and fish is bound to surpass its previous best by a higher margin. The trend will continue for another one week and after that a clear shift in the pattern of overall export could be seen, the official said.
Meanwhile, the scarcity of fresh vegetables has sent the prices in the local market through the roof, which, in turn, is expected to negate the advantages of the recent depreciation in Rupee.
The jump in vegetable prices has also left the export agents worried as they say they would be unable to meet their export contracts. For, the importers are not obliged to compensate their counterparts as per the long-term buyback agreements.
23/12/11 The Hindu

Read More

CAT III may guarantee smooth flying this year

New Delhi: December is certainly not the best time to fly in and out of Delhi. While the weather plays truant (mainly blinding fog from December 15 to January 15), air travellers are left to suffer.
This year last Saturday, (December 17) saw the first weather related disruptions which left nearly 200 flights originating out of Delhi delayed while thousands of passengers suffered as poor visibility led to delayed departures.
This year as per the statistics provided by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, (DGCA) the apex government body overlooking civil aviation safety, the airlines are better placed as far as Category III B or CAT III B trained pilots are concerned.
Under the CAT III B, aircraft to take off or land, aircraft can land on auto pilot when visibility is between 200 metres and 75 metres, and take off when visibility is 125 metres.
With many more trained pilots, passengers can hope for better on-time performance this year from the carriers that they chose to fly.
According to dgca, a total of 580 Indian pilots serving 10 airlines are trained for CAT III B operations covering a variety of aircraft.
While financially beleaguered state-run carrier Air India could be gasping for breath for staying afloat, it, however, has the highest number of CAT III trained pilots in command (395) and also co-pilots (282). Private carrier Kingfisher has 152 trained commanders and 120 co-pilots, whereas Jet has 132 trained pilots in command and 51 co-pilots for CAT II B conditions.
22/12/11 Samiran Saha/Tehelka.com

Read More

Hyderabad Airport offer dedicated assistance to Bhubaneswar passenger

Bhubaneswar: Hyderabad International Airport Limited(GHIAL) developed by GMR group in PPP mode starts dedicated transfer assistance for Bhubaneswar passengers. Company announce 'Fly via Hyderabad' initiative here today. It is our effort to provide best air service to the people of Odisha said a highly placed company official.
Ramesh Krishnamurthy, Chief commercial officer of the GHAIL said that, " Bhubaneswar is the sixth city of the country where company start this initiative." Through Fly via Hyderabad people generally travel to western country will be benefited in terms of saving of time and ticket cost. He said, Time saving and ticket cost is directly inter related in aviation Industry.
Though the number of flight travell from BBSR-HYDERABAD limited to two flight now, Mr Krishnamurthy assured that if the number of passenger flying between these two city increase substantially then Airport authority should start talk with airlines to operate more flights.
With this initiative passengers from nearly 19 cities in the vicinity to travel to and from Hyderabad will benefited. Number of passengers through this terminal also increase he added.
22/12/11 Orissadiary.com

Read More

Flight operations at Delhi airport largely remain normal

New Delhi: Flight operations at the IGI Airport in Delhi largely remained normal on Thursday despite a shallow fog enveloping the area.

Eight flights were cancelled, two diverted while 131 others were delayed due to poor weather conditions at the destinations or some other technical or operational reasons.

"Flight operations were largely normal today. There were no disruptions even as a shallow fog descended over the airport. Low visibility procedures were implemented," an airport official said.

He said, of the eight flights from Delhi, two were cancelled due to inclement weather at the destination while six others due to operational or technical reasons.

The Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport witnessed 131 flights being delayed either due to late arrival from other destinations or due to poor weather at destination or due to operational reasons.

Yesterday, 166 flights were affected due to poor weather conditions for the same reasons.

22/12/11 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Prithviraj Chavan seeks help from all parties for Mihan land acquisition

Nagpur: Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday reiterated Maharashtra government's commitment to develop ambitious Mihan project, supposedly a harbinger of change for this region. While replying to calling attention motion moved by Shiv Sena MLCs - Nilam Gorhe, Diwakar Raote, Ramdas Kadam Dr Dipak Sawant and others - the CM exhorted all parties and local people to extend helping hand in land acquisition project for the mega project. Around 4,188.64 hectares of land would be required for the project and efforts were on acquire 3008.84 hectares for the first phase. Chavan admitted that the much-hyped project could not take off due to recession, opposition by the local people and also delay in acquiring land. SQ Zama and Nilam Gorhe participated in the discussion.
"We are serious about overall development of Vidarbha through Mihan project," he said, adding that second runway was must for the project to actually take off. "The aviation companies would not be able to work if it is not constructed," he pointed out.
Chavan accepted that there were some differences with union defence ministry over transfer of Gajraj land to the Mihan India Limited (MIL), a joint venture between Airport Authority of India (AAI) and Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC).
23/12/11 Times of India

Read More

Scientist’s thermos flask ‘triggered’ India’s nuclear age

Mumbai: The Indian Airlines (IA) security staff at Mumbai airport believed they had made a prize catch while screening the hand baggage of Jaipur-bound passengers a few days prior to the first nuclear weapon test at Pokhran in Rajasthan in May 1974.

As the personal hand baggage of passengers was being x-rayed, a particular one aroused their suspicion and they took it aside for inspection. The hand baggage belonged to two passengers. The "suspicious" hand baggage was a specially-made thermos flask. The IA security staff asked the passengers to step aside and they were questioned about its contents. While this was in progress, an army officer who was accompanying the passengers on this flight managed to convince the IA security men that the thermos flask contained nothing dangerous, and was merely a night vision device used for experiments.

The security staff handed back the thermos flask to the passengers and allowed them to proceed to the airport's pre-boarding security enclosure. Had it not been for the intervention for the army officer, the passengers would have had a problem boarding the IA flight and a major national scientific project would have been delayed.Who were the two passengers? They were none other than PK Iyengar, and TS Murthy of BARC's radioisotope division. They were on their way to Pokhran via Jaipur in connection with the first nuclear weapon test on May 18,1974, code named "Smiling Buddha." The thermos flask did not contain a night vision device, but the trigger for India's first atomic bomb.

23/12/11 Srinivas Laxman/Times of India

Read More

On a wing and a prayer

Chennai: With its airport not up to international standards, Chennai has long ceased to be the air capital of South India.

So much so that Airports Authority of India (AAI) has had to pull up its local unit for negligence. The reprimand came after Airports Council International, a “voice” of airports worldwide, listed Chennai way down in its rankings.

“There is a lot of strain on the facilities because of the huge rush. The annual capacity of the domestic terminal is six million passengers, but more than seven million use it,” said airport director E.P. Hareendranathan.

The airport saw a 9.4% increase in passenger movement — from 68.3 lakh to 74.8 lakh — between April and October 2011 over the corresponding period last year.

The impact was an aircraft took longer to clear the runway in October, which had a cascading effect disrupting other take-offs and landings.

With increase in passenger movement, aircraft movement has also increased. But there is only one runway in operation and the airport is struggling to meet the growing demand.

AAI completed extension of the secondary runway in March, but its commissioning has been delayed as the approach lighting system has not been installed.

23/12/11 S Sujatha/Deccan Chronicle

Read More

New terminals at Chennai likely by June next year

Chennai: The transformation of the Chennai airport has been delayed by more than two years. The cost of the project has escalated by 15% from `1,808 crore to `2,105 crore. But the wait till June 2012, when the new domestic and international terminals are expected to be up and ready, and the additional expenditure may be worth it.
“Unlike any other airport in the world, passengers will have a clear view of the vertical gardens from any part of the [new] terminals. It would be a mix of engineering and nature, interior and exterior spaces and a man’s relationship to earth and air travel,” said S. Bhaduri, executive director (projects) of Airports Authority of India that controls the facility.
The new terminals are expected to clock between 72 and 75 green points of the total 100 for integrated habited assessment. With energy conservation and water management systems, the airport is expected to give privately operated facilities in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru a run for their money.
“The physical completion of works of the domestic terminal building has been streamlined to be completed by end of January 2012 and the international terminal building by end of February 2012,” said Mr Bhaduri.
23/12/11 S. Sujatha/Deccan Chronicle

Read More

Expert alleges “legal fraud’’ in the Aranmula airport scam

Pathanamthitta: The Kerala Gazette notification of the Industries department declaring 500 acres of land spread across the Mallappuzhasserry, Aranmula and Kidangannur villages as industrial area in connection with the proposal to set up a private airport project in Aranmula was part of a “legal fraud’’ aimed at getting clearances through “short-cut’’ for certain key requests of the company that have been outrightly rejected by the State Cabine, earlier, alleged Mr Thomas , former State Planning Board member and AICC member.

In a statement issued here on Thursday, Mr Thomas alleged that the notification itself was a big humbug created after exploiting the loopholes in the existing law.

According to him, there is every reason to suspect a larger conspiracy behind the notification issued by the Additional Chief Secretary on behalf of the Industries Department, invoking the provisions in the Kerala Industrial Single Window Clearance Boards and Industrial Township Area Development Act 1999. No such notification was issued for the Cochin International Airport Limited at Nedumbasserry or for the proposed airport at Kannur. So far, such notifications have been issued only in the case of the industrial parks and estates of Kinfra and for the442 ha of land in the possession of the FACT in Kunnathunad taluk. Moreover, all these industrial estates and parks as well as the FACT property have got clear boundaries, he added.

The Act was passed in 1999, usurping the powers of the local self-government institutions, was aimed at bypassing the otherwise mandatory clearances required for various projects from the panchayats, municipalities, Town Planning Department and Development Authorities in the land notified as industrial area, he alleged.

22/12/11 The Hindu

Read More

All goes wrong for 20 Air India passengers

Chennai: It was an awful experience for about 20 passengers from Singapore, who were booked to reach Chennai via Tiruchy on an Air India Express flight on Wednesday. While passengers missed the connecting flight at Tiruchy due to delay in arrival from Singapore, the airline failed to load their baggage into the aircraft.

They also had to travel six hours by private taxis to reach Chennai even thought they had air tickets to get there in 30 minutes.

Aircraft IX681, with about 45 passengers on board, left Singapore late.

When contacted, a Tiruchy airport source told DC the Air India Express flight got delayed by more than two hours on Wednesday due to a technical fault, adding that the baggage reached Tiruchy on Thursday and passengers are expected to collect them.

23/12/11 C Sujatha/Deccan Chronicle

Read More

Air service to Tirupati from Gujarat to be launched soon

Vadodara: Devotees from Ahemadabad, Surat and Vadodara could now fly directly to temple town of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh with the announcement to launch the air service by two private airlines. "Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) in collaboration with Jet Airways and Spicejet will soon launch an air package tour to Tirupati," said APTDC general manager Sumeet Singh last evening.

22/12/11 PTI/IBN Live

Read More

GMR to bid for airport projects in Brazil

Male: The Bangalore headquartered GMR Group is set to participate in the modernisation of airports in Brazil, Group Chairman, Mr G.M. Rao has said.
“This will be the first time that GMR Infrastructure will be bidding alone for a project. The Brazil airport (bid) is coming at the end of January. Brazil is only giving 51 per cent equity, they want to keep 49 per cent with the (country's) Airport Authority. We decided to go alone because if we give to Malaysian (airports) then we will not have a majority. Wherever we do projects we want to have majority share holding,” Mr Rao told newspersons invited by the Company to witness the ground breaking ceremony for a new airport terminal in Maldives. GMR is partnering with Malaysian Airport for the modernisation of the Male airport here.
Brazil is taking up the modernisation of airports ahead of the 2014 soccer world cup which the South American country is hosting.
Currently, the GMR Group operates the Hyderabad, Delhi and the Istanbul airports.
22/12/11 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

Read More

Emirates SkyCargo strengthens its team in Bengaluru

As a Cargo manager of Karnataka, Mathew will be responsible for all functionalities of the organisation which would also encompass Sales, Customer Service, Operations, and the overall performance of Karnataka market.

Emirates SkyCargo, the cargo arm of the award winning Emirates Airline appointed Mr. Nibu Abraham Mathew as Cargo Manager in Karnataka effective November 1, 2011

As a Cargo manager of Karnataka, Mathew will be responsible for all functionalities of the organisation which would also encompass Sales, Customer Service, Operations, and the overall performance of Karnataka market.

He has been associated with Emirates since 2006 where he has been working as Senior Cargo Sales Executive. During his tenure, Nibu was responsible for the overall sales and business development of the Bangalore market. Prior to working with Emirates, he was associated with Jet Airways in Chennai.

22/12/11 India Infoline

Read More

Book an air ticket and hit the road

Bangalore: Twelve passengers of a family and their relatives were virtually left to fend for themselves at the Bangalore International Airport (BIA) on Thursday evening.
Vincent Lobo, a Delhi-ba­sed travel agent, and 11 others were issued boarding passes for their Delhi-Bangalore-Mangalore Kin­gfisher flight. At BIA, they were to be put on a connecting Kingfisher flight bound for Mangalore.
But the Delhi-Bangalore sector flight — IT-203 that was to take off from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport at 9:55 am — took off nearly four-and-half hours behind schedule.
The reason was, the aircraft which lands in Delhi as IT-202 from Bangalore, was delayed because of the morning fog at BIA.
Kingfisher officials, when contacted by Deccan Herald, attributed the delay to “weather conditions.” There were though no weather-related domestic flight delays in Delhi on Thursday morning. Airport sources in Delhi also hinted that the IT-203 could have been delayed at the Delhi-end due to “technical reasons.”
As a result of the delay, the Lobo family missed the afternoon connecting flight to Mangalore, notwithstanding the fact that they were already issued boarding passes for the Bangalore-Mangalore segment of the journey in Delhi itself. Their plea to accommodate them on the evening Kingfisher flight to Mangalore was not heeded, apparently because the flight was fully booked. Four of them were accommodated on this evening flight, the last Kingfisher flight of the day to Mangalore.
22/12/11 Sandeep Moudgal/Deccan Herald

Read More

AI pilot flouts landing norm, grounded

New Delhi: An Air India pilot landed in near-blinding haze at Bagdogra, using an external landing approach banned by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for being unreliable and unsafe. Without reporting the incident to the authorities after landing, as is mandatory, the pilot took off in low visibility, risking at least 140 lives.
The airline tried to bury the incident by letting the pilot remain on roster without a probe. It told the DGCA it has “cautioned” the pilot. However, the DGCA ordered “immediate” grounding of the pilot on December 1 and sought a report from the carrier.
The incident occurred on November 16, when Captain Kamal Kant, operating a Delhi-Bagdogra early morning flight AI 879, landed at Bagdogra airport, a tricky airfield surrounded by mountains on north side, using Precision Approach Radar in low visibility, despite being reminded by the air traffic controller. The ATC asked the pilot if she has been cleared by the regulator to undertake this banned approach, airport sources told The Indian Express. This conversation was erased from the cockpit voice recorder — which records the last two hours — as Kant took off. She filed a “voluntary report” upon her return to Delhi.
22/12/11 Indian Express

Read More

Govt considering work-rest norms for air traffic controllers

New Delhi: As incidents of two aircraft coming into close proximity nearly doubled in the last two years, a move is afoot to have Duty Time Limitations even for air traffic controllers on the lines of work-rest norms for pilots. The new Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh told the Lok Sabha today that the 'Airprox' incidents this year rose to 26 till November compared to 15 and 22 in 2009 and 2010 respectively. In 2008, 28 such incidents had been reported, he said. Singh said Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL of the pilots has been revised and Duty time limitations for Air Traffic Controllers are being considered for better stress fatigue and management. FDTL rules govern work-rest schedule for pilots. In a written reply to a question, Singh also said that as corrective measures Air Traffic Control (ATC) services were being modernised to include conflict warning in the system to assist the ATC officers.
21/12/11 PTI/IBN Live

Read More

Dehradun airport needs face-lift

Dehradun : The airport at Jollygrant about 25 kms from the city and the only one in Uttarakhand where big planes can land, may have solved the problems of those wanting to make a quick trip to Delhi, but it leaves much to be desired as far as facilities for those who have come to see off their nears and dears.
Under the operation of the Airport Authority of India, it has undergone a sea change from the days of yore, when one could walk through the barbed wires that made the fencing and on to the runways.
However, then it had just one flight coming in, and was mostly used by the high profile swamis and godmen coming in their private planes to the adjoining holy city of Rishikesh, where they have their ashrams.
In fact, when the airport was not even made, the then much hyped swami, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who is better known for having publicized transcendental meditation and was also visited by the likes of the once most popular group, Beatles and also Mia Farrow, used to come to Rishikesh, where he had an ashram spreading over acres of land in an amphibian plane, which landed on the Ganga.
21/12/11 Jagdish Bhatt/Hill Post

Read More

Jewar airport may take off with Ajit Singh as aviation minister

Lucknow: With RLD chief Ajit Singh taking over as the new Union civil aviation minister, hope has been kindled for Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati’s long-cherished dream of having a greenfield Taj international airport and aviation hub (TIAH) at Jewar, near the national capital. The question whether a new airport should be allowed within 70 km of an existing airport, as it may hamper the business prospects of the existing one, has come in the way of the proposed airport in Greater Noida.
Proposed way back in 2001, the aviation hub was conceptualised to ease traffic at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. The project was also given a techno-feasibility clearance by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in 2003, during Mayawati’s earlier stint as chief minister. However, innumerable efforts of the state government in the last four-and-a-half years to get the project off the ground have borne little fruit and according to senior officials, the only reason for the project not seeing the light of day is the Centre’s objection.
“Despite the fact that traffic figures prove that a second airport near Delhi is indeed essential, the Centre has refused to give a go-ahead on it. But now that we have a new civil aviation minister, and that too from the region where this airport is to come up, we hope that he is able to convince the Centre on the need and importance of the airport for the people of his region,” said an official, requesting anonymity.
21/12/11 Deepa Jainani/Financial Express

Read More

Delay info: DGCA pulls up airlines

New Delhi: Airport management staff and airlines were pulled up by the directorate general of civil aviation for poor information flow to passengers on the first day of dense fog. Monday recorded the city's first spell of dense fog which severely disrupted air traffic. Several passengers complained that they were unaware of flight delays till the last minute.
'We had held a couple of meetings with airlines, Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd (DIAL) and other agencies on fog readiness. However, on Monday we received complaints that information on flight schedules was not forthcoming and the flight information display system (FIDS) at the airport was not up to date. We held a review and many directives that had been issued earlier were reinforced. All agencies need to pull up their socks," said DGCA chief EK Bharat Bhushan.
However, Tuesday brought some respite with only some international flights being delayed till Tuesday morning - between 1.30 am and 3.30 am - when the fog was most intense. Many flights were delayed in several parts of eastern India, including Uttar Pradesh and Bengal.
21/12/11 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

Read More

Delhi Airport braces for foggy days

New Delhi: With the Met department predicting 120 hours of dense fog till mid-February, Delhi Airport is bracing itself for winter woes by providing additional bays to function in low visibility, flight updates on social networking sites and better facilities for passengers in case of disruptions.
“It is primarily dense fog that can affect the airline operations and as per our predictions there will be around 120 hours of dense fog this year,” Mr R.K. Jenamani, Director of the Meteorological office at the IGI Airport, told reporters today.
DIAL officials said that they had made extensive preparations to deal with the fog.
Apart from sharing fog-related details and status of flights on their Web sites, they would post information of social networking sites such as Google and Twitter.
20/12/11 PTI/Business Line

Read More

DGCA to review B'lore airport's fog readiness

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will review fog preparedness at Bangalore Airport on Monday. Meanwhile, it has issued specific instructions to Delhi Airport after flight delays on Monday owing to fog.
A person familiar with the development told Business Line: “Usually Bangalore does not face a fog situation similar to North or East India. But, this year, there were two-three days of fog. So, it is better to take steps in advance.” Though he said that Bangalore Airport has a CAT-I compliant runway, where aircraft cannot operate when visibility falls below 550 metres, the Website of the airport claims that aircraft can undertake normal operations at runway visual range (RVR) of 400 metres.
On Tuesday, the DGCA also reviewed the fog readiness at Delhi Airport, which witnessed cancellation of 22 outgoing and 25 incoming flights on Monday. On Tuesday morning no flight was cancelled or diverted, despite fog, he said. “The situation on Monday was chaotic, so we asked the airport operator to take steps immediately,” he said. First, the airport operator has been asked to have a more updated flight information system. Second, it has been asked to tie up with some news channel to display live information on runway visibility range.
20/12/11 Business Line

Read More

International Status to Mangalore Airport: Another Promise Broken

Mangalore: Exactly a month ago, on November 20, M Veerappa Moily had assured Mangaloreans of international status to Mangalore Airport. Come December 21, and yet another promise will go unfilfilled.
Mangalore Airport will be marking its diamond jubilee on Wednesday December 21. After Moily's promise, which had come in such clear terms that there was hardly any scope for doubt, Mangaloreans had been waiting eagerly for the formal announcement. Moily on his November 20 visit to the city had in fact stated that all was ready and only the announcement was pending, which was expected in a few days' time.
However, the 'days' have turned into a month, and still there is no sign of international status to the airport.
Speaking to Daijiworld, Moily explained that everything was indeed ready, and the proposal was to be tabled in the winter session of the Parliament. However, at the last moment the civil aviation minister was changed, and Ajit Singh took over the mantle from Vayalar Ravi, and hence the process was affected. Now, the proposal will be introduced in the next session of the Parliament, Moily said.
20/12/11 Daijiworld.com

Read More

Kolkata airport, planes ill-equippedto fight fog

Kolkata: The absence of Category-III instrument landing system (ILS) at Kolkata airport, coupled with inadequacies in aircraft and shortcoming of pilots steering them, has made life miserable for passengers on morning flights this winter.
The ILS was upgraded from CAT-I to CAT-II a couple of years ago, enabling pilots to take off till visibility dropped below 150 metre and touch down till the captain could see 300 metre ahead. Prior to that, a pilot needed clear visibility till 850 metre to land.
But the upgrade has not really helped in Kolkata's weather conditions Unlike the gradual decline in visibility elsewhere,
because visibility here drops rapidly. "It takes 20-30 minutes for visibility to drop from 850 metre to 150 metre. That is the only window of opportunity for pilots to take off. Sometimes, that window disappears before the first scheduled flight of the day," said regional executive director M L Lekhra.
Though an upgrade to CAT-III system will enable flights to operate in near-zero visibility, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) does not consider it a viable optionat the moment.
21/12/11 Times of India

Read More

Air fares to Kochi sky rocket

Kochi: The festival season is witnessing an increase in the air fares as well as an acute shortage of seats in the flights to Kerala in the domestic sector.
Travel agents told TOI that many of the Keralites staying outside had been opting to travel by air instead of taking rail or road transport for reaching home for their Christmas holidays. Roy of Akbar Travels said that as per the data available on Tuesday evening, the ticket rate from Delhi to Cochin on Wednesday was Rs 29,300 for Air India and Rs 26,200 for low cost airlines like Go Air.
Delhi-Kochi airfares usually hover around Rs 6,000 to Rs 9,000 on normal days, but tickets are not available in most of the airlines now, he said.
Biju Eapen of Speed Wing Travels said ticket rates on direct flights from cities like Chennai and Bangalore had also gone up to exorbitant levels.
21/12/11 T Ramavarman/Times of India

Read More

Rs 14 lakh foreign currency seized from air passenger

Chennai: Foreign currency worth Rs 14 lakh has been seized from a passenger at Anna International Airport here when he allegedly tried to smuggle the money into India. The passenger, Heerath Mohottige Sirisena Perera, who arrived here from Colombo by Sri Lankan Airlines on December 18, was questioned by custom officials after he was found moving about in a suspicious manner "A total of 98,000 Saudi Riyals, 8,000 UAE Dirhams equivalent to Rs 13.98 lakh kept in his baggage was seized," Customs Commissioner (Airport) Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said in a press release.
20/12/11 PTI/IBN Live

Read More

Indian drug suspect arrested with 3kg of ketamine at Suvarnabhumi Airport

Samut Prakan: An Indian national has arrested with about three kilogrammes of ketamine at Suvarnabhumi Airport, according to the Customs Department.
Mohamed Iliyas Rawther Mohamed Rabeek, 24, was arrested with some three kilogrammes of ketamine including its package weight, worth about Bt350,000, Customs Department deputy director general Thanat Suwatthanamethakul told a news conference at the customs office at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
The illicit drug was put in a hidden compartment at the bottom of his luggage, covered by instant noodle and snack.
20/12/11 MCOT, Thailand

Read More

L&T fears Navi Mumbai airport project may cost Rs 5000 cr more

Mumbai: India's biggest infrastructure and engineering conglomerate L&T has raised fears that Navi Mumbai airport's project cost will shoot up by Rs 5,000 crore due to the Union Cabinet's nod to the Land Acquisition Bill, which threatens to increase the project cost.
Besides L&T, other infrastructure companies, which are on the hunt for new projects, are also likely to get into a spot of bother over the new compensation package proposed by the Bill.
"How are you going to ever put up a project, because the airport project cost will go up by Rs 5,000 crore," said AM Naik, CMD, L&T, voicing fears that farmers would now expect the compensation package to go up by 5-6 times once the Bill is cleared by Parliament.
The Navi Mumbai airport project, at an estimated cost of Rs 9,800 crore, is the biggest infrastructure project on offer in Mumbai, and corporates like Reliance, the Tatas, GVK and GMR, (both south-based companies that operate four metro airports, including Delhi and Mumbai) and HCC, among others, are keen to be associated with the project.
The cost of the airport project has already increased by 15% since it was announced in 2009. "The Land Acquisition will prove to be a major hurdle in Navi Mumbai since farmers are now asking for prohibitive prices," said a person involved with the project.
20/12/11 Economic Times

Read More

L&T eyes $4b biz from Abu Dhabi new airport

Mumbai: Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is eyeing up to $4 billion (Rs 21,553 crore) worth of contracts in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi when bids for the construction of the new Abu Dhabi airport are opened at the end of this month. This can come as a welcome boost for the company, which has been staring at a huge order slowdown in India due to lack of policy initiatives at the government level.
L&T along with its consortium partners bid for the $12 billion project in November in an internationally competitive bidding. L&T would be the leader of the consortium, as in the previous bidding for the Al-Salalah airport in Oman.
The Abu Dhabi International airport is coming up as part of $1 trillion infrastructure investment plan-ned by the Abu Dhabi government.
19/12/11 Vikas Srivastav/mydigitalfc.com

Read More

Indian to Sue Airlines After Allegedly Being Kicked Off Flight

Nashville, Tenn.: Two Muslim men who say they were kicked off an airplane in May after the pilot objected to their presence are suing Delta Air Lines Inc. and a regional carrier that operated the Delta Connection flight from Memphis to Charlotte, North Carolina.
According to a suit filed Monday in federal court in Memphis, Masudur Rahman and Mohamed Zaghloul were traveling to Charlotte to attend a conference on anti-Muslim discrimination at the time.
Rahman, who is an adjunct instructor of Arabic at the University of Memphis, has said he was dressed in traditional Indian clothing. Zaghloul, who is a religious leader with the Islamic Association of Greater Memphis, was dressed in Arab garb that included traditional headgear.
The two passed through regular security screening and were waiting at the gate to board when they were pulled out of line and subjected to a second security check, according to the suit. They were questioned about their trip and their luggage and belongings were searched before the men were cleared and allowed to board.
Shortly after the plane pulled away from the gate, the pilot announced the aircraft was returning to the terminal. Once there, according to the suit, the men were pulled off the plane, asked more questions and searched again, this time with a "comprehensive body pat down."
Although they were again cleared to board, the pilot refused to allow them back on the plane, the suit claimed. The plane began to depart without the men when an unnamed airline official called it back and it returned to the gate for a second time.
The suit claims the official then boarded the plane and spoke with the pilot, who said he would not allow Rahman and Zaghloul on the plane because their presence could make other passengers uncomfortable.
According to the suit, the official told passengers that anyone who was apprehensive about the presence of the two men could take a different plane and would be given a generous voucher. There were no takers. The pilot still refused to allow the men to board and they were booked on a later flight, the suit said.
Read Also: Pilot Refuses To Fly With Muslim Men On Board
19/12/11 Associated Press/Fox News

Read More

GMR hosts groundbreaking ceremony for new terminal

Male: Indian infrastructure giant GMR on Monday hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on Hulhule’ for the new terminal of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA).
President Mohamed Nasheed, GMR Chairman G M Rao, Malaysia Airports Managing Director Sri Bashir Ahmad and assorted officials dug the first hole for the new terminal in front of journalists both local and Indian.
Aircraft belonging to local airlines flew overhead, with seaplanes from Maldivian Air Taxi and Trans Maldivian Airways dropping flowers onto the newly-reclaimed land.
Addressing the gathered dignitaries, officials, journalists and GMR staff, Rao said the company was conscious that INIA was the gateway to the Maldives.
Thoughout the ages the development of human civilisation had been spurred by transport links, Rao said, promising that the new airport would be a hub for economic development and modernisation.
“Since we have come here the love and affection of Maldivians has been of great comfort to us,” Rao said. “As an infrastructure developer GMR is the custodian of the asset it builds, while the asset belongs to the nation and its people. For the last year, we have fulfilled every one of our commitments to the government of the Maldives, and we intend to respect and fulfill every remaining commitment.”
19/12/11 JJ Robinson/Minivan News, Male

Read More

IGI fogged out, 200 flights take hit

New Delhi: Blinding fog enveloped the IGI runway on Monday, threatening to bring flight operations to a standstill. But the situation was salvaged in the nick of time after authorities rectified the instrument landing system on the main runway.
For three hours in the morning, the new runway was under a dense fog cover and only the main runway was in use. About 200 flights were delayed through the day for 45 minutes to five hours. And at least six were cancelled as low visibility procedures (LVP) were in place for almost 12 hours. By evening even the flight arrivals were severely hit - average delay ranging from 60-90 minutes.
Despite strict directives from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), information flow to passengers was a trickle. Several passengers complained they were told about delays only after reaching the airport. Flight details on the flight information display systems (FIDS) were incomplete . Till afternoon, flight details were available only for those delayed by 45 minutes from the time of check-in . No information pertaining to weather was made available on FIDS either as mandated by DGCA.
20/12/11 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

Read More

EC lens on cash flow via airports

New Delhi: To check illegal spending in the upcoming assembly polls in five states, the Election Commission (EC) has asked the income tax department to report to it all instances of cash movement through airports.
The EC has asked the I-T department to establish Air Intelligence Units (AIUs) at all major airports in the poll-bound states of Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa while similar units at major airports like Delhi and Mumbai have been asked to keep a strict vigil on cash movement to these states.
20/12/11 PTI/Times of India

Read More

Flight from Dhaka, 19 hours late

Kolkata: What should have ideally been aunremarkable 50-minute flight, from Dhaka to Kolkata on Sunday evening, turned into a nightmare for 108 passengers booked on Biman Bangladesh as takeoff was delayed by nearly 19 hours, twice the time it takes to travel between the two cities by road.
The passengers' ordeal began on Sunday afternoon when they left hotels and homes in Dhaka city
for the Shahjalal Interantional Airport. Ekram Kalam started for the airport around 2.30pm Dhaka time (2pm Indian Standard time) for flight BG 0095 scheduled for takeoff at 6.10pm and reached the airport at 3-3.30pm.
"Since one has to report three hours prior to an international flight's departure, most passengers had reached the airport by 3.30pm.
It was only on reaching the airport that everyone learnt about the flight delay," recounted Kalam.
At the check-in desk, Biman Bangladesh ground staff told passengers that the flight would takeoff at 9pm but no reason was cited for the delay, passengers assumed that it was either a technical snag or poor weather that had led to the flight's rescheduling.
20/12/11 Times of India

Read More

Kaapi Fest sees 47,000 taste authentic coffee for first time

Bangalore: At the end of week-long ‘Kaapi Festival' held at the Bangalore International Airport, about 47,000 people tasted authentic coffee from south India for the first time, 64,000 people learned how to make filter coffee and more than 10,000 people made enquiries for visiting coffee plantations.
The festival, organised in collaboration with the Karnataka Tourism and Coffee Board of India, gave passengers an opportunity to explore coffee in a unique way.
The festival created value for the region not only through awareness of the region but also the rich coffee culture carried forward by the small, medium and large coffee plantations. It introduced passengers to the unexplored coffee regions of South India.
As the pleasant coffee aroma delighted the senses, the airport beamed out different coffee regions of the State across the terminal. Experience was created through story telling - sharing the beauty of the plantations, explaining the perfect way to make coffee at home, allowing passengers to taste the coffee and have the opportunity to register a visit or request for sale packs. The festival served the specialty coffees from Araku Valley, Bababudangiri, B.R. Hills, Chikmagalur, Coorg, Nilgiris, Sheveroy Hills, Travancore and Pulneys. The vibrancy on ground was created when experts interacted with passengers, Meter Coffee was made in front of the audience and coffee appreciation sessions were held by experts from the Coffee Board of India and Café Coffee Day.
19/12/11 Business Line

Read More

Commercial airport planned in Sonia’s hub before Greater Noida

New Delhi: In the run-up to crucial electoral battle in UP, Congress scion Rahul Gandhi seems to have established superiority in aerial artillery over rival and UP CM Mayawati. While Bahenji's dream Greater Noida airport is stuck in red tape, the Centre has decided to have a commercial airport in Sonia Gandhi's constituency.
The aviation ministry has decided that Airports Authority of India will extend the 6,000-ft-long runway at the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udaan Acedemy (IGRUA) at Rae Bareli to make it fit for bigger jets. And AAI will also construct a passenger terminal to have an airport to replace what is only a flying academy now.
The decision was taken on Saturday at IGRUA in a meeting that Rahul had with then aviation minister Vayalar Ravi ( Ajit Singh, also from UP, was sworn in as aviation minister on Sunday), aviation secretary Nasim Zaidi and other top officials. The runway is currently 6,000 ft which will be extended to 7,500 ft and then 9,000 ft in the second stage, said sources.
The estimated cost for the 7,500-ft runway and terminal is Rs 150 crore and it will cost another Rs 100 crore for expanding it, said sources.
19/12/11 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Read More

Indore: Airlines to be fined for flight delay

Indore: Now the airline companies will have to pay fine at the rate of Rs 12,000 per hour for delay in their flight’s landing at the Devi Ahilya airport. The decision has come into force from December 15. The punitive action is expected to rein-in frequent delays in flights which cause avoidable trouble to the passengers.
Indore airport director RS Shinde said the decision has come into force. The airlines are required to deposit the penalty amount with their monthly rent.
Airport authority sources said a separate fund has been created from the fine recovery to be used to increase passenger amenities at the airport.
The amount thus earned will be first sent to the Mumbai headquarters and later will return to the respective airports for spending.
The sources said that with inclusion of the punitive provision, the airlines will be more caution about sticking to the time schedule. Quite often it has been observed that delays in flight cause ruckus at the airport and anger among the passengers.
19/12/11 dailybhaskar.com

Read More

Air Asia plans flights from Bhubaneswar

Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar: Malaysia-based low cost airlines Air Asia is exploring possibilities to start its operation from Bhubanswar to connect the city with Southeast Asian nations, informed organisers of Invest Bhubaneswar event, which has been providing international platforms for many small and medium enterprises (SME) in the state.
“Air Asia is exploring commercial viability of running flights from Bhubaneswar jointly with Industrial Investment Promotion Corporation of Orissa Ltd (IPICOL) for,” said Purna Mohanty, convenor of the recently concluded Invest Bhubaneswar event , where several business agreements with state-based SMEs took place.
Earlier in the event, the national budget carrier Indigo, which started its international operation from September this year, had announced its plans to start Bhubaneswar-Bangkok flights. Similarly Flydubai, the low-cost airlines managed by the Government of Dubai also showed its interest to operate flights between Bhubaneswar and Dubai.
Though the Biju Patnaik Airport has not been upgraded to international status, these airlines feel it will not be a hindrance to run their flights via Bhubaneswar. They hope the status of the only airport in the state will be upgraded once they come up with concrete proposal in this regard.
19/12/11 Business Standard

Read More

Chinese and Indian firms bid for Hargeisa airport expansion

Hargeisa: The Somaliland Minister of Civil Aviation on Friday unveiled plans to renovate and expand Hargeisa’s Egal International Airport at early next year.
Mr. Mohamud Hashi Abdi told reporters that the infrastructure investment will cost $10 million which was donated by the government of Kuwait. He added it will create jobs for locals and help attract regional airliners to Hargeisa.
The conference held at Ambassador Hotel attracted local and international construction firms from neighboring countries and the two Asian economic giants; India and China.
Each bidding enterprise presented its plans and offers to the Ministry. Mr. Abdi thanked all the bidding companies for their efforts and presentations and promised to cooperate with the winner. He said the winner will be announced in the days ahead.
18/12/11 Somalilandpress

Read More

As winter advances, pilots gear up for foggy landing

Chennai: As foggy weather is expected to set in at Delhi airport anytime, airlines are gearing up to flying in low-visibility conditions.
Fog reduces visibility considerably, forcing pilots to depend on instruments to land on runways equipped with Cat III A or Cat III B landing systems. The November-December period is when fog envelops the national capital; while Chennai airport experiences low visibility for a few days in mid-January.
Airlines have been told to prepare to initiate Cat III type-low visibility landing systems in their planes.
All domestic airlines, including Air India, Jet Airways, Spice Jet, Indigo and Kingfisher, have readied a pool of Cat III A or Cat III B-trained pilots and have instructed ground crew about the procedures to be adopted when visibility is between 150 and 125 metres. Most modern aircraft are compatible with CAT III A or B-type instrument landing systems to land during low-visibility conditions.
18/12/11 Times of India

Read More

Now, a documentry on Khargar airport

Mumbai: Now that the controversial environmental hurdles towards building the proposed international airport in Khargar have been dealt with, the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd. (CIDCO), the organisation that will build the airport, will produce a documentary film about the project to attract international investors.
CIDCO is expected to invite expression of interest (EOI) from global investors soon.
According to Mohan Ninawe, public relation officer of CIDCO, "We have decided to produce a documentary on the airport in which information about the project will be provided. We will showcase the actual construction of the airport and use animation to show virtual images of the proposed airport. The documentary film will then be circulated across the world to attract investment," said Ninawe.
Keen to make the documentary follow the highest production standards, CIDCO will reportedly rope in state-of-the-art equipment and a Malaysian production house.
18/12/11 Saurabh Katkurwar/MiD DAY

Read More

Vijayawada airport lacks key infrastructure

With Vijayawada development moving at a zooming speed the development of airport is much talked about subject in the city.
Vijayawada’s Gannav-aram airport has been lagging behind in development for more than a decade. Though the air traffic in the airport has increased to seven arrivals and seven departures in a day which include direct flights to Hyderabad and Bengaluru and connecting flights to Bombay and Delhi apart from two unscheduled ones, there is no adequate development.
Even after the traffic was increased the airport facilities seem to moving at a snail’s pace. Mr Avinash Kumar, who often flies to Hyderabad, said, “We are very happy with the way it has progressed because it is a boon during the crisis time.
However, because the traffic is very less the fares are quite high, which might make one think twice.” If fares are a point of concern for one then airport premises is what others feel should get better.
Ms Gayatri. M, a housewife, said, “We are happy with the amount of flights being planned every day but the airport looks too dingy with asbestos sheets on the top. We have all the amenities, be it water and toilets, but the infrastructure needs to be improved.” The authorities said that very soon direct flight to Chennai would also be started and a new building plan is already on the envil
18/12/11 Deccan Chronicle

Read More

Landings set to become safer at Cochin

Nedumbassery: As part of its attempts to raise the safety level of flight operations, the Cochin International Airport Limited has lined up lights along the centre of its runway here to aid the pilots, especially in adverse weather.
Established at a cost of around Rs.2 crore, the new installation at CIAL is the only such facility in airports in the State, said an official statement.
The runway centre-line lighting system consists of a single light installed at uniform intervals to provide a continuous lighting reference for the aircraft.
“The lights embedded on the runway are all white at the beginning and then alternate between red and white beginning at 900 m and eventually to continuous red lights for the last 300 m,” officials said.
The system is not mandatory for CIAL, which has a Category-1 runway, but it has been established to provide enough lighting to guide an aircraft touchdown safely.
17/12/11 The Hindu

Read More

Contract employee helped Air India passengers get boarding pass despite ECNR

Ahmedabad: Security officials have apparently been able to crack the case in which some eight passengers from Rajasthan on their way to Kuwait on an Air India flight managed to get a boarding pass despite not having the mandatory ECNR (Emigration Clearance Not Required) stamp on their passports.
According to sources, a contract employee Jaymin working with the airlines somehow managed to access the password of one of the computers and got the PNR number of the eight passengers. He then managed to get a boarding pass for the passengers from Rajasthan. This boarding pass was then given to the passengers by one of the loaders identified as Vishnu Makwana who works at the airport.
Sources said the passengers got the boarding pass even before they entered the airport and they accidentally showed the boarding pass instead of the passport and the air ticket to the airport security officials at the gate.
Sources said the airport security officials then smelled a rat, but apparently allowed the passengers to enter the premises in the hope that they could lead them to the kingpin.
17/12/11 Daily News & Analysis

Read More