Devanahalli: High-level team's inspection on Friday

New Delhi: Concerned over the delay in the Devanahalli international airport fully adhering to the required norms for the project to become operational, a high-level team of the civil aviation ministry is visiting Bangalore on Friday for an on-the-spot inspection.
The ministry had made an inspection of the airport on February 8 and made several suggestions on various aspects of the project, which will be thrown open to commercial traffic on March 30 after inauguration by the prime minister on March 28. The team will now see whether these suggestions have been implemented.
Ministry sources told Deccan Herald here on Thursday that the team is being led by joint secretary K N Srivastava and comprises Airports Authority of India chairman K Ramalingam and Director General of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation Kanu Gohain.
The DGCA, the regulatory body, has to give the licence to the airport before making it functional. But for that, several parameters have to be adhered to. As for AAI, the air traffic control (ATC) will be manned by its personnel although the airport is a greenfield project.
29/02/08 B S Arun/Deccan Herald

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Air India plane hits 'nilgai' on Kanpur runway

Kanpur: In yet another incident highlighting the chaotic and dangerous conditions prevailing on runways in the country, a 48-seater Air India regional flight hit a nilgai while landing at the Chakeri airport in Kanpur on Thursday.
The 47 passengers on board and four crew members however escaped unhurt. The Delhi-Kanpur-Allahabad flight, CD 7801, had just landed at Kanpur when the incident occurred.
The pilot pulled the emergency brake after he noticed the nilgai on the runway, but the animal took a hit and died on the spot. Air India officials said damages to the nose of the plane forced cancellation of its onward flight to Allahabad.
"The plane was landing at 12.33pm when it hit the nilgai," said Air India's area marketing manager Uma Shanker. "All the passengers are safe," he announced.
The airline sent the passengers to Allahabad by taxi, the official said. Allahabad high court judge Justice V N Trivedi and his wife were among the passengers.
"A team from Delhi was immediately sent to Kanpur to determine the extent of damage. However, since the aircraft went to the hanger on its own power after the accident, we don't think the damage was too severe," said an Air India spokesperson.
29/02/08 Times of India

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Minimum damage to people in Imphal airport upgradation assured

Imphal: Transport minister Jayentakumar has said that expansion of the Imphal airport is a sensitive issue but nevertheless important.
Responding to a question raised by MPP MLA Dr. Ibohanbi on the night landing facility at Imphal Airport, Jayentakumar said that work has already started to enable night landing. He said that the Airports Authority of India and government of Manipur have decided to install solar lamps to facilitate night landing. He went on to say that another important issue was the upgradation of the Imphal airport to the standard of international airport. The minister said that as per the AAI guidelines, the requirement for an international airport is 500 acres.
He said that since procuring the required land will affect the lives of many people "the government is trying to find out a way to cause minimum damage to the people".
28/02/08 The Imphal Free Press/KanglaOnline

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Nagpur airport may earn with night parking

Nagpur: In an effort to generate revenue during off-peak hours at the Dr Ambedkar International Airport, the Airports Authority of India has decided to provide night parking facilities.
The Dr Ambedkar International Airport has so far been earning revenue only during peak hours (from 7 am to 11 pm) from 16 domestic flights and four international flights.
It plans to rake in the moolah by providing eight parking slots available at the airport to private airlines during off-peak hours (12 midnight-6 am).
A senior AAI official, preferring anonymity, told ToI that domestic airlines (including Jet Airways and Indigo) have evinced interest to avail of the night parking facility being offered at the Nagpur airport.
Jet Airways operates flights to Mumbai and Delhi, while Indigo operates flights to Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and Jaipur from Nagpur. Another airliner, SpiceJet, which plans to launch operations from Nagpur has also requisitioned for the same facility.
29/02/08 Sachin Dravekar/Times of India

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AAI lines up Rs 12k-cr airport revamp

New Delhi: The country’s aviation infrastructure will get a massive investment dose over the next five years. Airports Authority of India (AAI) has planned to set aside Rs 12,434 crore for the upgradation and modernisation process.
For the three metro airports in Kolkata, Chennai and Trivandrum, AAI has earmarked 43% of its planned outlay, while the rest will go into upgrading other non-metro airports and modernising the existing aeronautical facilities.
Of the Rs 5,332.13 crore earmarked for the three metro airports, Chennai has got the highest share — Rs 2,462 crore — for revamping the existing airport while the Kolkata airport will be modernised with a total outlay of Rs 2,417 crore.
Another Rs 452 crore will be spent on the Trivandrum airport. AAI has floated tenders for the modernisation of these metro projects, which are likely to be at par with India’s busiest Mumbai and Delhi airports, which are currently being re-developed by major private players.
Sources in AAI said the process to scale up two of India’s most profitable airports — Kolkata and Chennai — to world standards has already started with adequate funds put in place for the next five years.
28/02/08 Chanchal Pal Chauhan/Economic Times

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300 on AI NY flight stranded for 24 hrs

New Delhi: Nearly 300 passengers on an Air India flight were stranded for almost an entire day at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here on Wednesday after they raised an alarm following spillage of oil when the aircraft was being refuelled.
Air India’s Flight AI-111 was to fly from Amritsar to New York via New Delhi and London. The aircraft took off from Amritsar and landed in New Delhi at about 5.45 am. The aircraft was scheduled to take off at 7.20 am from New Delhi after refuelling. That is when the drama began at Delhi airport.
"As the aircraft was being refueled, there was a spillage of fuel on to the ground. Some of the passengers in the economy class raised an alarm and started shouting that the aircraft was leaking," said an Air India official. Following this, two of the passengers in the first class section refused to fly and insisted that they be allowed to get off. A passenger in the business class complained of ill health and also wanted to get off. The three passengers then asked for their luggage. It proved a Herculean task to locate the baggage of the three passengers. But when this was done, some of the passengers in the economy class who were on the aerobridge refused to board the aircraft at about 11 am out of fear. By about 11.30 am, the crew of the aircraft refused to fly as their duty hours would have been in excess of that stipulated by civil aviation requirements by the time they landed in London.
The result was that the 298 passengers had to cool their heels at Delhi airport for the whole day.
27/02/08 Sridhar Kumaraswami/Asian Age

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PM likely to inaugurate Bangalore International Airport

Bangalore/New Delhi: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh is likely to inaugurate the Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli near Bangalore on 30 March 2008. Highly placed sources in the BIAL have stated that the Prime Minister's office has been approached for his presence at the international airport inauguration and the sources in the home department have also confirmed that such a request has gone to the PM's office. But the PM's office confirmation was yet to come.
It could be recalled here that the BIAL will inaugurate the new airport on that day and the remaining work is being completed at a war footing. According to sources in the BIAL the work on Trumpet fly over had resumed and the airline offices have started migrating their IT bases as they found the Airline offices that have been prepared by the BIAL acceptable to their standards. Singapore airlines, Kingfisher, Jet airways, Deccan, Dragon airlines, Indigo, spicejet, Indian and Air India and many other airlines have confirmed their completion of migration by March 15. In the new development the Japan Airlines has also shown some interest in operating from Bangalore.
28/02/08 Mangalorean.com

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Short-haul flyers shun new airport

Bangalore: Fears are coming true. The new Bengaluru International Airport appears to be putting off travellers flying on short-haul routes — those that have a flight time between 30 minutes and an hour.
Reason: the airport is around 40 km from the city and the accessibility is poor. Most are dreading the commute to and from the airport and the expense involved. The rail and road options could be more attractive for many.
According to a senior official of a low-cost airline, ticket sales for April and May between Bangalore and Hyderabad, Kochi, Chennai and Coimbatore have dropped between 30% and 35% compared to the same period last year.
"Passengers having to fly out of the city from the new airport are thinking twice if their chosen destinations are on the short-haul sectors."
Over 40% of the flights out of Bangalore are to short-haul destinations.
Observers say airlines may now have to rethink their short-haul strategy. "If people find train and bus travel to be a smarter option, then airlines will have to discontinue certain short-haul routes or rationalize their frequency on some," said an industry observer.
28/02/08 Anshul Dhamija/Times of India

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Rising airport taxes leave low cost travellers cold

Flying between the brand new airports of Hyderabad and Bangalore will not be a low cost affair, reports CNBC-TV18’s Roshni Menon.
Get ready to shell out more for your low cost air ticket if you are flying from Bangalore or Hyderabad. The user development fee, that the two new airports will charge, may increase your ticket costs by close to 50 %. Add to that, the travel expenditure to the new airports, which are on the cities' outskirts, and you are looking at doubling your travel costs. Some airlines are already considering optimizing and cutting flights to these new airports.
"On a Bangalore-Delhi, we are charging only Rs 3,000-4,000. If you are going to charge one-third as airport charges, then fares are going to go up by 30% and in some cases 50%. This is absolutely unacceptable and a preposterous idea,” said GR Gopinath, Executive Chairman, Simplifly Deccan.
For someone traveling between these two cities, the average flight cost is around Rs 1,800 one-way on a low cost carrier. The user development fee will increase costs by over Rs 1,200. Add to that, the cost of traveling to the airport, and you could end up spending an additional 85% on your trip. That is a reason why even airlines are battling to keep the old airports open.
27/02/08 CNBC-TV18/Moneycontrol.com

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Deal with Changi on Durgapur airport

Calcutta: Singapore’s Changi Airports International today signed an agreement with the developers of an airport in Andal near Durgapur.
Under the “technical services agreement”, Changi will play a key role in preparing the master plan for the airport and provide technical knowhow for its management and operations.
“We will also supervise airport capacity, land-use plan, passenger terminal layout and other infrastructure facilities,” Eugene Gan, the senior vice-president (worldwide operations) of the Singapore company, said after the pact was signed in the presence of civil aviation minister Praful Patel.
“Training will be imparted to the airport’s senior managers on terminal management,” Gan added.
Durgapur Aerotropolis (airport city), the first of its kind in India, will also have an industrial park and a township with all amenities like schools, colleges, shopping zones and healthcare facilities.
It will be spread over 2,300 acres, of which the airport will cover 650.
27/02/08 The Telegraph

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‘Airport infrastructure policy by early April’

Kolkata: The government is likely to erect a new airport infrastructure policy by the end of March or early April as it seeks to boost private investment in greenfield airports in the country.
"We are in the process of formulating a clear set of guidelines for attracting more investment in airport infrastructure. The policy notification will come by early April and is awaiting cabinet clearance," Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said today.
The ministry will come out with a list of closed airports which will be revived through joint venture route with the help of private investment.
The policy has been prepared by the Committee on Infrastructure headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It also includes Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.
27/02/08 PTI/Economic Times

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Machines to man Indian airports

New Delhi: The home ministry has installed state-of-the-art machines at all international airports in order to check the authenticity of passports, so that human trafficking can be curbed.
''In order to check the veracity of passports, we use magnifying glasses and ultraviolet lamps have been installed at all international airports. The central government has also undertaken issuance of machine readable passports, which are more secure,'' said Radhika V Selvi, Minister of State for Home, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
''Moreover, Passport Reading Machines (PRMs) and Questionable Document Examiner (QDX) machines have been installed at all major international airports. Specific training is also imparted to immigration officers to detect forged/false documents,'' Selvi added.
The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), which comes under the MHA, has also prepared a training manual on ''Human Trafficking Handbook for Investigators'' for use in the police training institutes.
27/02/08 Indo-Asian News Service

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Aircraft part falls off on IGI runway

New Delhi: The engine cover of an aircraft of the national carrier with more than 150 passengers fell off on the runway just as the plane was taking off at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Although officials described the incident, which occurred on Sunday, as a scare, they agreed that it was a reflection of poor aircraft maintenance by Air India. Proper check up of aircraft before take-off is mandatory.
The A-321 aircraft was bought barely six months ago and though it was making an unscheduled flight to Srinagar on Sunday, it is used to fly regular passengers too.
The aircraft had to return after taking off to reclaim its part. It was then promptly grounded, and the flight was cancelled.
The alert pilot informed the air-traffic controllers about the part on the runway immediately. A similar incident had led to the 2000 crash of an Air France Concorde, in which 113 passengers were killed. A piece of metal left on the runway near Paris had punctured the aircraft’s tyres as it took off.
27/02/08 Sidhartha Roy/Hindustan Times

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MTR Wins HK$128 Million Order for Delhi Airport Metro Project

MTR Corp., Hong Kong's government- controlled subway operator, won a HK$128 million ($16.4 million) engineering and project management contract linked to the Delhi Airport Metro Express Line.
The contract was awarded by India's Reliance Energy Ltd., MTR said in a statement on its Web site yesterday. The subway operator will define all electrical and mechanical systems for the project, it said.
MTR is expanding outside Hong Kong to widen its sources of income. A venture with Henderson Group Plc's John Laing rail unit in June won a deal to run five railway lines in London. The company is also investing in subway lines in Shenzhen and Beijing, and pursuing projects in other Chinese cities.
The 22.65 kilometer (14.1 miles) Delhi Airport line is scheduled to be opened in July 2010, MTR said.
27/02/08 Clare Cheung/Bloomberg

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Passenger collapses at airport, dies

Mumbai: A 61-year-old air passenger who was traveling to London collapsed at the international airport and died on Tuesday morning, making this the second such case in three days.
Police sources said that the passenger, Shivaigar Gosai, who lived at Milton Keynes in England, was visiting his brother living in Porbundar, Gujarat. However, he developed severe diarrhoea a few days after arriving on February 16.
The police said that his daughter and her friend came down from England to take Gosai home. They had reached Mumbai en route to London when Gosai collapsed while boarding flight AI 125. An airport doctor rushed to the spot and took Gosai to Holy Spirit Hospital, Andheri (E), in an ambulance. However, he was declared dead before admission. The body was then taken to Cooper Hospital, Juhu.
On Sunday, 70-year-old Jose Pinto from London collapsed at the transit lounge in Mumbai and was declared dead on the spot.
27/02/08 Rajiv Sharma/Times of India

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Air Arabia takes off to Kozhikode

Sharjah: Air Arabia's inaugural flight to Kozhikode on Tuesday turned out to be an occasion for big celebrations for passengers at the Calicut International Airport in Karippur.
The first direct service by a foreign airline, the flight received a colourful welcome at the airport premises.
Upon its landing, the aircraft was given a water salute by fire tenders of the Kerala State Fire Department, in what turned out to be a first at the airport that underwent a massive expansion recently. Slogan shouting by passengers who chose not to hide their excitement of getting an overseas carrier added to the festive ambiance.
On board the flight, CEO of Air Arabia Adel Ali promised to offer prompt and punctual service to Kozhikode that experienced several delays and cancellations by other carriers.
The airline currently serves 10 destinations in India, three within the state of Kerala alone.
Scheduled on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, the flight will depart Sharjah at 8:30am and arrive at Kozhikode at 1:40pm. It will then turn around from Kozhikode at 2:25pm and arrive in Sharjah at 5pm. The expanded schedule will be announced later.
27/02/08 GULF TODAY/Daijiworld.com

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Srinagar Airport likely to open for international air traffic by June 2008

Srinagar Airport will open for the first time to Iinternational traffic this summer with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) taking steps to modernize the airport.
The terminal building of the airport is being expanded from the existing 6190 square meters to 16100 square meters and would have modern amenities like aero-bridges, central heating system, lifts, conveyor belts and escalators.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has said the international airport terminal would be ready by June 2008.
Rakesh Kalra, Director of the Srinagar Airport, said the opening of the Srinagar Airport to international traffic would ensure better connectivity with Gulf countries, which in turn would boost tourism in the state.
Last year 430,000 tourists, including 23,000 foreigners visited Kashmir.
Kalra observed that the state's economy would also benefit with the direct export of its horticulture produce to global markets.
26/02/08 ANI/The Cheers, Estonia

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New terminal may be out of bounds for passengers

Thiruvananthapuram: ‘An airport sans entrance!’ The new terminal of the Thiruvananthapuram Airport which is expected to be ready by December this year, may get such a rare title. Thanks to the delay in constructing the approach road.
With around 350 workers working round-the-clock in shifts, work on the new terminal of the Thiruvananthapuram Airport is expected to the completed much ahead of the expected schedule of December this year.
Even then, there are concerns on whether the new terminal would be operational owing to one or the other reasons. It is the responsibility of the State Government to provide road, rail and water connectivity to the new terminal.
The Kerala Industrial Technical Consultants Organisation (KITCO), a State Government-owned agency, has been entrusted with this task.
Though the land has been acquired, the work is yet to commence. Tendering process for the construction work began recently. The submitted tenders will be opened on March 7.
Even when a common man feels that it may take years to complete this work, KITCO claims that it will be completed in eight to ten months.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has also expressed concern over the delay in commencing the work on the approach road.
27/02/08 Arjun Raghunath/Newindpress

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GMR to start charters, plans Rs 700 cr investment

Bangalore: GMR Infrastructure—which has New Delhi, Hyderabad and Istanbul airport projects in its kitty—is now foraying into air charter services. The company is diving into the corporate jet market with a capital expenditure plan of Rs 700 crore. GMR Aviation, set up to drive this charter venture, will have an initial fleet size of 6 nine-seater aircraft and two choppers.
What started as a project for captive use has now been spun off into a full-fledged venture, as a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure. The company is looking at tapping the growing corporate jet market in India. According to industry estimates, the number of private aircraft in India is expected to rise from the existing 150-190 to over 500 in the next four years.
The company has already obtained a licence to operate charter services and has met with encouraging response in its test-marketing phase. GMR has appointed Amit Sinha, formerly with Tata Aviation, to head the venture.
GMR Infrastructure chief financial officer (corporate integration) A Subba Rao told ET, “we floated the venture purely for captive use. But, we now see great potential in offering third party services and using our assets more effectively.”
26/02/08 J Padmapriya & Urvashi Jha/Economic Times

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Turban searches delay flight in Brisbane

Brisbane Airport has defended the action of security officers when they demanded 13 Sikh community members remove their turbans and a woman take off her face veil.
The search on Saturday caused a bottleneck at a security checkpoint and delayed at least one international flight, reports said today.
Brisbane Airport spokesman Jim Carden said it was not unusual for security officers to direct people to remove headgear.
"Those regulations have been in place about 12 years," Mr Carden said.
They applied at all Australian airports to any headgear, including baseball caps, rastafarian scarves, Jewish yarmulke, Emirates' cabin crew headgear and pilots' caps, he said.
If a passenger walking through security set off the alarm, a hand-held wand was passed over them to check for prohibited objects.
"But if the screening authority is still not satisfied that the screening has still not been completed, that passenger may be asked to remove that headgear - that has always been the case," he said.
26/02/08 AAP/The Age, Australia

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Airports strike put off

New Delhi: Following a meeting with Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, the Airports Authority Employees’ Union (AAEU) on Monday deferred its strike scheduled for Tuesday.
Mr. Patel along with senior officials of the Ministry and the Airports Authority of India met the representatives of AAEU at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, where the latter raised their demands. As of now, the strike has been deferred and the second round of talks will take place on March 10.
“A number of issues, including the closure of Bangalore and Hyderabad airports raised by the union representatives, were discussed. It has been decided that the Ministry will look into these matters in detail and another round of discussion will be held with the union representatives in the near future,” said an official release.
26/02/08 The Hindu

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Pune airport reopens on 27; eyes three more destinations

Pune: After the 15-day closure, Pune airport will be reopened on Wednesday with no change in facilities or schedule of the airlines. The only good news for passengers is, when the regime of restricted watch hours ends in May, destinations like Aurangabad, Coimbatore and Kolkata will be connected to Pune. The international destinations like Singapore and Bangkok are also in fray, as the international players Lufthansa and Emirates have enquired about the slot.
Air routes to and from Pune have remained disconnected owing to the critical work of runway recarpeting. The airport will be opened on February 27. “Even if the airport will be opened, there will be restricted watch hours as the work will continue. The work will end in May and probably from June 1, Pune will have the airport open for 24 hours,” said Deepak Shastri, director of Pune Airport.
Meanwhile, the critical work of recarpeting of runway will end on Tuesday. In the initial stages, the corners of the runway were repaired and that is why some part was available for the take- offs and landings. But now the work of the main part of the runway is going on.
26/02/08 Pune Newsline

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International flights set to go up from Pune

Pune: The number of international flights from Pune is set to go up significantly as a precursor to the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) scheduled for October 2008. Destinations include Frankfurt, Dubai, Muscat, Sharjah and Singapore.
As of now, only one international flight is in operation on the Pune-Dubai-Pune route by the Air India (formerly Indian). The enhanced international flights from Pune is expected to be reflected in the post-June operational schedule for the airliners, Deepak Shastri, director of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), Pune, told TOI on Monday. By then, said Shastri, the ongoing runway recarpeting and repair works at Pune's Lohegaon airport will be completed in all respects and the airport will have 8,300 ft runway availability — instead of the present 6,500 ft, which limits the operation of bigger aircraft. Also, flights will operate round-the-clock.
26/02/08 Vishwas Kothari/Times of India

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Malaysia considering ‘visa on arrival’ for Indians boarding from Chennai also

Chennai: he Immigration authorities in Malaysia are reviewing the current situation to help extend the ‘visa on arrival facility’ to Indian nationals boarding from Chennai. At present, it is available to Indians boarding from other Indian States.
Addressing a press conference organised by Tourism Malaysia, the promotional arm of the Malaysian Government, the Counsellor of Immigration Department of Malaysia based in New Delhi, R.B. Bahari, said, “Unfortunately, we have a large number of overstaying cases of Indian nationals hailing from Tamil Nadu and boarding from Chennai. We are currently reviewing the situation and it is up to the Malaysian Government to extend this facility to those Indian nationals coming from Chennai and arriving in Kuala Lumpur to enjoy this status.”
26/02/08 The Hindu

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Three held for breach of security at Chennai airport

Chennai: Two youths who entered the high-security domestic airport here with fake boarding passes were arrested on Monday, airport sources said.
A private airline staff was also arrested for reportedly issuing the fake passes to the duo, the sources said.
The sources said Ganesh Rajan and Salim Ahmad entered the airport around noon, carrying boarding passes for a Bangalore-bound Paramount Airways flight scheduled to depart at 1640 hours.
On suspicion, the youth were questioned by airport authorities and it came to light that the duo had come to attend an interview conducted by another private airline. They had secured the passes from their friend, Manikandan, working for the Paramount Airways.
25/02/08 PTI/The Hindu

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New Bangalore airport exposes India's infrastructure challenge

Bangalore: In southern India the much-awaited Bangalore international airport is almost ready, but getting there could prove a nightmare for travellers facing more chaos on clogged roads.
The Bangalore project well illustrates the problems India faces in fixing its creaky infrastructure to match an economy expanding at an annual rate of nine percent.
Growing personal incomes have fuelled a surge in air traffic and car sales, straining aviation and road infrastructure in a country that needs to invest tens of billions of dollars in public works.
Domestic air traffic is forecast to double to 60 million passengers by 2010 from last year, while car sales are projected to reach two million units from 1.4 million in the same period.
From Electronic City in south Bangalore -- the hub of India's information technology industry -- it could take a four-hour drive to reach the airport when it opens.Flying time to the nearby southern city of Chennai is just 40 minutes.
India's traffic problem is particularly acute in Bangalore, and seemingly set to worsen. The city of six million people adds 1,000 vehicles to the roads a day and traffic crawls at an average speed of 13 kilometres an hour.
26/02/08 AFP

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Low-cost carriers to cut flights over user charges

New Delhi/Mumbai: With the Bangalore airport announcing stiff user developmental fee (UDF) on domestic passengers, low-cost carriers (LCCs) - JetLite, SpiceJet and Simplifly Deccan (formerly Air Deccan) - have decided to drastically cut their flight schedules to the city and other new airports like Hyderabad.
Bengaluru International Airport Ltd, which runs the new airport to be operational at the end of March, is imposing Rs 240 as UDF on domestic passengers flying from the city, which will be hiked to Rs 675 from June 1.
It has also imposed UDF of Rs 520 on international flights which will be hiked to Rs 955 again on June 1.
The new Hyderabad airport, controlled by the GMR group, is also negotiating with the government on imposing UDF of a similar nature. GMR executives say that the charges will be finalised in a few days.
26/02/08 Surajeet Das Gupta & Manisha Singhal/Business Standard

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Emirates service to Kozhikode

New Delhi: Dubai-based Emirates Airline on Monday said it would launch non-stop services six times a week to Kozhikode from July 1, 2008. Kozhikode will become the third city in Kerala to be served with non-stop Emirates flights from Dubai. The airline introduced services to Kochi in 2002 and to Thiruvananthapuram in 2006.
On the Dubai-Kozhikode route, Emirates will initially operate Boeing 777-200 and Airbus A330-200 aircraft, offering over 4,000 ‘business’ and ‘economy’ class seats and close to 200 tonnes of cargo capacity a week in both directions.
The direct flight will operate on all days of the week, except Sundays. Emirates now operates 99 weekly flights from Dubai to Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Thiruvananthapuram. Kozhikode will become Emirates’ 10th destination in India.
26/02/08 Sandeep Joshi/The Hindu

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Air Arabia to introduce service to Kozhikode

Air Arabia announced last week that it will launch services to the South Indian city of Kozhikode (formerly known as “Calicut”) beginning February 26, (subject to final approval from Directorate General Civil Aviation (DGCA) India). Roundtrip flights will initially operate three times per week between Kozhikode, the third largest city in Kerala, and Air Arabia’s hub in Sharjah. End of May, service will be expanded to six times per week. Air Arabia is the first Airline in the Middle East to commence operations to Kozhikode.
Air Arabia’s tenth destination in India, Kozhikode is also the carrier’s third destination in the state of Kerala. Currently, the carrier provides daily roundtrip service to Keralan cities Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi. In total, Air Arabia now serves 38 destinations across the Middle East, North Africa, Indian Subcontinent and Central Asia.
26/02/08 eTravelBlackboard - Asia Edition, Australia

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Era Infra, KMB JV Pockets Contract From Air Ports Authority Of India

Era Infra Engineering’s construction & contract arm, in joint venture with KMB, Ukraine has pocketed a contract worth Rs 779 million from Air Ports Authority of India.
The companies have been awarded the work of expansion and modification to terminal building for international operation at C E Pune.
The maximum time duration for the contract is 7.5 months.
Era Infra Engineering is a fully integrated infrastructure development company taking part in India’s core infrastructure and construction segments. The company is engaged in the development and construction of highways, airports, power plants, industrial projects, institutions, railways, and residential and commercial complexes.
26/02/08 Ketan Sharma/Stock Watch

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Cab strike at Mumbai airport

Mumbai: Thousands of air passengers had a harrowing time on Monday when the 1,700 cabs at Sahar international airport went on a flash strike.
The cabbies were protesting against Mumbai International Airport Ltd for asking them to move to a new parking lot near Sahar police station.
Meanwhile, the proposed strike by Airports Authority of India employees against the government move to close down the old airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad has been deferred after an assurance from civil aviation minister Praful Patel that some “positive” decisions would be taken by March 10.
26/02/08 Daily News & Analysis

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PMO push to tender for Northeast air link

New Delhi: The Prime Minister’s Office has asked the government to come out with a fresh tender to float an airline that will connect a host of airports in the Northeast.
With the state-run Alliance Air’s contract to run air services within the region having ended in December last year, the PMO has asked the government to float a global tender for an airline that will run a fleet exclusively for the region.
Top officials said the plan for an airline for the Northeast was floated by Manipur Governor S.S. Sidhu and was being pushed by Meghalaya chief secretary Ranjan Chatterjee.
Chatterjee is also currently in the fray for the position of chairman, Air India.
Both Sidhu and Chatterjee have considerable experience in the civil aviation sector and are of the opinion that an airline that would operate out of a hub at Guwahati and connect the difficult Northeast terrain using small passenger aircraft, could be viable with a small subsidy.
The selected airline will be subsidised by funds from the North Eastern Council (NEC) and will be expected to fly as many as 400 flights every month connecting the region internally by the end of 2009.
24/02/08 Jayanta Roy Chowdhury/The Telegraph

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Pistol recovered from cargo at Guwahati airport

Guwahati: An Italy-made pistol has been recovered from the cargo sent by a courier company at the Lokopriyo Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, police said on Sunday.
Five persons were arrested in this connection. Police said that during cargo scanning at the airport on Saturday evening, a pistol was spotted inside a box with electronic products booked by a Guwahati-based courier company Tirupati Couriers.
The box was booked by one J L Mehra and was scheduled to be sent to one Satya in Karnal, Haryana. The courier company had booked the parcel with Jetlite Airways.The police seized the parcel and arrested five employees of the courier company in this connection on Sunday.
24/02/08 PTI/Times of India

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Two Kerala airports to be expanded

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala will expand two of its international airports at Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode and set up a new one at Kannur.
The state's other international airports is at Kochi.
Work on the first phase of the Thiruvananthapuram airport on 27 acres will start this year. For the second phase, another 93 acres will be acquired, Law Minister M. Vijayakumar said here yesterday.
"The state government will provide another 137 acres for the development of the Kozhikode airport. For the proposed Kannur airport, 2,200 acres would be acquired,"he said. The central government recently gave the go-ahead for a new airport at Kannur.
Once the Kannur airport is ready, Kerala will be the only state with four international airports. The airport at Kochi is also the first airport in India that was developed with private-public partnership in the late '90s.
25/02/08 IANS/Gulf Times, Qatar

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Citu firm on airport strike

Calcutta: The “indefinite” nationwide strike by airport staff from February 26 threatens to disrupt flights and is sure to bring passenger services to a halt. Also, it ties up civil aviation minister Praful Patel on his daughter’s wedding day in Udaipur.
Fliers in Calcutta, and the rest of the country, are pinning their last hopes on Monday’s meeting between the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the employees’ union in Delhi.
“If the AAI does not bend, the strike is inevitable,” asserted Shyamal Chakraborty, the state chief of Citu, which is backing the shutdown. The strike has been called to protest the AAI’s decision to close down the Hyderabad and Bangalore airports to make way for private greenfield projects and press for financial demands of the employees.
If the flights operate at all — the airlines said they would stick to schedule — fliers at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport will have to cope up with dirty terminals, filthy toilets and lack of basic facilities, like drinking water and air-conditioning. The airport authorities said they were taking measures to ensure normal operations.
25/02/08 The Telegraph

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Work on AI's maintenance unit in Kerala to start in March

Thiruvananthapuram: The work on the engineering and maintenance unit to be set up by Air India here would begin on March one, Kerala Law Minister M Vijayakumar said here on Sunday.
The maintenance, repair and overhaul facility coming up at 6.07 hectares of land close to international airport here would initially service Boeing 737-800 series aircraft but would be upgraded to handle all types of aircraft in the subsequent phases, Vijayakumar told reporters here.
The construction work of the unit would be inaugurated by Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan. The cost of initial phase of the unit was estimated to be Rs 70 crore, which would be fully funded by Air India, he said.
24/02/08 PTI/Economic Times

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Flights delayed by fog

Dense fog disrupted flight operations for nearly four hours at Calcutta airport on Sunday morning.
The departure of 27 flights was delayed. Three flights bound for Calcutta were diverted, while three others had to circle overhead before landing.
The recently installed Category II Instrumental Landing System could not help, as visibility dropped to 50 metres.
Domestic flight operations at the airport start around 5am, but on Sunday, the first plane — Deccan’s flight to Raipur —took off at 8.40am. It was followed by Air India’s Port Blair flight, whose scheduled departure was 5.35am.
Visibility started dropping from 5am, said an airport Met department official. Around 5.30am, the visibility dipped below 350 metres, making it impossible for flights to operate even by using the CAT-II landing system. For two hours from 5.55am, the visibility was about 50 metres.
25/02/08 The Telegraph

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Bumpy road to new Bangalore airport

Bangalore: Even though work on the Bangalore International Airport at Devanhalli, 35 km from the city, is moving at an incredible pace in time for it to be opened on 30 March, the project continues to attract its share of criticism.
The critics, including leaders of the software industry, have been demanding the present airport at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, should continue to function alongside, if only to meet the requirements of the domestic travellers. Additionally, BIAL’s proposal to charge a user development fee for domestic and international passengers ranging between Rs 675 and Rs 955, respectively, has led to a howl of protests.
On the continuation of the HAL airport, the argument is that road connectivity to the new airport remains a major problem. Successive governments have failed to provide the much needed road and proper rail link to the new airport, travelling to which would take a minimum of two hours provided the traffic jams are negotiated successfully.
This explains the chorus for continuation of the existing airport. Otherwise, the IT industry and others affected argue that flying to short distances like Chennai, for example, would become tedious.
The journey back and forth to the new airport would take three times the flight time. For the record, it takes under 40 minutes to fly from Bangalore to Chennai.
23/02/08 Tyagraj Sharma/The Statesman

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New terminals at IGI to be disabled-friendly

Air travellers with physical disability will not face problems while moving at the airport and boarding the plane as the new terminal buildings will be a "disable-friendly" one.
"The new terminal building (T1B) and integrated terminal at the IGI airport will have facilities like ambu-lift, wheel-chair with attendants, walkaletors, parking space near the departure terminal and other facilities," a Delhi International Airport (P) Limited (DIAL) spokesman said.
The new airport building has been designed in such a way that people with disability do not face any problem while boarding the plane.
The integrated terminal (T3) building has been designed by renowned international master planner and architects like Motth Macdonald's and HOK, who have designed and constructed a number of disable-friendly airports in Europe.
24/02/08 PTI/Economic Times

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Chandigarh airport ready for take-off as Army agrees to hand over land

Chandigarh: The Ministry of Defence has agreed to part with its 5.10 acres of Army land, clearing the bottleneck in the construction of the international airport.
The Chandigarh Administration is compensating the Army with an equal chunk in the contiguous area. The N-Area will be handed over to the Airport Authority of India.
In a letter to UT Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar, the Joint Secretary, Defence, Anand Mishra, has mentioned that the Army is ready to part with the land if compensated suitably.
Earlier too, the Chandigarh Administration had decided to compensate the Army. But the latter had refused as the land was about 200 meters away from their cantonment.
The 5.10 acres will increase the hangar capacity at the airport from two aircraft to almost seven. Though the airport is expected to be operational by the next year, officials maintain that international flights will begin take-offs much before that.
23/02/08 Jyotsna Jalali/Chandigarh Newsline

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AAI staff threaten strike on Feb 26

Mumbai: At least 18,000 employees of the Airports Authority Employees Union (AAEU), the only registered union of the airports authority staff, have threatened to go on a countrywide strike on Tuesday.
"If the government does not heed to our demands, then the strike will be indefinite," said MK Ghosal, general secretary, AAEU.
The union has sent notices to the civil aviation ministry, regional directors of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and to the secretary of civil aviation, according to Dilip Gurjar of the AAEU.
The strike would impact all the operations of the airlines. The union has threatened strike if its demand for continuing the employees' present permanent jobs with the state-run AAI is not heeded to and they have to join private airport operators like Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) and Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL).
The closure of the AAI airports in Hyderabad and Bangalore once the greenfield airports become operational in the cities next month is also an issue with the AAI employees.
23/02/08 Manisha Singhal/Business Standard

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Close shave for state plane crew

Allahabad: It was a miraculous escape for the crew of the state plane VT UP Jet when it developed some technical snag and bumped off the runway while landing at the Bamrauli airbase at 3.10 pm on Friday.
The plane had come from Lucknow and was scheduled to carry additional advocate general J N Mathur to the state capital.
Following the mishap, Jet Airways Gorakhpur-Allahabad-New Delhi flight had to be cancelled.
Though initial reports said that a tyre had burst causing the mishap, the airport authorities said that the plane’s nose wheel dipped, forcing a disturbed landing.
According to Jet Airways authorities, they had to cancel a full flight from Gorakhpur which was scheduled to arrive at 3.40 pm and take off at 4.15 pm. Following the incident, its 50-seater plane was stranded at Gorakhpur.
23/02/08 Times of India

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Indian flight makes emergency landing at Mumbai

Mumbai: A Mumbai-Nagpur Indian flight made an emergency landing at the airport here due to a technical snag.
According to airport sources, IC-129 took off from Mumbai airport at 6:54 am with 141 passengers. After take-off, the pilot discovered a snag and immediately alerted air traffic control, said the spokesperson.
The flight landed safely in full emergency conditions. The passengers were shifted to another aircraft IC-319, which left for Nagpur around at 10:15 am.
22/02/08 IANS/Sify

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No plan to install ILS at Srinagar

Srinagar: Srinagar’s Shiekh Ul Alam Airport will go international by June this year with world-class infrastructure like aerobridges and more aircraft bays. The new building will cater to 1000 odd passengers per hour. But the modernized airport will continue to face the same old crisis of flight cancellation due to poor visibility during winters. Reason: authorities have no plans to install the Instrument Landing System CAT that enables pilots to land in poor visibility.
During winter most passengers prefer air travel to and from Srinagar because the road link is often disrupted by landslides. But at times even before the hostile weather affects the Srinagar-Jammu highway, flights get cancelled due to mere fog.The Instrument Landing System is a ground-based instrument approach system which provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching a runway, using a combination of radio signals and, in many cases, high-intensity lighting arrays to enable safe landing during reduced visibility due to fog, rain or snow.
Though the CAT II and its advanced versions are installed in most of the key airports across India, Srinagar is an exception.
Given the importance of Kashmir on various fronts, experts say the airport must have the CAT in place.
22/02/08 M Hyderi/GreaterKashmir.com

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BIAL to collect only 50 p.c. of user development fee

Bangalore: Ruling out the option of keeping open the HAL airport after commencement of operations at the new airport at Devanahalli, the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) Chief Executive Officer Albert Brunner on Thursday announced that the BIAL would collect only 50 per cent of the proposed user development fee (UDF) from the air travellers for the initial two months.
Addressing presspersons at the BIAL site, Mr. Brunner said the BIAL had decided to reduce the UDF to ease transition till May 31. With this reduction, the domestic travellers taking a flight from Devanahalli airport will have to pay Rs. 240 (excluding tax) as UDF and international travellers Rs. 520 (excluding tax). The UDF would be collected by the airline operators while booking the tickets.
However, the BIAL would start collecting full UDF after May 31 and till the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) is set up by the Government to regulate the UDF.
22/02/08 The Hindu

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Main runway at Chennai airport to remain partially closed for repair

Chennai: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will close the main runway at the Chennai airport for a few hours every day to carry out much needed repair.
With increased rubber deposits on the runway, the friction co-efficient of the surface has fallen below acceptable standards. The co-efficient reflects the ability of the surface to allow an aircraft’s braking action. It is of particular importance in times of rain, when runways are slippery.
The runway will be closed between 1.30 p.m. and 6 p.m. until February 29. From March 1, it will be closed from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Airlines were issued a notification this week to reschedule their operations around this time to minimise disruptions. While the cross-runway, which came into operation in December, will bear some of the burden, it lacks the capacity to carry the full load of flights. Wide-bodied aircraft cannot land on the cross-runway, which is more than 1,500 metres shorter than the main runway.
22/02/08 Ananth Krishnan/The Hindu

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AAI in pact to ensure transparency in deals

New Delhi: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has signed an MoU with Transparency International-India (TII) to ensure that Rs 2,000 crore it will be spending this fiscal and an additional Rs 12,000 crore in the 11th Plan period for building new infrastructure is well spent.
AAI chairman K Ramalingam signed the pact recently with TII chairman Admiral R H Tahiliani in the presence of aviation secretary Ashok Chawla for implementation of integrity pact (IP). The IP involves a voluntary agreement between the bidder/vendor and AAI for abstaining from bribery or engaging in any type of malpractices including formation of cartel. It requires disclosure of any undue payments made for gaining the bid or executing the contract.
Any violation of the provisions of the IP has got serious implications.
22/02/08 Times of India

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Bangalore’s new airport gears up for Rs 2,500-cr expansion

Bangalore: Even as the new Bengaluru International Airport is almost set for flight on March 30, its promoters are gearing up for round 2: expansion worth around Rs 2,500 crore over the next three years.
The airport project that began in July 2005 is putting the finishing touches to construction; it is getting two to four domestic airlines to do pre-launch test flights possibly between March 7 and 15.
Mr Albert Brunner, CEO of the airport company Bangalore International Airport Ltd, said the new airport being built by the Siemens-L&T-Unique Zurich consortium would cater to 10 million passengers in the first year. With traffic expected to grow 30-35 per cent by 2010, expansion had become a necessity.
Initially, the second runway was not foreseen for 10-15 years – or until 2013. Now that was being advanced to 2010-11 along with an expanded terminal building. A clear picture of the expansion would emerge by the year-end, Mr Brunner said. He said 95 per cent of the work on the infrastructure and IT side is over. The airport will have 54 counters on the ground and first floor for check-ins and baggage.
21/02/08 Business Line

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Local name for global airport?

Hyderabad: Mumbai airport is named after Chhatrapati Shivaji, Kolkata's after Netaji Subhas Bose and Chennai after DMK founder Annadurai. Delhi being the national capital has its airport named after Indira Gandhi, but Sardar Patel's name adorns the airport at Ahmedabad, while Bhubaneswar's airport bears the name of Biju Patnaik. Nagpur's airport is named after Babasaheb Ambedkar and Indore's after Ahilyabhai Holkar, while local freedom fighter Gopinath Bordoloi lends his name to Guwahati airport. Some airport's are named not after local heroes but the place where it stands - this includes the international airport at Cochin which is merely called Cochin international airport and the Rajasansi airport at Amritsar.
Similarly, Bangalore's airport is called simply as Bangalore airport, though there is now pressure to name it after the city's founder Kempe Gowda or engineer-statesman M Vishweshwaraiah. "An airport is a local icon of a city. That is why the naming of an airport is a political decision. And the decision is so taken as to reflect the local pride of the place," said an observer. He pointed out that even in Begumpet airport this local pride factor has been incorporated by naming the domestic terminal after N T Rama Rao.
22/02/08 Times of India

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Airport staff to go on indefinite strike from Feb 26

New Delhi: Agitated over the "failure" of the government to fulfil its 19-point charter of demands, the Airport Authority Employees' Union has called a nationwide indefinite strike from February 26.
"No action has been taken by the government since our token strike on February 12 with respect to our demands. So we have decided to undertake a countrywide massive industrial action during which all the non-executives will remain off the job from February 26," AAEU General Secretary M K Ghoshal said.
He said despite several meetings and assurances, nothing has been done about their demands such as issues related to the Airport Authority of India employees at Delhi and Mumbai airports, arbitrary decisions of closing of airports at Hyderabad and Bangalore and non-holding of tripartite committee meeting in this regard. The union has sent a letter to AAI Chairman K Ramalingam, reiterating its demands and informing about the employees' decision to go on strike.
21/02/08 PTI/Sify

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Man held trying to flee with Dh6m

Ajman: The Ajman Police in coordination with Dubai Police arrested a 45-year-old Indian businessman R.K. on Wednesday at the Dubai International Airport while trying to flee the country after allegedly deceiving a group of real estate companies by forging signatures on investment contracts to help them rent out apartments and commercial units.
According to Ajman Police, the businessman issued several dud cheques and was trying to flee the country with Dh6 million cash collected as rent from tenants.
R.K., owner of a real estate agency in Ajman received Dh6 million in cash from tenants after he had rented them units belonging to more than eight real estate developing companies. He had managed to convince the real estate developers to sign investment contracts with him to allow him to rent out residential and commercial units to tenants on their behalf against post-dated cheques.
The companies discovered that R.K. had swindled them after the cheques issued by him bounced.
22/02/08 Afkar Abdullah/Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates

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Landing without baggage

New York: Dozens of passengers, on board an Air India flight from Mumbai to Newark in the U.S., found themselves without their baggage when they arrived here early on Thursday.
The flight AI 191, which left Mumbai on Wednesday for Newark in the U.S., was cancelled in Paris after a mechanical problem and most passengers were shifted to an Air France flight.
Though the Air India staff at Paris had assured passengers that their baggage would be automatically transferred to the Air France plane, it was not done.
22/02/08 PTI/The Hindu

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Three Afghans arrested with heroin worth Rs.100 mn

New Delhi: Three Afghan nationals, including two burqa-clad women, have been arrested at the Delhi airport for allegedly trying to smuggle fine-quality heroin worth Rs.100 million in the international market, officials said Thursday. According to customs officials, Sakhi Dad and his two sisters Afghan Gul and Khanom Gul were arrested Wednesday evening after they landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. They were produced before a city court, which has remanded them to 14-day judicial custody.
Additional Commissioner of Customs Sanjay Kumar said the women were hiding five kg of heroin in their waist belt.
“The contraband was recovered from them after security officials found their conduct suspicious while they were passing through the green channel. The trio was stopped and frisked,” Kumar said. Kumar said it was the first time women from Afghanistan were arrested for drug smuggling.
21/02/08 Thaindian.com

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Air Arabia to fly to Kozhikode

Dubai: The Middle East's first low-cost airline Air Arabia will add the city of Kozhikode in Kerala to its list of destinations in India effective Feb 26.
"We are extremely pleased to announce the launch of service to our newest destination in India, demonstrating once again Air Arabia's unmatched commitment to the subcontinent," Air Arabia Head of commercial department A.K. Nizar said in a statement here.
A significant proportion of the 1.4 million expatriate Indians in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are from Kerala.
The airline will operate its new service from its base in Sharjah International Airport.
Kozhikode will be the 10th city in India to be served by Air Arabia.
Initially the service will operate three flights a week, but plans are on to increase it to six flights a week by May, subject to approval from India;s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
21/02/08 Indo Asian News Service/NDTV.com

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IAF open to its fields usage by commercial airlines

Chandigarh: Indian Air Force (IAF) is open to the idea of usage of its airfields by the civil authorities and commercial airlines as long as this does not hamper military aviation, a senior IAF officer said here on Wednesday.
"There is no objection from the IAF side for the usage of its airfields by civil authorities and commercial airlines," Air Marshal P K Barbora told reporters here.
"We are open to share our (IAF) assets," he said adding that these (commercial and civil authorities) must provide help to the IAF in terms of manpower. "If proper understanding exists between IAF and civil authorities than the force is ready to give its airfields for other purposes", Barbora said.
Citing an example, he said Pune Air Force airfield is already being used by the civil authorities. Recently, the Ministry of Civil Aviation had decided to expand the airport in Chandigarh which is jointly used by IAF and civil authorities.
21/02/08 PTI/Newindpress

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Qatari national traced

Mumbai: The Qatari national who escaped from the transit lounge of Sahar terminal 2A of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport on Monday has been traced to South India. A police team has left to bring him to Mumbai.
According to the police, the deportee, Watangi Gafarsab, is believed to be somewhere in the southern part of India.
“We have got information of his whereabouts but cannot disclose it as it will hamper our investigation,” said Dilip Patil, senior inspector, Sahar police station.
Police said Watangi was the immigration department’s responsibility and only its officers should have escorted him.
21/02/08 V Narayan & Naveeta Singh/Daily News & Analysis

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First test flight from Bangalore on March 7

New Delhi/Mumbai: Bangalore's new airport will be ready on March 7 to receive the first commercial test flights. It plans to start commercial operations on March 28 or 30, soon after Hyderabad's new airport does so on 16 March.
Unlike Hyderabad, where only full-service scheduled carriers Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines landed on February 12, low-cost carrier Simplifly Deccan (formerly Air Deccan) will do the honours at Devanahalli.
The airline is also headquartered in the city from where G R Gopinath started the country?s first low-cost carrier operation. When contacted, Gopinath confirmed that the airline would land in the new airport on March 7.
A spokesperson for Bengaluru International Airport Ltd (BIAL), however, merely said the test flights would take place in the first week of March.
Apart from Deccan, Kingfisher Airlines, which has a majority stake in Air Deccan, will also land in the airport on the same day on its maiden test flight to the new airport. However, it is not clear whether Jet Airways will also participate in the test landings.
21/02/08 Surajeet Das Gupta & Manisha Singhal/Business Standard

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Airport parking free for netas

Hyderabad: For babus and netas used to freebies, here is some good news. They will continue to enjoy free parking status for their official cars at Shamshabad international airport. In fact, a free parking lot to accommodate up to 50 cars is being created at the new airport. Not only this, a separate facility is being readied to accommodate vehicles of slogan-shouting chelas who accompany their netas to the airport.
To avoid paying parking fees, government cars stride up and occupy the lane right in front of the airport terminal at the present Begumpet airport. But while Begumpet is an Airport Authority of India (AAI) and thus government-run facility, Shamshabad will be a private operation.
"Thus one would have expected that this freebie would be withdrawn for government cars," an analyst said. However, an official of the GMR group which will run the airport said that the sop would be continued because the government does not have any facility to reimburse its officers who go to the airport in their official cars for work or otherwise.
21/02/08 Times of India

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Air India hangar to be inaugurated on March 1

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan will inaugurate the works on the aircraft engineering base of Air India at Chakkai on March 1 at 11 a.m.
Law Minister M Vijayakumar has convened a meeting of various officials and people?s representatives to discuss the arrangements for the inauguration of the engineering base.
He said on the occasion that the setting up of the base would be a remarkable achievement for the growth of the state in civil aviation sector.
The unit is being set up on 15 acres of land provided by the State Government free of cost. Air India Chairman and Managing Director V Thulasidas, MPs and MLAs will attend the function.
Air India sources said that the first phase of work was expected to be completed in one year and the hangar would be fully operational in another six months.
21/02/08 Newindpress

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Airport loo raises a 'stink'

Nagpur: The gents loo at Nagpur airport's arrival lounge has such a repulsive look that the first thing a visitor will reach out for is his handkerchief and not the mobile. To put it simply, it resembles a flooded street on a rainy day. Even a simple hop, skip and jump is not enough to reach the urinal which, if he is lucky, will be not be overflowing.
"This is really terrible," said a Mumbaikar who flew into Nagpur for the first time on Wednesday. "There's a lot of reconstruction activity going on but it doesn't mean that the toilet cannot be maintained. It's worse than any public urinal in Mumbai."
The unhygienic conditions apart, there is also a colossal waste of water too. "I'm really surprised that nobody has noticed it and no action has been taken," said this Mumbaikar. "Nagpur is supposed to be the No 2 city in Maharashtra, but I'm sorry to say that it will never happen if such conditions exist."
When contacted, a senior Airports Authority of India official who preferred anonymity said, " passengers are facing problems due to ongoing modernisation and renovation work of airport terminal building. At present internal pipeline installation work is going on due to which the gents loo may have developed some problems. Our officials regularly check the loo and clean it after every hour".
21/02/08 Times of India

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Devanahalli airport may fuel economy travel

Bangalore: Heres one reason why air passengers might feel that the Bengaluru International Airport at Devanahalli could be cheaper when compared to the GMR promoted Hyderabad international airport.
The fuel throughput fee fixed for aircraft at the Bengaluru airport is only Rs 700 per kilo litre of aviation fuel. This is not only a lot lesser than that to be levied for the Hyderabad airport, but also considerably lower than in most existing airports of the country, barring New Delhi and Mumbai.
Throughput fee is the payment made by fuel suppliers to the airport developer. The supplier will pass on the additional charge of throughput fee to the airlines, which, in turn, will pass the burden on to their passengers.
The airport developer auctions and hands over new fuel stations and other infrastructure facilities at airports to oil companies for which the throughput fees is paid.
Devanahalli airport’s fuel throughput fee rate of Rs 700 is much lower than the Rs 2,170 per kilo litre of aviation fuel proposed by the Hyderabad airport promoters, who recently informed oil companies of their throughput charge.
20/02/08 Deccan Herald

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Airport mired in name game

Hyderabad: Even as the new international airport at Shamshabad is all set for a launch, confusion continues to cloud the naming of the airport. Managers of the GMR group, lead partner in the consortium which will operate the airport, say they have not thought about the name yet. "We have been busy in building the airport and putting everything in place. This matter has not cropped up yet," says the official spokesperson of the GMR group.
Officials in the AP government - which is an equity holder in the project - say there has been no discussion at all on the subject. "There has been nothing on the files and no meetings on this subject," says Manmohan Singh, secretary (infrastructure) of the AP government.
Notwithstanding all this however some other wing of the government has put up sign boards marking the way to Shamshabad as the path to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.
With Y S Rajasekhara Reddy being a fan of the late Rajiv Gandhi and having displayed a penchant for naming all his development programmes after him, it is but natural that the AP chief minister will press for the airport being named after the late prime minister.
For the time being the airport is referred to in official files and communications as international airport or the Hyderabad international airport.
20/02/08 K V Ramana/Times of India

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No duty-free shops at Mumbai international Airport yet

New Delhi: The busiest airport in the country — Mumbai international Airport — is functioning without duty-free outlets for more than a year now. The swanky duty-free shopping experience promised after corporatisation of the airport is yet to materialise.
GVK Group-led consortium that is upgrading the Mumbai airport had awarded a mega contract for duty-free outlets to a joint venture between ITDC and Aldeasa of Spain which failed to take off. Then the contract was offered to DFS which is yet to launch its outlets. When contacted, Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) spokesperson said that new duty-free shops are expected in a week. “DFS would complete its first phase of work for duty-free shops at the airport in the next week. By May-end, the entire project should be up and running,” he said. MIAL is a consortium led by GVK Airports with Airports Authority of India (AAI) holding 26% stake. The airport operator had in November last year terminated the contract of ITDC-Aldeasa joint venture.
20/02/08 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

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Tough ride ahead for Bangaloreans to new airport

Bangalore: Bangalore is all set to inaugurate its first underpass corridor at the Cuvery Junction to enhance connectivity to the new international airport.
A brainchild of the Bruhath Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, it is the first of seven underpasses planned to connect the city to the new international airport, 40 kms away at Devenahalli.
The only hiccup is that the project, which supposed to be completed in three days, has taken 33 instead.Even now, last-minute levelling of the underpass is going on.
With six more underpasses to go for the BBMP to realise its vision of a signal-free corridor to the airport, slated to begin operations from March 29 this year, it is a race against time. It has taken more than a month to complete work on just one underpass, so the deadline can be considered to be at least six months from now.
Till then, a ride to the new airport promises to be chaotic and long-winding.
19/02/08 Swetha Balasubramanian/CNN-IBN

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Italian airport systems firm finds growth potential in Asia

Asia is a prime potential market for Selex Systemi Integrati’s turnkey capability in air defense systems, air traffic management and airport communications systems. The Italian group, which set up shop in Singapore in 1972, most recently supplied mobile air traffic control systems to the Singapore Air Force and has established a terminal maneuvering area system for the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) at Changi Airport. Now, it is responding to a CAAS tender for primary L-band and mode-S secondary radars.
Selex has a long pedigree as a radar provider, but in the early 1990s it took a big step forward when it built the new air traffic control center at Milan’s Malpensa Airport. The facility, which comprises some 100 controller consoles and up to 20 radars, controls the whole of Italy’s upper airspace as well as the lower space in the country’s central region.
This project led to Selex being selected to provide equally advanced centers for countries such as Turkey, Malaysia and Thailand.
This increase in its ATC capabilities recently brought a $33 million contract from India to equip new airports in Bangalore and Hyderabad. The two facilities will be equipped with a primary ATCR- 33-S-DPC radar, a secondary SIR-S radar, an advanced surface movement guidance and control system, an area control center, digital and automated systems for telecommunication and information (ATIS), navaids (ILS and DME) and VHF communication systems. A $78 million contract signed late last year with India’s Bharat Electronics Ltd.
19/02/08 Paolo Valpolini/Aviation International News, USA

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Airport faux pas: intnl passengers taken to domestic terminal

Chennai: A faux pas was committed at the airport here when passengers of an 'Indian' flight from Muscat were taken to the domestic terminal without the mandatory immigration and customs checks at the international terminal.
Fifty-eight passengers of the Muscat-Chennai IC 946 flight were taken by the airline's bus to the domestic terminal instead of international terminal after disembarking at 0850 AM, airport sources told PTI.
This led to confusion over the immigration and customs formalities at the domestic terminal, they said.
Meanwhile, irate passengers, whose baggage were at the international terminal, were seen involved in a heated argument with the officials at the domestic terminal.
After a delay of nearly two hours, the passengers were taken to the international terminal by another bus. Indian officials told PTI that the matter would be looked into and action would be taken against the officials who erred.
19/02/08 PTI/Chennai Online

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Udaipur gets new airport terminal

New Delhi: On Sunday, 'city of lakes' Udaipur got a brand new airport terminal without any neta cutting the ribbon or flagging in the first flight.
The unveiling of the terminal, among the first of the 35 non-metros airports being modernised by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to be completed, without the mandatory VIP may have helped reduce waiting time for users to start flying in and out of the brand new Rs 80 crore terminal.
This will include the high and mighty who converge in Udaipur to attend aviation minister Praful Patel's daughter's wedding there over the weekend. Operations shifted from the old to the new terminal on Sunday - which incidentally also happened to be Patel's 51st birthday. When contacted, AAI chairman K Ramalingam said: "We have started trial operations to check systems of the new terminal since Sunday and the place has been put in use."
The modernisation of Udaipur airport has been long overdue, especially because of the growing tourist traffic to Rajasthan. The runway at Udaipur is going to be extended to 9,000 feet in coming months and then this major tourist destination could be able to handle very large aircraft. At present, foreign charters land in the city using medium-sized aircraft like the A320s.
19/02/08 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Air traffic congestion over Delhi, Mumbai to ease by June

New Delhi: Air traffic congestion over Delhi and Mumbai is expected to ease by June when Airports Authority of India (AAI) puts in place a satellite-based navigation system which will enable it to guide aircraft flying over the high seas.
The GPS Aided Geo-Augmentation Navigation (GAGAN), developed jointly by AAI and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), would be made fully operational by 2010, AAI Chairman K Ramalingam said today at a seminar on "Emerging Trends in Space and Aviation Meteorology".
"The final phase results (of GAGAN) are very encouraging and we are confident of making the system operational by 2010," he said.
Unlike traditional ground-based navigation aids, GAGAN will cover the entire Indian airspace and also provide navigational information to aircraft flying over high seas.
18/02/08 PTI/Economic Times

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Missing maid found in India

A housemaid, who was said to have vanished after being detained at Bahrain International Airport, is now back home in India, officials said yesterday.
Indian M T Khadeeja was taken to the airport by her sponsor on January 29 to be flown out of the country.
However, she was handed over to the airport authorities after she claimed she had not been paid for the last 10 months by her sponsor until the matter is resolved.
Khadeeja was due to leave by a Sri Lankan Airlines flight to Calicut, Kerala.
However, on February 3 and again on February 14, the immigration, Civil Aviation, the airline and the Indian Embassy said they had no information about the woman after she was handed over to airport authorities.
However, it emerged yesterday that she had already left Bahrain on February 4. An Indian Embassy official told the GDN that they had found out that Khadeeja has already left the country. The booking was made in the name "Mohammed", who could be her sponsor, he said.
18/02/08 Begena P Pradeep/Gulf Daily News

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Army road to make way for Shamshabad airport

Hyderabad: A file doing the rounds of the Defence Ministry in New Delhi will determine how fast passengers in Hyderabad will get to the Shamshabad Airport that becomes functional on March 16. Realising that its own ineptitude will mean that the P V Narasimha Rao Expressway will be nowhere near ready and that this will lead to massive traffic jams in Mehdipatnam, the YSR government has sought opening up of a military road for civilian traffic.
This road starting from the entry point of the Mehdipatnam military station (next to the Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital) will come out through the Rhino Gate. "If the military allows usage of this road, traffic will get reduced on the Mehdipatnam road where the P V Narasimha Rao Expressway is being constructed and also in front of the busy Rythu Bazar," a senior government official said.
Highly placed sources said chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy had spoken with defence minister A K Antony and sought his intervention to allow the military road for civilian use in the interests of the Congress government.
18/02/08 Times of India

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Thiruvananthapuram aircraft maintenance base work from March 1

Thiruvananthapuram: Civil works on the Rs. 70-crore aircraft maintenance base, a joint venture of Air India and the U.S.-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing here, will start on March 1.
The base is being set up near the upcoming world-class international terminal of the airport.
Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan will kick off the works at a function on the project site at Chakka. Vasudevan Thulasidas, Chairman and Managing Director of National Aviation Company of India Ltd., and top officials of Air India and the State government will participate.
The State government has given 6.07 hectares of land free to Air India for the project. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation stone for the base in November 2006.
18/02/08 The Hindu

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Goods worth Rs80L seized

Mumbai: Customs officers at the Mumbai international airport last week nabbed three men who were allegedly trying to sneak in with electronic goods worth over Rs80 lakh in the Indian market.
This was in addition to the imposition of customs duty of Rs8 lakh on 18 passengers, who arrived in the city on two successive flights and were found to be collectively carrying 2,500 cartons of foreign-made cigarettes.
Hemant Mahadeo Godia, 48, Dawood Sheikh Fareth, 35, and Murli Nagdeo Banumal, 53, were intercepted upon arrival by a Singapore Airlines flight (SQ 422) on Friday.
A senior customs officer said the baggage contained 96 digital cameras, accessories, and memory cards collectively worth Rs31 lakh in the Indian market.
A Thai Airlines flight (TG 317), which arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday night, was also being monitored for smuggling.
18/02/07 Renni Abraham/Daily News & Analysis

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CPI(M) ups ante against airport closure

New Delhi: Even as UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is set to inaugurate the swanky new greenfield airport at Shamshabad in Hyderabad on March 14, the CPI(M) has kicked up a controversy over the reported move to close down two old airports at Begumpet and Bangalore.
Former CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member and CITU secretary Dipankar Mukherjee has written a letter to the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture, which is scrutinising the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) Bill, 2007, seeking its intervention to stall the “executive action” of closing down the two airports under the Airports Authority of India (AAI). He said the move violates provisions of the Competition Act, 2002.
Mukherjee said the precondition of closure of old airports “goes totally against para 3 of the objects of the bill,” which stipulates “an independent economic regulator, namely, the AERA, may be established to create a level-playing field and foster healthy competition amongst all airports to encourage investment in airport facilities to regulate tariffs for aeronautical services etc.”
18/02/08 Kay Benedict/Daily News & Analysis

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Mandrax cartons almost take off for South Africa

Mumbai: In a major security breach, seven cartons with 250 kg mandrax worth Rs 5 crore in international market were almost loaded on a flight, to be sent to Johannesburg, without any documentation.
The seizure was made at the Air Cargo Complex at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence on Saturday. The cartons were kept in the pallet, the last process before a consignment is loaded onto a flight. Smugglers misdeclare goods to avoid detection, but in this case no paper work was done, which has baffled the DRI and that led to an investigation on how it reached a secured area like the Air Cargo Complex.
Customs officials said before exporting a consignment, the exporter has to get a shipping document and procure a gate pass from Customs. After this the consignment goes to the export shed (in the Air Cargo Complex) where a part of it is examined manually by Customs. It then goes to the airlines handler who screens the consignment and sends to its (the airline’s) warehouse.At the warehouse, the consignment is placed in pallets and then loaded.
The airline handler for South African Airways was Air India.
18/02/08 Manish Pachouly/Hindustan Times

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No more entry fees, only parking fees at Imphal airport

Imphal: The authorities at the Imphal airport have abruptly disallowed collecting entry fees from vehicles visiting the Tulihal airport since February 15 and are now charging only parking fees as is the norm.
This significant development came after the Imphal Free Press report on the manner these fees were being collected in a wholly arbitrary manner, and in violation of Airport Authority of India guidelines (`Imphal Airport charging illegal parking fees`, IFP Feb 15, 2008).
The report had noted that the prevailing system of collection of these fees, ranging from Rs 10 for two wheelers and Rs. 55 for heavy vehicles upon entry at the airport was in violation of the AAI`s own guidelines, and unlike the system prevailing at other airports in the country.
18/02/08 The Imphal Free Press/KanglaOnline

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Rajahmundry, Vijayawada, Warangal, Kadpa airports to be upgraded

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Airport Authority of India for upgrading the airports at Rajahmundry, Vijayawada, Warangal and Kadpa. An amount of Rs 600 million has been earmarked for all thee airports in the 2008-09 budget.
"These airports are also proposed to be taken up under public-private partnership mode," he said. In order to provide better aviation services in the state, Andhra Pradesh Aviation Corporation has been established in the public sector with an outlay of Rs 550 million," said Finance Minister K Rosaiah in the state budget for 2008-09 presented on Saturday.
16/02/08 IANS/Economic Times

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BIAL's first test flight on March 7

Bangalore: Close on the heels of the Hyderabad International Airport conducting test flight operations, the Bengaluru International Airport (BIAL) will commence its test flight operations in the first week of March.
According to airline sources, March 7 will be the day when the first test flight will land at the greenfield airport.
A BIAL spokesperson informed the Sunday Times of India: "Discussions are currently on with various airlines in conducting our first test flight operations. However, now a final decision has been taken on which day it should be conducted."
Sources said Deccan will be the first airline to land at the new airport. Deccan is expected to deploy an Airbus A320 aircraft that would take off from HAL airport at around 10 am on March 7 and make an under-30-minute flight to the new airport. The carrier is learnt to be flying select media representatives on the test flight.
"Passengers on board the test flight will be made to carry both hand luggage as well as checked-in baggage so that all facilities and processes at the new airport can be put into operation,"" said a source.
Sources confirmed that Deccan will operate only one flight to and from the new airport on that day. Other domestic airlines are also reported to be planning test flights.
17/02/08 Anshul Dhamija/Times of India

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Airport dispute maid 'vanishes'

A house maid detained at Bahrain International Airport after her sponsor was stopped from deporting her due to alleged unpaid salary has vanished, according to officials.
Airport authorities say she is no longer in their custody and Indian Embassy officials are investigating whether she has been transferred to another detention centre.
M T Khadeeja was taken to the airport by her sponsor on January 29 to be flown out of the country, but his attempt was foiled following the intervention of authorities. She claimed she had not been paid for the last 10 months she worked with her boss, whom she knows only as Faisal.
Khadeeja was due to leave by a SriLankan Airlines flight to Calicut, Kerala.
Now, immigration, Civil Aviation, the airline and the Indian Embassy say they have no information about the woman after she was handed over to airport authorities.
She was reportedly under the custody of the Civil Aviation Affairs until the dispute is resolved.
However, Civil Aviation officials, speaking on behalf of airport authorities, say that she is no longer in their custody.
An Indian Embassy official said they were concerned about what had happened to Khadeeja.
Sri Lankan Airlines country manager Terrence DeSilva said that a woman by her name has not flown out of Bahrain since the incident.
17/02/08 Begena P Pradeep/Gulf Daily News, Bahrain

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Diversion for Singapore Airlines plane due to engine surge

New Delhi: A Singapore Airlines aircraft made an unsheduled stopover and emergency landing in New Delhi International Airport because an engine surge while the plane was cruising.
The plane, a Boeing 777-300ER, flight number SQ345, which was supposed to link Zürich International Airport (Switzerland) and Singapore Changi International Airport (Singapore) with 247 passengers on board, was airborne for several hours when the pilots were averted by a cockpit alarm that one of their two engines experienced an engine surge and must be shut down. The captain followed the emergency procedure and request a diversion to the nearest airport, the New Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport.
The plane landed safely in Singapore around 3:10am, local time, and there was no injuries. After waiting in transit for nearly 12 hours, the 247 passengers boarded an alternative flight, and landed in Singapore at 8:40pm.
16/02/08 Crash-Aérien, France

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Direct flight to Pakistan from Chennai

Lahore: If Pakistan and India implement an agreement reached on Friday, Chennai will soon be linked to Pakistan by a direct flight, as will Islamabad to India.
The additional destinations in both countries to the existing two on each side — Lahore and Karachi in Pakistan, and Delhi and Mumbai in India — were written into a Memorandum of Understanding signed by civil aviation officials of both countries after two-day talks in Islamabad that ended on Friday.
The direct link to Islamabad will also enable connectivity between the two capitals. At present, there are no direct flights between Delhi and Islamabad, and passengers travelling between the two have to change at Lahore, which turns a two-hour journey into a day’s trip.
A joint statement said the two sides also agreed to designate three airlines each to operate on the specified routes. Now only Indian and Pakistan International Airlines operate on the routes between the two countries.
16/02/08 Nirupama Subramanian/The Hindu

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Blue Dart to boost airport connect

Air express and courier firm Blue Dart is all set to add new cargo facilities and expand at existing ones at major airports to cut down on turnaround time for loading and unloading cargo and courier. Run-up to Budget 2008-09
The company is setting up a 1000 sq m temporary facility at Hyderabad Airport at a cost of about Rs 20-25 crore, which would be operational by end of March 2008. This would be increased to about 2500 sq m in the coming months.
Blue Dart currently has a 1,500 sq mt facility at HAL Bangalore International Airport and is constructing a bigger facility of 9,500 sq mt at Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), which is scheduled to replace HAL.
Anil Khanna, managing director, Blue Dart, said: "If HAL is not completely shut, we would retain our 1,500 sq m facility there, further increasing our space to 11,000 sq m in Bangalore."
16/02/08 Archana Shukla/DNA Money/Sify

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Air fares to Bangalore, Hyderabad could go up

New Delhi: Air travel to Hyderabad and Bangalore could become more expensive with airline operators contemplating a hike in fares subject to the government's clearance for a proposal to levy additional user charges from passengers at these airports.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had hinted during the inauguration of the new Hyderabad airport last week that he favoured additional user charges on passengers using the Bangalore and Hyderabad greenfield airports.
Bangalore International Airport Limited, which is developing the new airport in Bangalore, has requested the central government to allow an additional levy of 675 rupees on outgoing domestic travellers and 955 rupees on international passengers. The Hyderabad airport too has made similar requests.
16/02/08 IANS/GulfNews, UAE

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Passports original, says Mexican Ambassador

Nedumbassery: In a major breakthrough, the investigation relating to the three Afghanistan nationals who were deported from Kuwait to Kochi International Airport revealed that the passports were original if the information from Mexican Ambassador to India, Rogelio Granguillhome, was any indication.
The Afghanistan nationals were remanded in judicial custody after they were arrested for offences under forgery and violation of Passport Act.
The Emigration personnel at the Kochi airport were informed by the Mexican Embassy in Delhi on Friday that the copies of the Mexican passports seized from the deported Afghanistan nationals were found genuine.
The Mexican Ambassador in his message to the Kochi Emigration Department confirmed that the E-series passports of Mexico were the same as the copies of the passports possessed by the Afghanistan nationals.
The Ambassador had sent two specimens of Mexican passports, high security series and E-series.
16/02/08 Newindpress

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Birds create a flutter at Sahar airport

Mumbai: A potential bird flu threat was averted at the international airport in Mumbai on Wednesday when a man, travelling from Bahrain on the Gulf Air flight 056, arrived at the customs counter amid the loud squawking of parrots coming from his luggage.
Customs department officials, in consultation with wildlife authorities, refused to allow the exotic birds being brought into India thus and sent Mohammad Naushad packing along with his luggage-that included 40 Australian parrots-back to Bahrain on board the same airplane.
The customs officials, after deliberating the course of action, figured that the birds would probably not survive till the next flight back scheduled for Bahrain later on Wednesday night, and hence directed Naushad to return to Bahrain on the same plane that left within a couple of hours.
16/02/08 Renni Abraham/Daily News & Analysis

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Illegal entry bar on fliers

Calcutta: The immigration authorities have asked international airlines to ensure that unauthorised passengers do not get to land at Calcutta airport.
The airlines have been asked to prevent passengers not allowed to enter the country through Calcutta from boarding city-bound flights and to “thoroughly scan” the documents of fliers on the way to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport.
The advisory follows the unauthorised arrival of three Pakistani nationals at the airport on February 10.
Mumtaz Ruksana, 52, Syed Masroor Hussain Shah, 40, and Mumtaz Ahmed Khan, 62, who arrived by Jet Airways’s Dhaka-Calcutta flight, were denied entry at the airport and sent back by GMG Airline.
According to rules, a Pakistani national can enter or leave India by air only through Delhi and Mumbai airports.
Immigration officials said international airlines often allow passengers without a valid passport or visa to board a flight.
15/02/08 Sanjay Mandal/The Telegraph

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Begumpet airport property in the red

Secunderabad: The Begumpet airport property, spread over 700 acres, runs the risk of being attached by the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) for defaulting on property tax of Rs 1,76,96,360. The board has served a notice to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) demanding immediate payment of the property tax dues.
The SCB authorities served the notice to the airport director on January 28 seeking payment of the current year’s dues amounting to Rs 88,48,180. The last year’s dues of an equal amount have also not been paid by the airport. This means a total default of Rs 1,76,96,360.
"This has to be paid by February 28," SCB chief executive officer V Premchand told TOI.
The notice was served under Section 101 of (1) The Cantonments Act 2006. According to the section, if the person liable for the payment of any tax dues does not, within 30 days from the service of the notice, pay the amount due or show sufficient cause for non payment of the same to the satisfaction of the chief executive officer, such sum, with all costs of recovery, may be recovered under a warrant, issued in the form set forth in Schedule II, by selling or attaching the immovable property of the defaulter.
15/02/08 Sunil Mungara/Times of India

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Air force grounds Kumbhirgram runway plan

The jinx continues for Kumbhirgram airport.
Just when everything seemed to be going well for the project that is supposed to transform the 66-year-old airport into a state-of-the-art aviation facility, there are murmurs about the air force throwing a spanner in the works again.
Sources said renovation of the airport was unlikely to be completed by the target date, June 30.
Top officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), engaged for the past four years in implementing a package of schemes worth Rs 50 crore, are said to be dismayed by the air force’s stand on the renovation of Kumbhirgram, the third busiest in the Northeast after the Guwahati, Agartala and Imphal airports.
A senior AAI official at the airport, of World War II vintage, said the air force’s objections centred on the extension of the runway to facilitate smooth landing and take-off of large aircraft.
Air force officials in New Delhi and Shillong, the eastern headquarters, have been maintaining a studied silence on the AAI’s proposal to dismantle the wall that straddles a part of the proposed runway route.
Union minister of state for heavy industries Sontosh Mohan Dev, who is the MP from Silchar, has time and again taken up the issue with the air force headquarters and defence minister A.K. Antony.
14/02/08 The Telegraph

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Imphal Airport charging illegal parking fees

Imphal: The Imphal Airport authorities have been allowing illegal parking fees on all private vehicle entering the airport, and not just on those which park there more than five minutes.
The Airport Authority of India`s rule book exempts vehicles that enter airports merely to drop passengers from being charged parking fees, but this rule has been jumped, ostensibly while the authorities turn a blind eye.
Considering the air traffic has increased manifold in the past few years, there is considerable illegal revenue to be had from the practice, and vested interest amongst officials are suspected to be allowing the practice to carry on for benefits.
When comments were sought from the AAI authorities at Imphal airport, the joint general manager, AAI currently in charge at Imphal airport, flatly refused to talk to the press, saying he cannot give any comments to the press unless permission is given by his higher authorities.
14/02/08 Sukham Nanda/KanglaOnline

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Mandakalli Airport to be ready in December

Mysore: The Mandakalli Airport near city on Nanjangud Road will be fully functional from December this year.
This was disclosed by V.P. Baligar, Principal Secretary of Infrastructure, after a meeting with officials at the office of the Deputy Commissioner in the afternoon today.
When previous claims that regular flights would be possible from Dasara was brought to his notice, Baligar said that as the works on the first phase would be completed by then, private airlines would be allowed to use the airport during Dasara.
Baligar disclosed that the State Government would supply free water and electricity to the airport for five years. Already Rs. 1.43 crore had been paid to Chamundeswari Electricity Supply Company (CESC).
Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) had plans to draw water to the airport from Kabini river. Water supply from city was not possible as it would cause problems for Mysore citizens.
14/02/08 Star of Mysore

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