Male Airport: MPs lash out at India's GMR over development charge

MPs today lashed out at India's GMR over its management of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport and the US$25 development charge it plans to collect from departing international passengers commencing January.
Speaking on the resolution submitted by Villufushi MP Riyaz Rasheed against the Airport Development Charge (ADC), Kulhudhuffushi-South MP Mohamed Nasheed said the people can "still cut off the wings of these people [GMR]" through collaborative efforts.
Nasheed said the agreement made by the government and GMR was not a fair deal under which the losses incurred exceeds the income.
"And I believe GMR is a way by which the influence of the Indian government and its economy will reach the Maldives. I believe GMR is a large company in India and plays a major role in the Indian economy, which in return have a major influence on the country's national security. India will, without any doubt, prioritise matters of its national security," he said.
The former Information Minister said GMR is currently receiving all the funds from airport handling.
"They received an airport operating with a huge influx of cash into its drawers. Their income increased when they raised the charges. The reality today is that they are receiving the airport handling charges and is bringing an end to the operations of duty free [shops] owned by Maldivians," he said.
Nasheed noted that Airport Reps have told him that they have been asked by GMR to "leave the airport".
"Their concern is that GMR officials will escort tourists from the time they reach the jetty in speedboats and to the check-in counters commencing January and that they will escort arriving passengers from the arrival hall to the speedboat. Two days has not passed since a person, who has been working at the airport for 22 years, told me that," he said.
Riyaz said the Indian company is increasing charges without developing the airport and is taking over duty free shops and bonded warehouses owned by Maldivians.
29/11/11 Ahmed Hamdhoon/Haveeru

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GMR's Male airport expansion may face political hurdle

Mumbai: Bangalore-based GMR Group could face hurdles in expansion of the Male airport in Maldives.
A local political party has threatened to file a case in a civil court in the country against GMR's proposal to levy $25 as airport development from January.
The group, which runs Delhi and Hyderabad airports, won the bid to maintain and modernise the Male airport last May. The group also runs the Istanbul airport.
In the second quarter of 2011-12, the group's airport sector recorded 71 per cent growth in revenue and 90 per cent rise in operating profit. However, the sector made a loss of Rs 42 crore because of non-finalisation of tariff for the Delhi airport.
According to a report in Haveeru Online, a Maldives publication, the Dhivehi Qaumee Party will file a case to prevent GMR from collecting airport development fee and $2 as insurance charge from passengers. The party has alleged that GMR failed to develop the airport according to the agreement with the government and the levy violates a local law.
30/11/11 Business Standard

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Airfield rots in wilderness

Kolkata: Two rusty tin sheds and a gleaming one. A dilapidated two-storied building. A stretch of asphalt with weeds creeping over the edges in the middle of a concrete jungle. That's Behala airport, once a premier flight training facility that produced airline pilots. For the past couple of decades though, it has been lying abandoned with hardly any sign of activity.
Infrastructure at the airfield, located to the south-west of the city, has always been basic. There were two hangars, a taxiway and a dirt runway that was shut during monsoon. A two-level building with an air traffic control tower was constructed later. But it was rarely used in the absence of commercial operations. Training of pilots continued from the late 1950s till the mid-1980s before sputtering out in 1993. The state-run West Bengal Flight Training Institute (WBFTI) was grounded.
Barring odd-attempts to revive the airfield and promises of a better future, not much has moved. The fair weather dirt runway was converted into all-weather asphalt strip some years ago. A private firm started a flying training institute but it shut down within a year and a half.
The twin hangars reflect the condition of the flying institutes they house. Hangar No.1, housing WBFTI, is in a shambles with the planes rusting.
Hangar No.2 that houses four Cessna aircraft and a helicopter of the Camellia Institute of Aviation and a microlight aircraft of the National Cadet Corps is slightly better managed. But there is no activity here either as Camellia has been forced to shut down due to a legal tangle with Airports Authority of India (AAI).
The sole silver lining in the winter haze that smothers the airfield is the new Hangar No.3 located at a distance. Trans Bharat Aviation has spent Rs 2 crore on it and plans to start its aviation academy early next year. It has ambitious plans of utilising the airfield for non-scheduled helicopter services to business destinations in south Bengal.
30/11/11 Subhro Niyogi/Times of India

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CISF men get training to keep airports safe

Chennai: The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which controls security at all commercial airports in the country, has initiated training for personnel exclusively for the aviation sector.
As many as 1,400 people recruited for the airport sector are undergoing training at different levels at the Recruit Training Centre in Arakonam, which has got accreditation from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) in May 2011 and has been entrusted with imparting basic aviation security training and aviation security management courses.
This will be bolstered by the training centre at Chennai airport, which has been approved by the BCAS and is expected to commence training soon.
This will be a change from the past when CISF personnel deployed at airports were trained either at centres such as the National Industrial Security Academy in Hyderabad or at airports that had such training facilities.
30/11/11 S Sujatha/Deccan Chronicle

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Jet Airways, SpiceJet may soon start services to Mysore

Bangalore: With the suspension of Kingfisher Airlines' services between Bangalore and Mysore earlier this month, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) is banking on two other private carriers Jet Airways and SpiceJet to start commercial flight operations from the City of Palaces.
AAI officials said that meetings have been held with the private airlines officials who have expressed their wish to start operations on the Mysore sector.
P Manjunath, DGM, Mysore Airport, said that the Mysore route has a huge potential as the Kingfisher Airlines' flight regularly saw occupancy of 60%. Manjunath added that SpiceJet is likely to operate an ATR 72 shortly.
29/11/11 Daily Bhaskar.com

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Fake passport cases go up

Kochi: It used to be a 'non-serious crime' with punishments confined to on-the-spot fines. But then an increasing number of people found this a way to make quick money.
Fake passport cases have seen a sudden spurt in the last few years with the maximum cases being detected at Cochin International Airport.
While just 12 cases were registered at the airport in 2008, the figures over the next two years stood at 98 and 109 cases respectively.
Investigators detected a trend where many NRKs, either pawned their passports to sponsors or banks to avail of credit, but fled the Gulf by obtaining fake passports when they defaulted in repayment.
“Currently, there are 301 fake passport cases connected with the UAE under investigation. In about 75 per cent of these cases, the accused fleeing from Gulf nations were caught at immigration in Kochi with fake passports,” an official of the crime detachment wing said.
Most of them were photo substitutions, meaning that they were using someone else’s original passport and just replacing the photograph with one of their own, he said.
29/11/11 Krishna Kumar KE/Deccan Chronicle

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Airport scanners can damage your Kindle

The international media is abuzz with reports of Amazon Kindle screens being damaged by X-ray scanners. Apparently a high dose of radiation, sometimes used to look into electronic devices, has damaged the electronic ink display in a number of cases. Professor Daping Chu, a leading expert on electronic ink, however, rules out radiation as the cause. "The radiation used in an airport scanner is not strong enough to damage an electronic ink display. But you can get a build up of static inside these machines, caused by the rubber belt rubbing. If that charge were to pass through a Kindle, it is conceivable that it could damage the screen."
Keep away from metal detectors: A static charge from an airport scanner could be 100 volts or more, points Professor Chu. "That could permanently stick the particles to the screen," he said. While X-ray equipment gets a unanimous 'okay' for gadget safety, Door Frame Metal Detectors (DFMD) may not be too kind to your gadgets. So be sure to keep your gadgets in the tray provided before you pass through the door. However, you may not have much to worry about if the DFMD is certified, says Anup Kumar Mhatre, MD of a security gadgets firm. "Certified DFMDs are safe, even a pregnant woman can pass through it. And the DFMDs at the airport are definitely certified." The important thing is to keep gadgets aside when walking through DFMDs. Avoid any metal components and it won't pose a danger to your device, he explains.
29/11/11 Saadia S Dhailey/Times of India

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First City no longer part of Mihan SEZ

Nagpur: In a major relief to Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) developing the Mihan SEZ, the board of approvals (BOA) in ministry of commerce has agreed to denotify land given to M/s Reatox Developers and DY Patil International School as special economic zone (SEZ).
The decision was taken in BOA meeting held on November 28. In the same meeting, BOA also extended the letter of permit (LoP) to Tech Mahindra, Tatas' TAL and Zeon Solutions. LoP is an approval for availing tax benefits available in a SEZ provided the unit is ready within a specific period after allotment of land.
Almost every unit in Mihan is asking for an extension as it failed to meet the deadline.
Extension to Tech Mahindra holds significance as it is the first unit allotted land in Mihan. It took the land as Satyam Computers and was later taken over by Mahindra after Rajus' fiasco.
After denotification, both Reatox and DY Patil stand excluded from Mihan SEZ. Its promoters will not be entitled to any tax benefits available under SEZ scheme. At the same time, they will not be bound to follow the SEZ rules such as providing services exclusively to those related with Mihan-SEZ's activities.
29/11/11 Shishir Arya/Times of India

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Pollution level at IGIA higher than in city areas, says panel

New Delhi: The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has found that the Indira Gandhi Airport (IGI) has much higher level of pollution as compared to the Mandir Marg area in central Delhi and RK Puram in South Delhi. A combination of winter fog and calm weather conditions is leading to the perpetual haze enveloping the airport since last week. Also, because the suspended particulate matter is much higher at the Airport than the city side, the haze is thicker at the airport, especially during the morning hours. These conditions were responsible to disrupt flight movements and create panic during the last few days.
RK Janamani, Director, Airport Meteorological Department, said, “Though the dense fog conditions enveloped the city on November 20 and 21, it is haze that is continuing and here to stay.
The large numbers of pollutant particles suspended in the air are unable to get dispersed in the absence of windy conditions. Since the particulate matter is much higher at the airport side, the haze formed is much thicker than the city side. This haze and smog is here to stay and flights will have to battle with the visibility dropped due to this.”
28/11/11 Pragya Singh/The Pioneer

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'Mopa airport to benefit land sharks'

Panaji: Mopa Vimantal Pidit Xetkari Samiti, a committee opposing acquisition of land for Mopa airport has alleged that the project is being pushed forcibly to pursue objectives of real estate rather than infrastructure.
The villagers' response is related to the law commission's move to invite representations regarding the ongoing land acquisitions.
In a letter to the law commission, the MVPXS alleged that the acquisition is illegal, unfeasible and only designed for large-scale speculation with Pernem taluka's land resources.
27/11/11 Times of India

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Notice to Cooch Behar air service operator

Kolkata: The air service to Cooch Behar district in West Bengal, which had resumed recently after a gap of 16 years, has come to a halt.
Formal services on the route had began on September 5, but private carrier North-East Shuttle ran it irregularly for just eight days citing various reasons, the State Transport Secretary, Mr B.P. Gopalika, told PTI here.
The last flight took off on October 3, and the operator had promised that it would resume operations from the middle of November, but did not do so, Mr Gopalika said.
The West Bengal government issued notice to the private operator last week for its failure to provide regular services on the air route.
“The airlink between Kolkata and Cooch Behar failed due to total breach of trust by the North-East Shuttle,” he said.
Mr Gopalika said irregular service by the operator was a gross violation of the agreement and it could no longer claim subsidy.
“We have given a notice to the operator asking why the agreement signed by the state government should not be terminated because of breach of trust,” he said.
27/11/11 Business Line

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Kerbs at BIA closed for canopy extension

Bangalore: Beginning November 29, the existing inner kerb and the outer kerb at the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) will be closed for the extension of the canopy in front of the terminal building.
Answering queries from Deccan Herald on the expansion of the terminal, the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) said:?“During this time, traffic will be diverted to a temporary kerb, which is being constructed to the south of the existing kerb.”
Parking areas P4 (the 10-minute free parking) and P5 (premium parking) will be temporarily closed in phases during the construction of the temporary kerb. Appropriate signage has been installed to re-direct users to other parking areas.
To accommodate the temporary road construction work, some existing walkways have been closed. During this time, all airport users are directed to use the “central walkway” for entry or exit to the terminal building.
The new roads and the associated kerbs in front of the passenger terminal building will be commissioned shortly and the new kerbs will be connected to the terminal building through clear walkways, to which passengers will be directed by well-placed signage.
27/11/11 Deccan Herald

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Man arrested from flight in red sanders smuggling case

Chennai: A 44-year-old man was arrested from a Pune-bound flight at the airport here in connection with the seizure of red sanders logs worth Rs 60 crore from Delhi.
A T Mohideen Ibrahim was on board the flight last evening when Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officials arrested him after specific intelligence inputs, DRI officials said.
Ibrahim will be taken to Delhi and handed over to DRI officials there,
About 300 tonnes of smuggled red sanders logs worth Rs 60 crore were seized and three persons were arrested from South Delhi area on Thursday.
27/11/11 PTI/msn.com

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Govt may review ground-handling policy for private airlines

The Government could take a relook at the ground-handling policy and consider setting up an international route authority to provide some relief to private airlines.
This emerged at an hour-long meeting that the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, had with the owners and operators of private sector airlines here on Saturday.
The meeting had been called in the background of the industry expecting to post a loss of about Rs 3,500 crore during the first six months of the current year.
Official sources indicated that the Prime Minister gave the delegation a patient hearing and told them that all their genuine grievances would be looked into, but no specific assurances were given.
The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) estimates that at the moment India has bilateral air services agreements with 108 countries and 72 foreign airlines operating to and from various cities in India. In comparison, there are currently only five Indian carriers operating flights abroad. The CAPA estimates that as of April 2010, Indian carriers were eligible to sell 711,356 seats per week on flights to various countries but they utilised only 170,914 of this.
Despite repeated fervent appeals of industry, the Government is said to have made it clear at the meeting that nothing would be done on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) issue.
26/11/11 Business Line

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Safety aspects of Shimla, Kullu airports enhanced

Shimla: The safety aspects of two Himachal Pradesh airports - at Shimla, a table-top airport located 2,196 metres above sea level, and at Kullu have been enhanced, a report said on Saturday.
This has been done as per recommendations of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The government of India had identified 11 airports which posed a safety risk to flight operations in the country. The Shimla and Kullu airports are among them.
"The airport systems, facilities and procedures were thoroughly reviewed by DGCA to enhance the safety of aircraft operations at these airports," the report quoting Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi's written reply in the Rajya Sabha Thursday said.
DGCA's several recommendations -- provision of runway end safety area, ensuring proper markings on the runway and proper maintenance of the basic strip had been implemented, he said.
Officials here said landing at Shimla airport is a challenge as it is one of the three table-top airports in the country.
26/11/11 ZeeNews.com

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MoD nod for building at Bikaner civil airport

Bikaner: The ministry of defence has given its nod for the construction of a new building at Nal civil airport here. For the last couple of months, there was a deadlock over construction of the building since the ministry of defence was not convinced about its height.
According to the officials, a no objection certificate (NOC) from the defence ministry has been received for construction of the building to a height of 6.73 metres at the airport.
"The required NOC is being received and it would enable us to start the construction work," said RS Meena, assistant general manager, Airports Authority of India (AAI) while talking to TOI on Saturday.
"We are planning to complete the work by March 2012. Initially we will construct parking spaces and the apparels required for the airport and the aircraft," he said.
"We are also trying our best to start domestic flights from Bikaner to those cities which have a large number of passengers," he added.
There was a dispute between AAI and ministry of defence over the height of the building. AAI authorities constructed the building up to a height of 6.75 metres, whereas MoD gave NOC only for 5 metres.
27/11/11 LK Chhajer/Times of India

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Pak businessman arrested with live cartridges

Amritsar: A Pakistani businessman was arrested today for allegedly carrying live cartridges at the Rajasansi Airport here. Sheikh Arif Mohammed (66), a resident or Sialkot, was arrested while he was boarding Air India (AI-187) flight for Delhi, police said. Sheikh was carrying seven live pistol cartridges of .32 bore in his luggage which were detected during the x-ray scanning. The incident occurred last evening at around 9.30 pm when he was heading to board the flight for Delhi.During interrogation it was revealed that it was not a deliberate act as he has a licensed revolver and had mistakenly brought bullets of his weapon in his luggage.
26/11/11 IBN Live

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UK Strike: AI cancels four flights

New Delhi: Air India has cancelled four flights to and from London scheduled for Wednesday when a majority of public sector employees in the UK are going on a strike.
"In anticipation of strike by the public sector employees at London on November 30 (Wednesday), Amritsar-Delhi-London (AI-115), London-Delhi (AI-116), Delhi-London (AI-111) and London-Delhi (AI-112) flights have been cancelled," an Air India spokesperson said today.
The move comes as over 7.5 lakh employees out of 26 lakh voted for the strike across four sectors ? health, civil service, education and local government.
Immigration officers at Heathrow and other UK airports are also due to join the next week's strike action against planned pension reforms.
"Passengers of the cancelled flights have been rebooked on flight AI-115 and AI 116, AI-111 and AI-112 departing from Delhi and London on December 1 on involuntary basis," the spokesperson said.
26/11/11 PTI/Economic Times

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Depressed flyer asks crew to let him jump out

Kolkata: Bijay Kumar (49), a passenger aboard a Jet Airways flight bound for Kolkata today told the crew members to open the plane's door midair so that he could commit suicide, airport sources here said.
The crew members persuaded him not to take any drastic step and informed the N S C Bose International Airport about the matter.
Police sources said preliminary interrogation had revealed that Kumar was suffering from depression.
27/11/11 PTI/Times of India

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Meat shop within 10 km of airport illegal

Indore: State urban development minister Babulal Gaur may have told the Assembly on Thursday that there is no provision in the Indian Aircraft Act to determine minimum distance from the airport for setting up of meat shops, but the Act specifies that there should be no slaughtering of animals within a radius of 10 km from the airport.
Gaur had accepted on the floor of the House that two licensed meat shops were in existence within the municipal limits in the proximity of Devi Ahilyabai Airport at Indore. Outside the municipal limits, two license shops and 14 unlicensed shops were functioning within the panchayat limits. He had also informed the House that there is no provision in the Act to determine minimum distance from the airport for setting up of meat shop.
Rule 91 of the Aircraft Act of clearly "prohibits slaughtering and flaying of animals, depositing rubbish and other polluted or obnoxious matter within a radius of 10 km from aerodrome reference point."
Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had also sent a letter (AV 15023/1/2009-AS (Nbcc)) in November 2009 to all state government and Union territories, asking them to take necessary action under Rule 91 of Aircraft Act for control of incidents of bird hits.
26/11/11 Bagish K Jha/Times of India

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Air India flies rare anacondas

Chennai: National carrier Air India transported four baby anacondas on board its flight from Colombo to Mumbai via Chennai as cargo on Thursday evening.
Known for its expertise in carrying different types of special cargo, the airline had carried a rare endangered female Tomistoma crocodile on its flight from Chennai to Ahmedabad last year.
On Thursday, AI flight 274 from Colombo carrying the four green-coloured baby anacondas landed at 5.50 pm in Chennai and left for Mumbai at 6.40 pm.
The two male and two female anacondas were originally to have reached Chennai by a Sri Lankan Airlines flig-ht and later transported by an Air India flight.
“But due to downgrading of the Sri Lankan Air-lines flight, the cargo containing the rarest species of anaconda was carried by an Air India flight to Chennai.
However, the cargo was not offloaded in Chennai. It continued its journey to Mumbai, from where it travelled by road to reach the Kamala Nehru Zoological Park in Ahmedabad,” said an AI spokesperson.
26/11/11 Deccan Chronicle

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Temples near Indore airport asked to keep area clean

Indore: In wake of the increasing incidents of bird hits, director of the Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport, Indore, on Friday wrote to two temples, asking them to ensure proper disposal of "Prasad" and other eatables that may attract birds close to the runway.
Since June 2011, around six incidents of bird hits have been reported. The last bird hit was recorded last month, with the aircraft carrying around 120 passengers.
Accepting bird hit a major security concern, airport director Rajesh Shinde said: "Today we have written to trustees and administrations of two temples, asking them to ensure proper disposal of eatables offered at the temples as they were emerging out to the major threat to the aircraft because of birds flocking around the runway."
He admitted that there were a few meat shops in the proximity of the airport as the main reason for presence of birds on the runway.
26/11/11 Times of India

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DGCA Lists Mangalore Airport Among 11 Most Unsafe in Country

New Delhi: A year-and-a-half after the tragic Air India crash, Mangalore Airport has earned the tag of being among the most unsafe airports in the country.
The government said that it had identified 11 airports which posed a safety risk to flight operations in the country. The safety aspects of these airports have been enhanced.
"Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has identified 11 airports which were considered critical airports from flight operations point of view," Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
The airports are: Leh, Kullu, Shimla, Port Blair, Agartala, Lengpui, Calicut, Mangalore, Jammu, Patna and Latur.
The minister said that DGCA's several recommendations to enhance safety have been adopted in these airports.
25/11/11 IANS/Daijiworld.com

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AAI allowed to shift HAL airport infra

Bangalore: The High Court of Karnataka on Friday permitted the Airport Authority of India to shift movable infrastructure and other facilities from the HAL Airport to other airports in the State.
During the hearing of a petition relating to opening of HAL airport for commercial operation, the Airport Authority of India (AAI), submitted that since the Court had ordered status quo, the equipment and other facilities at the Airport were lying defunct. The Authority sought permission of the court to move the infrastructure to any other airport till the matter is disposed of finally. It said new equipment would be installed if necessary in future.
“ The AAI has given categorical undertaking that in the event of allowing the writ petition they would re-equip the airport with needed infrastructure,” the Division Bench comprising Justices K?Sreedhar Rao and L Narayanaswamy observed while allowing the prayer.
25/11/11 Deccan Herald

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Defence Ministry nod for repair at Kanpur Airport: Jaiswal

Kanpur: The Defence Ministry has given approval for the repair of Kanpur Airport, which falls under the purview of IAF, and the renovation work would be completed in the next two years, Union Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said today. Jaiswal, the local MP, said he had urged Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi and Defence Minister A K Antony with regard to the renovation of runways and improving facilities at Civil Air Terminal of Kanpur Airport.
25/11/11 PTI/IBN Live

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Forex counters at airports likely to be relocated

New Delhi: Frequent international travellers may have to search a bit to locate a foreign exchange counter at the airport, come New Year. Some of the counters are likely to be relocated in the airports, thanks to a fiat issued by the Finance Ministry.
The order to shift all forex counters located after immigration and before Customs in the arrival hall and after Customs in the departure hall came after a ticklish ‘border' issue came to light.
The question was exactly where the RBI guidelines regarding holding, buying or selling foreign exchange, as well as the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act would come into play.
Following the Finance Ministry directive, the Central Board of Excise and Customs has issued a circular regarding the precise location of foreign exchange counters at international airports. The new provision says, “Foreign exchange counters in the arrival halls in international airports in India shall ideally be established after the Customs Desk (Green Channel/Red Channel).”
25/11/11 Shishir Sinha/Business Line

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Navi Mumbai International Airport to throw up challenges for bidders

Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) would be one of the last big PPP airport opportunities in India in the medium term and, hence, likely to see intense competition. Cidco projects that the airport will handle 10 million passengers in its first year of operations.
Airport bids are inherently more challenging than other infrastructure projects as they involve a complex interplay of non-aero (duty-free, F&B, etc) businesses with the core aero (passenger, aircraft and cargo movement) business, and the city-side property development. In addition, Navi Mumbai bidding brings in a unique set of challenges for the bidders.
This is the first instance of a secondary airport development in India. Whereas Bangalore and Hyderabad also had greenfield airports, in both these cities, the old airports were closed and the air traffic was shifted to the new airport. For a greenfield secondary airport, there is no base-case traffic number to start with.
The total air-traffic potential of the region and the quantum of shift are dependent on events that are not under the control of the developer.
The other critical aspect is the development strategy for the airport. The project costing can differ substantially depending on whether it's targeted as competing with the primary airport or as a supplementary, secondary airport. In all major cities like London, Frankfurt and Paris, secondary airports play a supplementary role, especially in supporting LCC traffic.
This also helps in optimising the available infrastructure. The better-located primary airport supports the premium international and domestic business travel, while a lower-cost secondary airport supports the LCCs, with much lower passenger charges.
The other important part is to understand the competitive behaviour and value drivers of different players. Whereas for, say, a GMR Group, this would be a standalone opportunity for consolidating its position in airports business, for other Mumbai-based developers, it could be part of a larger play of exploiting existing land banks in the region.
Bidders would need to quantify the motivations of their competitors to be able to anticipate the potential bidding behaviour.
26/11/11 Girish Shirodkar/Economic Times

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DIAL wants airport fee now, airlines seek time

New Delhi:The airport management is getting ready to start collecting airport development fees from December 1 but airlines have put their foot down on collecting this money from passengers who have already purchased tickets for travel on or after December 1. They are asking for the date to be pushed back by at least two months to February 1.
In a meeting with Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd (DIAL) on Friday, airlines said the collection of ADF was not their responsibility and that unless DIAL paid them Rs 50 per passenger, they would not take on "the management's dirty work".
Airline officials said the proposal to extend the period for charging ADF was cleared only on November 15 and it did not give them sufficient time to either warn passengers or bring about necessary changes in their ticketing system.
26/11/11 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

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When a dream finally took wings

Nagpur: A group of 35 women belonging to lower middle class homes on Friday realised their dream of travelling in an aeroplane when they flew to Kolkata to begin their Dhamma yatra. These women from Rahul Nagar, Somalwada, have been saving up for years for this trip.
They are members of Ramabai Samajik Mahila Mandal, Rahul Nagar, and meet regularly for religious and social events. After alighting in Kolkata they would embark upon 15-day journey to various Buddhist holy places like Lumbini, Sarnath, Bodhgaya, Shravasti, Kushinara, and Gangtok. They will come back to Nagpur on December 8.
Before starting on their dream journey, these 35 women and six men accompanying them offered flowers and prayers near the statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar at the airport. Shridhar Chalkhuri, one of the well wishers who came to see the group off, said the women had a long-standing dream of flying in an aeroplane as they would watch flights take off and land from their home in Rahul Nagar which is near the airport.
26/11/11 Aparna Nair/Times of India

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Loader arrested for conniving with drug trafficker

Chennai: A 25 year-old loader at the airport here was arrested today for conniving with a drug trafficker, arrested in September in connection with recovery of 6.02 kg of Ephedrine.
The loader, on instructions from the co-conspirator, arranged for avoiding scanning of luggage and dropped the contraband with genuine luggage of an Air-Asia flight bound for Kuala Lumpur, he said adding Lokesh worked for a monetary benefit of Rs 1500.
25/11/11 PTI/IBN Live

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200cr okayed for Chakan airport

Mumbai: The Chakan International Airport in Pune district has taken that baby step towards take-off. The Union ministry of civil aviation has sanctioned Rs200 crore for the airport, which will now come up on a 700-hectare site adjacent to the one earlier proposed.
An 18-km-long metro rail line has also been proposed to link the airport to an international exhibition centre at Moshi, said Pune divisional commissioner Dilip Band at a press conference on Thursday at the Pimpri-Chinchwad New Township Development Authority (PCNTDA) office in Nigdi.
The cost of building the metro will be borne by the PCNTDA and the Airports Authority of India. PCNTDA will put out a special purpose vehicle for this purpose.
"The plan to build the airport at the old site was scrapped due to farmers' opposition. But, at the new site, there is no such big hurdle, as only 80 families will have to be rehabilitated. This issue will soon be sorted out. The government will offer a better deal to these project-affected persons (PAPs) because the project is extremely important for Pune city," explained Band.
25/11/11 daily bhaskar.com

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New land norms unlikely to benefit airport operators

New Delhi: The private airport operators of Delhi and Mumbai are unlikely to benefit from any relaxation in land usage norms for the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
As the manager of a chunk of the country's airports, state-owned AAI is seeking an expansion in the norms to use its land on the city side of any airport for services that are not aviation-related. As of now, the AAI Act allows an airport operator to use land only for aviation-related services.
The country's private airports operate on an Operations, Management and Development Agreement (OMDA). "That will not change with our land usage norms changing," according to a top AAI official. "They will continue to follow the current norms of land usage," he said.
On the contrary, private airport operators feel an alteration to the law will change the land usage norms for them. The GMR Group says amending the AAI Act will ultimately lead to a change in the existing OMDA, which is based on the Act.
"The OMDA can also change. It has also changed earlier," notes a spokesperson of the infrastructure enterprise.
24/11/11 Mihir Mishra/Business Standard/Rediff

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Feud over parking space stalls Indore airport

Indore: Indore's dream of getting an international terminal at Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport might get delayed due to a controversy over land designated for car parking.
The land identified by the district administration for allotment is owned by the forest department and requires a central clearance for transfer to Airport Authority of India.
The forest department is now waiting for a nod from the Union environment and forest ministry for handing over its land to AAI. The terminal is stuck as the clearance is pending for almost a year now.
Further, the Holkar family has staked claim to the land and has moved court over it.
25/11/11 Aditya Singh Parmar/daily bhaskar.com

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New land norms unlikely to benefit airport operators

New Delhi: The private airport operators of Delhi and Mumbai are unlikely to benefit from any relaxation in land usage norms for the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
As the manager of a chunk of the country’s airports, state-owned AAI is seeking an expansion in the norms to use its land on the city side of any airport for services that are not aviation-related. As of now, the AAI Act allows an airport operator to use land only for aviation-related services.
The country’s private airports operate on an Operations, Management and Development Agreement (OMDA). “That will not change with our land usage norms changing,” according to a top AAI official. “They will continue to follow the current norms of land usage,” he told Business Standard.
On the contrary, private airport operators feel an alteration to the law will change the land usage norms for them. The GMR Group says amending the AAI Act will ultimately lead to a change in the existing OMDA, that is based on the Act. “The OMDA can also change. It has also changed earlier,” notes a spokesperson of the infrastructure enterprise. OMDA permits both Delhi and Mumbai airports to commercially use five per cent and 10 per cent of the total land, respectively, to build hotels and convention centres. Delhi airport has 5,000 acres, while the figure is 2,000 for Mumbai airport.
24/11/11 Mihir Mishra/Business Standard

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Soz takes up evening flights issue with Centre

New Delhi: Former Union Minister and state Congress President Prof Saifuddin Soz met Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi late last night and discussed with him the issue of direct Srinagar-Dubai flight besides evening flights from Srinagar Airport.
Soz also took up with the minister the regularization of employees of the Centaur Lake View Hotel Srinagar, a statement issued by Soz’s office said.
Rohit Nandan, Chairman & Managing Director, Air India, was also associated with the discussions.
The Minister assured to explore the possibility of resuming the Dubai flight
and also explore the possibility of extension of Srinagar–Dubai flight to Jeddah to make it viable. The Minister appreciated the argument of Prof Soz that the flight’s extension to Jeddah would make the flight lucrative as quite a sizable number of passengers would be travelling on this route for Umrah throughout the year, the statement said.
23/11/11 Greater Kashmir

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Flights delayed again, fog expected to stay

Lucknow: There was no respite for flyers on Tuesday, with almost all early morning flights from Lucknow arriving and departing well behind schedule, owing to the mist that remained suspended in the morning air.

According to reports, most of the morning flights at Amausi airport were delayed by one to five hours. For instance, Jet Airways flight 9W 2237 from Delhi with a scheduled arrival time of 6.20am arrived at 10.05am instead.

Likewise, the Delhi Go Air flight G8-351, with a scheduled arrival of 6.25am got delayed by almost five hours. Passengers of Kingfisher flight IT-3651 to Delhi had to wait for nearly two-anda-half hours at the airport because of delayed operations. Airport authorities said that foggy conditions in Delhi also resulted in flight delays.

23/11/11 Times of India

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Corruption Alleged in Air India-Singapore Firm Deal

Thiruvananthapuram: Employees of a transport services firm employed at Thiruvananthapuram airport have approached the Central Vigilance Commissioner alleging corruption in the manner in which Air India was trying to hand over ground handling and cargo handling to the Singapore Airport Terminal Services Ltd (SATS).

Since 2004, the Air India Air Transport Services Ltd (AIATSL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India, is doing ground handling at the Thiruvananthapuram airport here.

In a letter addressed to the CVC, the AIATSL employees said that Air India earns a revenue of around 43 crore every year from ground handling at the airport here.

After meeting the annual expenditure of 36 crore, Air India earns a profit of 7 crore from the Thiruvananthapuram station alone.

"We request you to conduct an enquiry to find the corrupt hands involved in this. We also request to enquire whether proper tender procedures/bidding process were done before declaring SATS as the joint venture of the national carrier for the Thiruvananthapuram Airport," reads the petition.

22/11/11 IANS/Silicon India

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Technical snag forces plane to return to IGI

New Delhi: An Air India flight on its way to London had to make a U-turn after entering Karachi airspace and return to Delhi as the aircraft developed a technical problem. The flight, AI-111, landed safely at the IGI Airport with 136 passengers on board.

Airport sources said that the aircraft was airborne around 3.15pm but around an hour into the flight, the pilot reported a sudden drop in cabin pressure. "He informed the air traffic control and was told to return to Delhi since it was a long haul flight. A full emergency was declared at the airport and the aircraft landed safely around 5.30pm," said sources.

23/11/11 Times of India

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TV actor, stand-up comedian Swapnil Joshi detained at airport

Mumbai: Television actor Swapnil Joshi and two others were detained at the international airport on Tuesday for carrying Indian currency beyond the permissible limit while returning from Bangkok.
Customs officials, led by assistant commissioner of police Sameer Wankhede, stopped Joshi, stand-up comedian Vijay Pawar alias VIP and a woman when they were passing through the green channel.
Joshi and Pawar had Rs1 lakh each in their possession, while the woman was carrying Rs40,000.
Joshi, Pawar and the woman had reached Mumbai on Tuesday afternoon in a Jet Airways flight. They had gone to Bangkok perform at a private party where Joshi and Pawar were paid Rs1 lakh each.
Joshi and Pawar were fined Rs48, 000 each and finally let off. “We are innocent. We were not aware of the Customs rules. We did not do this intentionally,” Joshi told DNA.
22/11/11 Daily News & Analysis

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Trichy's int'l air cargo terminal opens at Trichy airport

Trichy: The much-awaited international cargo terminal at the Trichy airport was officially commissioned on Monday. The new terminal has been built at a cost of Rs 1 crore.
Though the infrastructure at the airport to export all kinds of cargo is ready, it would still take some time for the airport to get a truly international character due to many unresolved issues, chiefly the expansion of the runway.
Moreover, the cargo custodianship to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) is likely to be issued by the customs in a day or two, said D Devaraj, Regional Executive Director, AAI soon after the inauguration.
The inauguration itself was a low-key affair, with only airport director S Dharmarajan, and the manager of the cargo complex, S Subramaniam among other low-rung officers in attendance.
Devaraj told TOI that he wanted to inaugurate the cargo complex while he was in the city to meet district collector Jayashree Muralidharan, to resolve the stalemate over land acquisition needed for expanding Trichy airport's present 8,136 feet runway to 12,000 feet. This would enable jumbo aircrafts to land and facilitate cargo movement globally.
22/11/11 Times of India

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How techies used logic bomb to cripple Delhi airport

Bengaluru: Three months ago, three techies who work in Bangalore created quite a scare when they disabled the Common Use Passengers Processing System which led to delays in the flights at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
The techies, who are residents of Delhi , but work in Bangalore, crippled the system with a technique known as logic bombing. The techies, one of who is a woman, were arrested on November 16, are out on bail, even as the Central Bureau of Investigation continues to probe the matter.
At first it was being construed as a terrorist attack, but investigations have made it clear on Monday that these persons were demanding higher wages, and when they were refused, they resorted to logic bombing.
This is an embarrassing case for the Central agencies, since all the employees work in an IT firm which is sponsored by the Central government. Moreover, these persons were also involved in the project to set up the CUPPS, which was installed at Terminal 3 of the airport in New Delhi.
As a result, all passengers had to be manually checked in instead of an automated check.
21/11/11 Vicky Nanjappa/Rediff.com

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Coir pith could avert air accidents in runways

Kochi: Coir pith, a by-product of coir industry which has earned a reputation as an excellent soil conditioner going by the increasing export demand, is now being considered for use as cushion to avert air accidents in runways.
Coir Board chairman V S Vijayaraghavan said a project to test its effectiveness will be started soon at the Kozhikode airport by the board in association with National Institute of Technology (NIT) and the National Airports Authority of India (AAI). It could be used in table top runways to prevent accidents like the one that happened in Mangalore airport.
Coir pith will be filled in the runway edges to provide a cushioning effect for aircraft if it happens to overshoot the runway. The effectiveness of coir pith is under close scrutiny by NIT and AAI.
21/11/11 PK Krishnakumar/Economic Times

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RITES appointed new consultant for Naini Saini Airport

Dehradun: RITES has been appointed as the new consultant for expansion and modernisation of Naini-Saini airport in the hilly Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand.
RITES will now prepare a fresh DPR of the airport project which will be expanded for the landing of ATR 42 aircraft, top officials on Monday said.
The move follows the government’s decision to cancel its agreement with Stup, a company which had earlier been appointed as consultant.
The government-owned Uttarakhand State Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (USIDCL), which is the nodal agency for the development of the airport, had recently decided to invite fresh bids to appoint the consultant. Prior to it, USIDCL had appointed Mumbai-based Stup as the consultant and agreed to payRs 3.51 crore as the consultancy fees as being demanded by the firm.
Stup backed out after the government tried to renegotiate on the consultancy fees. After the consultant backed out, the government cancelled the agreement also. RITES will charge a consultancy fee ofRs 1.46 crore.
22/11/11 Shishir Prashant/Business Standard

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Mangalore airport to get international tag: M Veerappa Moily

Mangalore: The Mangalore airport at Bajpe will soon get the international airport tag, making it the second city in Karnataka to have an international airport after Bangalore. The airport will be renamed before December 20, 2011, when the celebration of its 60th anniversary culminates.

Union minister for corporate affairs, M Veerappa Moily, announced this in Mangalore on Sunday.

“The international tag was overdue for this fine airport. The civil aviation minister has assured me that the international tag would be announced shortly,” he said.

Outlining Centre’s plans for Karnataka, he said the state needs electricity but the government has not ensured there is adequate infrastructure to distribute power produced at Udupi Power Corporation Limited (UPCL).

21/11/11 Daily News & Analysis

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Fog hinders smooth air traffic

Lucknow: Light early morning winds dispersed the fog on Monday morning to some extent but it was not enough for a smooth air traffic movement. According to reports, around half a dozen morning flights got delayed causing inconvenience to passengers.
Almost all morning flights, essentially those coming from Delhi, arrived almost two to four hours late. The Jet Airways flight 9W-2237 which was scheduled to touch down at Amausi airport at 6.20 am arrived nearly four hours late. Likewise, the Go Air flight from Delhi, G-8-351, with a scheduled arrival time of 6.35 arrived at 10.51.
The conditions persisted till almost noon. Even the Indigo flight from Delhi, 6E-184, with a scheduled arrival time of 10 am finally arrived at 12 noon. The state met office said that light fog will persist for few more days.
Met director, JP Gupta said that it was sudden cooling of the moisture laden air that resulted in fog."That fog subsequently lowered causing disruption in visibility,'' he said. Gupta, however, said that the light winds may disperse it a bit bringing much needed relief.
The fog blocked the sunlight bringing the maximum day temperatures down. Najibabad near Moradabad recorded minimum temperatures in the state with the mercury plunging to 11.8 degrees Celsius early morning.
22/11/11 Times of India

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Cops to set up air-safety security at Nagpur airport

Nagpur: Due to expansion of air traffic at the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport, the city police has decided to put a special security system in place.

In the last five years, air traffic rose to 29 flights a day from just a handful. Around 2,000 passengers land and take off every day and the same number of vehicles enter the airport.

Cops have also decided to deploy commandos on the road from Hotel Pride to the parking area of the airport which has become a favourite place for young couples. "We want to stop any unlawful activity in the area," a senior cop told TOI.

Apart from closely monitoring take-offs and landings of planes, cops also plan to start special checkpoints on the two approach roadsto the airport. The Sonegaon police will soon initiate a special 'perimeter patrolling' in the airport area under the supervision of DCP Zone-I, Kailash Kanse. By 7pm, the area, considered a high-security zone, becomes a meeting point for couples and young college students.

DCP Kanse said that cops would also embark upon the arrangement of security at all the entry and exit points.

22/11/11 Times of India

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Liquor vends to come up for domestic fliers at T3 of IGIA

New Delhi: Domestic fliers will be able to soon buy liquor at the airport with Delhi government on Monday amending excise rules permitting the setting up of liquor vends at the arrival lounge of the T3 terminal.

Currently, only passengers arriving by international flights can buy liquor at duty-free shops. The decision to allow setting up of liquor vends at the arrival lounge of the T3 terminal was taken at a cabinet meeting presided by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

"We have decided to make amendment in Delhi Excise rule, 2010, which will facilitate grant of L-10 licence for setting up of liquor shops at arrival lounge of terminal– 3 at the IGI Airport," said Dikshit.

However, the liquor vends at domestic lounge would not be duty-free, unlike in the international arrival lounge. Excise department officials said L-10 licenses are issued for opening liquor shops at shopping malls but the amendment made today would allow the government to issue licenses for setting up shops at the airport.

21/11/11 Asian Age

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Two detained at airport with cameras worth 40L

Mumbai: Two flyers were detained by the air intelligence unit ( AIU) late on Sunday at Mumbai airport upon their arrival from Singapore. The two, Nitesh Kothari and Bhavna Bhanushali, flyers were carrying four high-definition cameras worth Rs 40 lakh.
"Kothari is involved in the smuggling of electronic goods and had taken Bhanushali along to carry two cameras so that no one would be suspicious,'' said a senior Customs official. Kothari, said officials, had made seven trips to Singapore in the last two months and smuggled products from there. Assistant commissioner Sameer Wankhede and his squad intercepted Kothari.
22/11/11 Times of India

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Fog envelops Delhi, IGI Airport in tizzy as visibility dips

New Delhi: Several parts of northwest India were enveloped by a dense fog blanket on Monday, and visibility fell to 50m and less in several cities. Central parts of Delhi saw visibility fall to 100m between 7am and 9am while the general visibility at IGI Airport went down to 200m.

"Fog is likely to persist for another two to three days but that will be followed by smog as humidity is still quite high," said R K Jenamani, director in-charge, IGI Met. "The fog is already showing signs of weakening and its area of coverage is decreasing. In Amritsar and east UP, visibility was better compared to Sunday. Its presence is mainly being felt in west UP and Delhi. However, once the fog lets up, Delhi will witness another spell of smog. Humidity has fallen by 10-15% but it is still quite high," added Jenamani.

IGI Airport saw CAT-II operations with runway visual range (RVR) on the new runway going down to a low of 450m while operations on the main runway were being carried out in CAT-I conditions as RVR went down to only 725 m. "Fog would be dense in nearby cities around midnight, but since domestic flights are few at this hour there would not be any severe flight disruption. On Tuesday, light to moderate fog may be expected in the city," said Jenamani.

22/11/11 Times of India

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Maharashtra to give 150 ha for Navi Mumbai airport

Mumbai: The proposed Navi Mumbai international airport inched one more step closer to realty as the nodal agency for its development crossed yet another hurdle. The Maharastra government has given the City and Industrial Develoment Corporation (Cidco) an “in principle” approval to hand over 150 hectares of land for the ambitious project.

The government is expected to soon complete the pertinent formalities. Only recently had deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar met CM Prithviraj Chavan in order to expedite the handing over of the land, whose market value is of the order of Rs 500 crore.

The administration’s move is crucial, especially when 1,341 hectares of the total 2,054-hectare land is in Cidco’s possession. However, the Cidco was striving to acquire the balance 713 hectare. With the government’s move to hand over 150 hectare, the Cidco would still have to acquire 563 hectare of land for which the notices have been served under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 to the residents of Pargaon and Owale. These villagers have been strongly demanding a compensation of Rs 20 crore per acre.

Cidco chairman Pamod Hindurao says the deputy CM has taken an initiative in this regard and the government is son expect to issue a formal order handing over its 150 hectare land for the airport project.

21/11/11 Sanjay Jog/Business Standard

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Top CEOs to discuss airport development

Dubai: The inaugural Emerging Market Airport Suppliers Conference (EMASC 2011), scheduled next month, will talk about opportunities for suppliers in emerging markets’ airport developments worth $160 billion, according to its organiser.
The first edition of the conference, which will be held on December 11-12, 2011, will generate new business leads and contracting opportunities for airport suppliers, while creating an efficient, effective mechanism for airport developers to identify qualified new vendors.
Khalifa Al Zaffin, Executive Chairman of Dubai World Central – Dubai Aviation City Corporation, who will be the keynote speaker, opening the conference on the first day, said: “EMASC 2011 is a good event to be held in Dubai and I applaud the organisers for reaching out to the global airport supplier’s with a spirit of building cooperation and partnership between them and us.” Thirty chief executive officers will provide insights into airport projects in emerging markets at the event. Diverse suppliers are encouraged to register for an upcoming conference that will help them make connections with some of biggest airport projects under construction in the Emerging Markets worldwide and Middle East region. ?“Dubai World Central — Dubai Aviation City Corporation sees this conference as an excellent platform to decipher ideas on new technologies, services and develop a business relationship with the global supplier community. Also he added that this conference provides an opportunity to us to share our vast experience in airports development, proven effective methods, achievements, addressing the issues, sharing our expertise with the global airports community,” ?Al Zaffin said.
20/11/11 KhaleejTimes

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Flight returns after takeoff due to snag

Hyderabad: Passengers onboard a Spicejet flight faced some tense moments after the pilot made an emergency landing minutes after taking off from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on Saturday morning. However, all passengers were safe.
According to the RGIA authorities, 183 passengers were onboard the HyderabadCoimbatore flight Spicejet 211, which took off from the airport at 8.46 a.m. "Around 9 a.m., the pilot made an emergency landing due to a technical snag,'' Preeti Dey, spokesperson, Spicejet Airlines told Express.
A fire alarm in the aircraft went off alerting the pilot who took no chances and made an emergency landing.
20/11/11 New Indian Express/IBN Live

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2 new international flights from Jaipur from New Year

Jaipur: In a development which will cheer up the travel industry, at least two new international flights beginning the New Year will start services from the 'underutilized' Sanganer airport here.

"The Thai Orient airlines based in Thailand and the Silk Air of Singapore have showed keen interest in operating from the Pink City," Sanganer airport director R K Singh said.

Both the airlines have already completed their preliminary survey on the feasibility of this market.

They found that a good number of Jaipur-based businessmen settled in South Asian countries. In the absence of any direct flight, they travelled either from Delhi or Mumbai to reach Thailand and Bangkok.

Both the operators are low-cost airlines and have extensive experience in providing air service among the South Asian countries.

20/11/11 Times of India

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Security agencies uneasy over restaurant near Nagpur airport

Nagpur: Security agencies are worried that a two-storey restaurant and bar coming up a short distance from terminal building of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport, may pose a risk to the airport.
The under constructions restaurant, which is within airport premises, has made terminal building, Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower vulnerable targets, according to Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials responsible for protecting the airport. The local intelligence agencies and officials of CISF have made their concern known to Mihan India Ltd (MIL), the airport operator company, but it has largely ignored them.
CISF has pointed out that the tower and a steel structure being built at the place was posing threat to the security. Strangely, the structure has permission from MIL. It is not clear whether it has municipal sanction or not. Sources said it has not been approved by Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and other security agencies.
CISF sources said, "New construction is coming up just 10 metres from airport terminal building and definitely poses danger to passengers and building. Saboteurs can take vantage position anywhere they choose, just by taking control of restaurant building." It would be easy because outsiders will have free access to the restaurant without any security check.
20/11/11 Sachi DRavekar/Times of India

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Airport Suppliers Encouraged To Attend The EMASC 2011 Conference

Diverse suppliers are encouraged to register for an upcoming conference that will help them make connections with some of biggest airport projects under construction in the Emerging Markets worldwide and Middle East region.

The first edition of Emerging Market Airport Suppliers Conference (EMASC 2011) will be held on 11th & 12th December, 2011 at the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel in Dubai (UAE). The event will generate new business leads and contracting opportunities for airport suppliers, while creating an efficient, effective mechanism for airport developers to identify qualified new vendors.

Approximately 400 delegates are expected to attend the conference to maximize their opportunities to do business with the major airport projects under expansion or construction in the emerging markets worldwide and Middle East region. It is estimated that these markets have allocated more than US$160 billion for airport development projects over the next few years.

20/11/11 Middle East Events.com

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AN-32 resumes operation to Vijaynagar in Arunachal Pradesh

Arunachal Pradesh Governor Gen (retd.) J.J. Singh accompanied by Air Marshal S. Varthaman, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command, on Friday inaugurated the renovated Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) of Vijaynagar, a completely air-maintained and strategically located human settlement in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh and located at the tri-junction of India, Myanmar and China.

With the inauguration of the ALG, the operation of the transport aircraft AN-32 of the Indian Air Force — known as the workhorse of the IAF's transport fleet — to this inaccessible settlement also resumed after a long gap. Prior to suspension of the operation AN-32 in 2009 due to renovation work of the ALG, the IAF used to operate two civilian sorties every month from the Mohanbari airport in upper Assam's Dibrugarh district to Vijaynagar. In addition, there used to be three sorties a month for the Assam Rifles personnel guarding the strategic frontier. The old ALG was made up of Pierced Steel Plate (PSP) sheets and before every landing of an AN-32 the PSP sheets of the ALG needed to be fixed with wooden pegs which flew off as aircraft took off.

There is no road to Vijaynagar and no electricity for the over 6,000 population of the settlement that has 13 recognised villages and one unrecognised village. The only alternative to air transport is a six-day trek through a 157-km stretch of thick jungles through Namdapha, to reach Miao, the nearest town.

19/11/11 Sushanta Talukdar/The Hindu

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Amausi's new terminal misses another deadline

Lucknow: Is the Airport Authority of India (AAI) looking for a 'special date' to inaugurate the new terminal at Amausi airport? The terminal was scheduled to be inaugurated on November 19, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. But as the terminal is unlikely to become operational by then, the authorities have cancelled the plan.
AAI sources claim that the terminal may take at least two weeks after which a trial of the facility will be done. This has led to speculation that the facility would be thrown open around December 9, which happens to be birthday of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Another date when the facility may be inaugurated is December 24, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh. Amausi airport was renamed after him in July 2008.
Airport director Atul Dikshit confirmed that the terminal will not be inaugurated on November 19. "It will be only after a test trial of the facility in which aircraft will be brought in and passengers load shifted partially that we will be able to say anything,'' he told TOI.
A senior official associated with the project said a team of officials from Delhi is likely to inspect the terminal within a week. "Construction is almost complete. Allotment of plazas and offices to different airlines has been done. We are just waiting for the orders,'' a senior official in the construction wing of the AAI said. An official with a private airline said the allotment may have been done but the facility still lacks basic infrastructure facilities like furniture and other logistics to enable an airline to start working straightaway.
19/11/11 Pankaj Shah/Times of India

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Curbs on high-rises around city airport

Vijayawada: The Airport Authority of India officials made it clear that buildings around Gannavaram airport, which falls under air funnel zone, should get prior clearance from the Airport Authority as per the GO MS No. 678 of 2007.
Construction activity has increased in Gannavaram and its surrounding areas in recent times, expecting rapid growth of the area. The VGTM urban development authority headed by vice-chairman, Mr G.S.R.K.R. Vijaykumar, organised a workshop on Friday to create awareness among panchayat and revenue officials over the restrictions on construction activity in the air funnel zone.
Addressing the meeting, Gannavaram airport director, Mr C. Pattabhi, said as per the future development plans of the airport, the builders should get prior permission from the Airport Authority of India for construction activity in the sites which fall under the air funnel zone.
He said any high-rise building of more than 18 metres height in the vicinity of the airport will be regulated by their rules and regulations.
As per the rules, upto 150 metres in flight path, a building with not more than three metres height and upto 450 metres, building with a height of not more than nine metres will be allowed.
The airport director said that at present the airport was spread in 536 acres of land and they demanded another 465 acres of land for the development of the airport.
19/11/11 Deccan Chronicle

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Cellphone ban for Chennai airport workers

Chennai: Close on the heels of the arrest of a bus driver at the Chennai airport for his role in ephedrine smuggling bid onboard a Kuala Lumpur bound flight, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is all set to crack the whip on the contract workers employed at the airport.
?As part of the measures, contract labourers will not be allowed to carry mobile phones into the terminal or their place of duty on the airport premises.
They will also be subjected to “control of movement” by the Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF) personnel while on duty. “The workers will be barred from using mobile phones while at work,” informed Airport Director E P Hareendranathan in a press statement.
Admitting that the “monitoring of contract workers was not up to the mark”, the AAI statement said a massive drive will be launched to check the background of the contract workers employed in the operational area.
The AAI also admitted to the security lapse in the case of the driver, employed by the Jet Airways through a sub-contractor.
19/11/11 New Indian Express/IBN Live

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Mysore Airport back to square one

Mysore: When Mysore got a workable airport in mid-2009, it started its operations with chartered flights. Now, it is back to square one, after the withdrawal of commercial services by the Kingfisher Airlines.
The Mysore Airport, built to handle 150 passengers, attended to chartered flights. Since November 7, when Kingfisher suspended its short-haul services to the city, the Rs 90-crore facility has handled two chartered flights. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has deputed 25 ground staff to manage the airport.
The AAI completed upgradation of the airport in May 2009, when the commercial flights were planned. As it took time, the airport came to be used extensively for special flights with business leaders and politicians using it. When the airport started commercial flights in October 2010, it had handled over 100 chartered flights with top politicians including B S Yeddyurappa and Narendra Modi taking the air route.
17/11/11 Times of India

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UK intervenes in airline fiasco, flights being arranged

Flights were being arranged on a British airline for passengers, most of them of Indian-origin, who have been stranded on the Birmingham-Amritsar route after sudden cancellations from the Austrian airline they were travelling on.

Scores of Indian-origin passengers with valid tickets on the Birmingham-Amritsar flight operated by Comtel were left stranded in the two cities after the company ran into financial trouble, and cancelled flights for this week.

The British aviation authority has now intervened in the matter and agreed to refund the charges the passengers will now pay for the flights being arranged for them.

Comtel Air had to cancel all its flights between Amritsar and Birmingham yesterday when a travel agency in UK did not make its due payments to the company and said it had filed for bankruptcy.

According to a BBC report, flights are being arranged on the British Midland International airline BMI to help passengers return home from India after the collapse of the UK-based travel agency Skyjet.

18/11/11 Economic Times

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Jewellery in bags unsafe at Ahmedabad airport!

Ahmedabad: If you are flying from Chhatrapati Shivaji Domestic Airport, Mumbai to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA), Ahmedabad, don't forget to check your luggage before you leave the terminal at either end. There is something fishy in the way passengers' luggage is handled at these two airports.
On Monday, when Kirti Shah, a Virginia based doctor, landed at Ahmedabad airport, he found $5,000 missing from his luggage. A complaint was lodged with the local Sardarnagar police station but the police have no clue where and how the theft occurred despite there being CCTV cameras keeping an eye on all activity at the airport.
"We are investigating the case but even after going through video footage we haven't got any clue about the theft. We believe it to be the handiwork of an individual but there could also be a bigger group involved in stealing valuables," said Sardarnagar police inspector VS Sarvaiya.
In fact, Shah was fortunate to have detected the theft at the airport terminal itself. There have been numerous cases in which passengers had discovered the theft only after reaching home or outside the terminal. In such cases, concerned airline hardly pays any attention to the complaint.
Earlier, Sunil Kumar, who works as a general manager with the Oman porcelain company, SAOC, had lodged a theft complaint against a private airline, GoAir, with Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
17/11/11 Satsh Jha/Daily News & Analysis

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Comtel Air Amritsar to Birmingham passengers to be helped

Austrian airline Comtel Air cancelled all its flights between Amritsar and Birmingham on Thursday when Skyjet in Essex said it had filed for bankruptcy.
The flight cancellations have left about 180 people stranded in India.
Passengers are now being offered special rates on BMI which the UK Civil Aviation Authority agreed to refund.
Nick Stevenson from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said: "What we are doing with those people now is organising special fares on BMI flights back to England that they will be able to take and then claim money back from the Civil Aviation Authority to repay for that."
A Comtel Air flight travelling from Raja Sansi International Airport in Amritsar to Birmingham Airport was grounded on Tuesday when the plane stopped in Vienna to refuel.
Passengers said in order to continue their journey they were asked to raise up to £23,000 between them to help pay for the plane's fuel costs.
Lal Dadrah, who used his mobile phone to film the moment the crew asked for the money, said passengers had been "held to ransom".
He said: "It was surreal. I couldn't believe it was actually happening. It was something that would happen in a film, not in reality... forced to pay for the petrol for the aeroplane."
Comtel Air said it was owed money by Skyjet UK, one of its travel agents, and had not been able to pay its carrier for two weeks as a result.
18/11/11 BBC

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Air India Express pilot flirts with danger 4 times, grounded

Mumbai: It was a quartet of mistakes that could have had disastrous consequences. In the course of landing an aircraft in a strong crosswind, an Air India Express commander took four erroneous decisions, one after another, endangering a Boeing 737 aircraft and its 87 passengers. Luckily, it all ended with damage done only to the aircraft and the commander's flying record.
The potentially fatal incident occurred on November 3 on the Cochin-Salalah Air India Express flight IX 441 when it landed after three attempts at 9.45am, local time. After a very rough touchdown, the Boeing 737 aircraft hurtled down the runway only to jerk sharply as two tyres burst. One wing almost scraped the runway surface and the landing gear was damaged before the aircraft came to a halt near the runway end. The commander was so flustered that even after the plane stopped, he kept the engines running and did not release his foothold on the brakes for about 15-20 minutes till an engineering team arrived to tow away the aircraft.
Confirming the incident, the Air India Express spokesperson said: "The landing was not in keeping with our standard operating procedures. It indicated a disregard for the SOP by the commander."
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is investigating the matter.
The series of faulty decisions began when the flight reached Salalah (Oman) airspace and the pilots were informed by the Omani air traffic controller that the wind speed on the ground was 25 knot (46 kmph) gusting (sudden bursts of high-speed wind) to 35 knot (65 kmph). "The aircraft should not have attempted a landing in Salalah as the crosswind (wind blowing across the runway) speed was about 35 knot," said a source.
17/11/11 Manju V/Times of India

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Hundreds of passengers 'stranded in India' after seven flights cancelled

Comtel Air, an Austria-registered airline, has been accused of "holding passengers to ransom" after leaving the planes grounded on the runway because of a dispute with airport authorities.
Hundreds of passengers have now been caught up in the dispute, with four UK-bound flights cancelled - two last weekend and two this weekend.
The stand off is believed to involve thousands of pounds in unpaid landing fees and airport taxes.
A plane bound for Birmingham was due to carry 220 passengers back to the UK today.
But the airline said the flight would not take off from Amritsar airport until it received around £27,000 - or £124 from each passenger - from its partners to cover the bill for unpaid fees.
The passengers, whose flight has been delayed since the weekend, have been ordered off the plane and forced to make alternative travel arrangements, it is understood.
On Tuesday, a plane carrying 170 people to Birmingham was grounded at Vienna airport for six hours until the passengers raised £24,000.
The aircraft was held on the tarmac while those on board were taken to cash machines to find the money needed.
Kandra Bhupinder, managing director of Golden Air Group, which part owns Comtel, said it was a "dreadful situation" for the airline.
"What I need is the money to pay my pilots, to pay for the fuel - this is what is holding us up," he said.
"It is not my job to try and get this money. If we do not get the 10,000 rupees per passenger we cannot afford to fly with everyone on board.
"We plan to leave with or without passengers. This is a really bad situation."
A spokeswoman for Birmingham airport said a total of seven Comtel flights had now been cancelled.
She said the airport was not aware of any imminent plans for the plane on the runway at Amritsar airport to return.
17/11/11 Telegraph, UK

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Nagpur airport emerges top choice for emergency landings

Nagpur: Has the centrally-located Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport in city emerged as one of the safest airport for landing of all types of aircraft, including Boeing-737, Airbus-320 and even Boeing-747s in case of emergencies or during bad weather conditions at other airports? At least the present airport operator company Mihan India Limited (MIL) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials claim so.
Recent instances in which emergency landings of the Ranchi-Mumbai flight and Zest Airways were handled successfully prove this, a senior airport official said.
He also cited cases of an Indian Air Force helicopter (tail rotor problem), JetLite's Mumbai-Nagpur flight (deflation of nose-wheel tyre) and a London-Delhi Virgin Atlantic Airbus 346-600's emergency landing.Airport director AK Verma said that more than 650 aircraft on domestic traffic from north to south and east to west and international routes such as Europe, Africa, South-East and East Asia pass over Nagpur air space every day. At least 29 domestic flights operate from city airport.
Officials also claim that with its 3,200 meter runway, the airport can handle all kinds of emergency situations.
17/11/11 Sachin Dravekar/Times of India

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Bird hit grounds Jet Airways flight at Gannavaram

Hyderabad: A Jet Airways flight with nearly 40 passengers on board suffered a bird-hit while landing at Gannavaram airport near Vijayawada on Wednesday morning.

Airport officials said the bird hit the aircraft, coming from Hyderabad, when it was landing at the airport. Though the plane encountered some turbulence, it landed safely.

17/11/11 Times of India

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Philippine aircraft makes emergency landing

Nagpur: Just three days after a JetLite flight made an emergency landing at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport here, an aircraft of Philippines-based Zest Airways made a similar landing at the city airport after it developed a major problem in its pressurization system.
The commercial aeroplane was on its way to Bangkok from Abu Dhabi after an overhaul. Only six crew members were on board.
The pressurization system pumps compressed air into the cabin to maintain a safe and comfortable environment for crew and passengers when flying at high altitude.
Pressurization is essential over 10,000 feet (3,000m) above sea level to protect crew and passengers from the risk of a number of physiological problems caused by the low air pressure outside. It also serves to generally increase passenger comfort.
17/11/11 Sachin Dravekar/Times of India

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Passengers told: Pay up £20,000 and you can go home

More than 180 holidaymakers on the Comtel Air jet travelling from Armistar in India to Birmingham International Airport were "held to ransom" for six hours in Vienna.

Passengers were left stunned when their jet landed to refuel in Austria and staff told them to disembark — because the airline had "ran out of cash to fund the last leg of the trip".

It emerged the airline had racked up bills of more than £20,000 for not paying landing fees and taxes — with the company in dire financial straits.

A six-hour stand off on the tarmac only ended when travellers were frogmarched to a cash machine and forced to withdraw up to £130 each to get the plane home.

Some were forced to borrow from relatives - while others rustled up any euros they could spare to add to the pot.

The Comtel Air jet finally arrived at Birmingham Airport this morning.

Dalvinder Batra, 34, whose 80-year-old blind relative was forced to go without medicine during the ordeal, blasted: "It is absolutely disgusting how they treated us.

"There are still people stuck out there. We have been told that the company has gone bust mid-flight."

Rnanbir Dehal, from Wolverhampton, said: "We were escorted to the cash point to take out money.

"They said there was a deficit of nearly £20,000 and they gave us receipts.

16/11/11 Andrew Parker/The Sun

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Airline denies demanding £20k from passengers for fuel

An airline has denied asking passengers to pay £20,000 towards the cost of fuel to complete their journey to the UK.
Passengers said they were asked for the money when a flight with Austrian airline Comtel Air from Amritsar in India stopped in Vienna to refuel.
Other passengers have been stuck in India after flights were cancelled.
The airline, which uses Birmingham Airport, said it hoped to get people back to the UK from India as soon as possible at not extra cost to them.
Bhunpinder Kandra, director of passenger services for Comtel Air, told BBC News that "there may have been some operational problem" in Vienna but denied people were asked to pay towards more fuel.
But the Press Association reported him saying: "I have heard what happened, it shouldn't have happened, and I will investigate why it happened.
16/11/11 BBC

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'Committed to expedite Navi Mumbai airport project quickly'

Thane: The City Industrial and Development Corporation (CIDCO), a nodal agency for the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), has said that it would endeavour to expedite the project as quickly as possible. The airport is proposed to be developed through public-private participation (PPP), in which, the CIDCO and Airports Authority of India (AAI) will hold 26 per cent equity and the rest will be held by private developers. CIDCO said that it had taken a number of steps to speed up the process for operationalisation of the airport, while discussions on the entitlements and land acquisition models are in final stages. Talking to PTI today, CIDCO Chairman Pramod Hindurao said that enhancing the regional and local connectivity to NMIA project was the main concern of the agencies implementing the project.

16/11/11 PTI/IBN Live

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Airport contract staff in the line of fire

Chennai: About 23 contract employees at the Chennai airport have been suspended since January on various charges, including theft and helping smugglers. The list includes ground staff, security personnel, support staff and drivers of private airlines .

"There is very little checking and monitoring of the thousands of contract employees working at the airport . They enter and leave with minimum checks and most are misusing this freedom ," a senior customs official said on condition of anonymity .

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Monday busted a smuggling racket and arrested six persons , including a driver of Jet Airways, who transferred a consignment of party drug ephedrine into the aircraft through the baggage truck.

"We are questioning the head of human resources at Jet Airways. We have told all intelligence agencies to keep tabs on contract employees," said C Rajan, additional director general, DRI, Chennai.

16/11/11 Times of India

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'Expedite work on Kannur airport', Leela Group chairman tells CM

Kannur: Leela Group chairman captain C P Krishnan Nair has urged chief minister Oommen Chandy to take the initiative to expedite the construction of the Kannur airport.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday to officially announce the 14th AK Nair Memorial Endowment Award, Nair said political rivalry should not delay developmental activities in the state.
"The chief minister should show the political will to revive the airport project in the same way he handled SmartCity," said Krishnan Nair.
He said he had been trying hard since the last three decades to make the airport a reality, but the authorities concerned had been ignoring him. He said he was not invited for the foundation laying ceremony of the airport. Earlier the Leela Group had shown interest in the airport project, but they backed out later.
Nair also said people whose land is acquired for the airport should be given the market rate fixed by the government.
16/11/11 Times of India

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GMR Infrastructure: Nod for airport fee to give revenues a lift

Adiversified infrastructure companies, GMR Infrastructure, which has interests in building airports, highways to power plants, is set to benefit from the clearance for collection of Airport Development Fee (ADF) by Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India at the Delhi Airport.
In the recent past, GMR Infrahad incurred a loss of Rs 100 crore due to a temporary suspension of collection of ADF by the Supreme Court to arrive at a certain fee collection. With this clearance, the company will see increased revenues from the airport segment of its business.
In the past few years, the contribution from the airport segment has been consistently increasing and played a major role in enhancing overall revenues. In the September quarter, GMR Infra's airport segment contributed 42% to its total revenues of Rs 1,959 crore. The company's revenues from airports division showed a year-on-year growth of 67% to Rs 835 crore.
This growth was due to a robust 20% improvement in passenger traffic in the first half of this year and a strong contribution of Male airport acquired by the company last year. In the coming quarters, taking into account the upcoming holiday season, which will ensure a healthy passenger growth, the company will see increased revenues.
16/11/11 Suraj Sowkar & Rajesh Naidu/Economic Times

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$5K stolen from doctor's bag at Ahmedabad airport

Ahmedabad: A delay in finding his luggage on the conveyer belt at Ahmedabad airport made Dr Kirti Shah suspicious. However, his fears only came true when after finding his bag Shah found that $5,000 inside the bag was missing. Sardarnagar police started a probe in the matter on Monday.

Shah is a Satellite resident who is currently a Virginia-based doctor. "On his return trip to India, he took a Kingfisher flight from Mumbai to Ahmedabad and reached here on Friday morning. Before leaving the airport, he checked his luggage and found the money inside was missing. We have filed a theft complaint and are looking at the airport CCTV footage to find out more," said a Sardarnagar police official. Ahmedabad airport officials said that in the recent past no such case has been registered at the airport.

16/11/11 Times of India

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Passengers flying out of Delhi to be charged DF

New Delhi: Passengers flying out of Delhi airport from December one would have to pay Rs 200 each for domestic travel and Rs 1,300 to go abroad as development fee.

In an order, the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) has fixed these rates to be charged by the Delhi Internal Airport Limited (DIAL) with effect from December one for 18 months till May 2013 to help it bridge a funding gap of Rs 1,230.27 crore.

The collection of development fee (DF) by DIAL and Mumbai operator MIAL was barred by the Supreme Court in April this year till the AERA determined the rate.

The apex court had also ordered that the DF collected would be credited to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and utilised for further development of airport infrastructure.

15/11/11 PTI/Economic Times

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Man arrested for keeping bullets in baggage

Patna: Police arrested a youth for keeping five bullets and a magazine in his baggage booked in GoAir flight to New Delhi in which former president A P J Abdul Kalam was returning after winding up his two-day visit to Bihar last evening, police said. The youth identified as Manjit Kumar from Supaul was detained when GoAir's security staff detected the bullets and a magazine kept in his baggage during X-ray, the police said. The police said Manjit was a jeweller and was going to New Delhi to participate in a trade fair.
16/11/11 PTI/LBN Live

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Pulled up for panic braking, AI pilot does it again

New Delhi: Eight months ago, when apples stowed in the cockpit’s overhead cabin by the commander fell with a thud, Captain Kanwaljit Kaur, mistaking it for major engine trouble, applied sudden brakes, bringing the Air India aircraft to a screeching halt, bursting tyres and putting at risk nearly 100 passengers.
On November 9, freshly re-instated as a commander, she applied brakes for a second time, aborting a high-speed take-off at Bangalore, again bursting tyres, and risking 90 passengers on board an Air India flight bound for Delhi. This time, she was alarmed by an indication that the nosewheel, which helps navigate the plane during taxiing, may have developed a malfunction.
The flight was cancelled, the passengers transferred to another aircraft. The damaged aircraft has been withdrawn from service and was recently ferried to Delhi for major repairs at the airline’s workshop.
In two corrective trainings that Capt Kaur received so far — the first, after she ‘mistakenly’ flew into the Pak airspace in 2009 and, second, after the apple incident in February this year — the airline’s training committee recommended that she should not be allowed to fly solo.
15/11/11 Indian Express/Smita Aggarwal

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Mission to make Hyderabad AP gateway of south India: GHIAL

Mangalore: The GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), operating the Greenfield Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), is on a mission to make it the gateway and hub of choice south and central India.
"We have been working since three years towards this mission. In 2008 we commissioned the airport and started working with airlines to bring in connectivity to tier 1 and II cities, which is our catchment area," said Vikram R Jaisinghani, CEO, GHIAL to TOI when he was in the city recently.
Launching the Fly by Hyderabad programme here, he said that RGIA brings in seamless connectivity and excellent transit facility. "Therefore a passenger who wants to get connected to national network will find Hyderabad airport a better proposition in terms of cost, comfort and time saving," he said.
To buttress his point further, Jaisinghani said a person flying to Kolkata via Hyderabad from Mangalore will save an hour over Bangalore and nearly two hours via Mumbai. Similarly, he asserted that a trip to Delhi via Hyderabad will save an hour over Mumbai and nearly two hours via Bangalore.
The GHIAL CEO said the first phase of the airport, which has a capacity to handle 12 million passengers per annum, with a peak hour capacity of 3,200 passengers, may reach saturation in four years time, by which time the second phase would start to handle 20 million passengers.
14/11/11 Stanly Pinto/Times of India

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GMR to recoup losses after airport tariff hike:Subba Rao

GMR Infrastructure announced its September quarter results on Friday. While the company posted a 48% increase in its revenues Year-on-Year, it recorded a net loss of Rs 63 crore versus Rs 71 crore net profit.
Explaining what went wrong during the quarter under review, A Subba Rao, chief financial officer at the company told moneycontrol.com, “Our financials were hit by a weak rupee and reduced availability of gas for our Vemagiri power projects. Also, delays in tariff revision for Delhi International Airport which we run recorded a net loss of Rs 227 crore for the quarter.”
However, Subba Rao expects user tariffs for handling passengers and cargo to be revised soon by the airports regulator. This would help the company recoup losses.
“User tariffs have not been revised since 2001, despite a four-fold increase in passenger traffic in the past decade. Furthermore, the Delhi airport has gone through structural changes and grown in size, entailing sizeable capital expenditure,” he says.
12/11/11 Moneycontrol.com

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Jetlite flight makes emergency landing; Kiran Bedi among passengers

Nagpur: A Ranchi-Mumbai Jetlite flight with 125-odd passengers including team Anna member Kiran Bedi aboard made an emergency landing at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport here within 45 minutes of its take-off due to a technical snag this morning.
After take-off at 9.45 am, on the way to Mumbai, the aircraft developed a technical snag in the engine, which forced the pilot to make an emergency landing at Nagpur airport, sources said.
Airport officials stated that all the passengers were safe. Jetlite said that the passengers were deplaned safely and were taken to Mumbai by another flight at 11.30 am.
13/11/11 PTI/Times of India

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SpiceJet to connect Indore with Delhi; new flight from Saturday

Indore: Strengthening the air connectivity to the national capital, a new flight will be started on Saturday from Devi Ahilya Airport connecting Bhopal and Delhi.
After starting Indore/Bhopal-Hyderabad flights, SpiceJet Airline will be launch its second flight from Bhopal to New Delhi on November 12. The flight from Delhi will reach Indore via Bhopal at 8.35 pm. It will depart from Indore at 8.55 pm.
The Indore/Bhopal-Delhi flight will be operational for three days – on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
For the rest four days, the company has started the flight from Friday. The flight from Delhi will directly come to Indore at 7.35 pm. However, it will cover Bhopal during its return journey to Delhi.
13/11/11 daily bhaskar.com

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AI team visits Surat to assess market

Surat: An Air India (AI) team of sales and marketing department visited Surat to assess the market and the flow of passengers from and to the city.

The team of executives headed by Sanjeev Rotkar came to the city on Friday and met Surat Airport air controller Jagdish Baria. The city has one round-trip flight to Delhi.

The team took down details of the number of passengers traveling in the lone flight.

The executives also met Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Rohit Mehta and discussed about the growth of Surat and its effect on passengers frequently travelling to different cities.

Mehta said, “We hope something positive will come up. During the meeting with the AI officials, we found they were impressed with the details of exports and industrial growth of the city. They have come here for market assessment and to find scope to start flight to different cities.

13/11/11 Indian Express

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M'lore: Khader Urges Union Minister Vayalar to Permit Private Flight Operators on Dubai Route

Mangalore: After Air India Express (AIE) flight number IX 813 to Dubai was cancelled on Thursday November 10, MLA U T Khader on Friday November 11, urged the union minister of civil aviation Vayalar Ravi and Airport Authority of India (AAI) officials to restore the trust of passengers who are inconvenienced due to missed appointments and other issues as a result of this cancellation.
Speaking to Daijiworld, Khader said that some of the passengers who were to board IX 813 traveled to Bangalore on Thursday night and boarded the Dubai-bound flight there. He himself reached Dubai at 1.00 pm on Friday to keep his appointment. “Some of the passengers traveled by train to Kozhikode and boarded the Dubai-bound flight without an alternative. One passenger did not want to take a chance as his visa was likely to expire in a day,” he added.
12/11/11 Daijiworld

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GMR expects tariff hike at Delhi airport in 2012

New Delhi : GMR Group expects the airport regulator to approve its proposal to revise user tariffs at the Delhi International Airport in early 2012.
"We are expecting (that) between January and March, 2012, we should have final approval in place," Sidharath Kapur, the Chief Financial Officer of GMR Airports -- the operator of the Delhi International Airport -- told reporters here.
He said the Bangalore-headquartered group applied for a tariff revision in June to the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA), which is now expected to evaluate the proposal through a consultative process.
Company officials declined to reveal the extent of the revision that GMR Airports has sought.
According to Kapur, under the concession document, GMR was entitled for an increase in user tariffs from 2009 onward. "So losses of 2009 and later will be accounted while computing the increase. Increase is going to be prospective, but it will take into account the losses of the past.
"The increase will be given in such a way that it will enable us to recover the past losses. That's what we are entitled," he added.
Kapur said that except for a 10 per cent rise in 2008, tariffs have not been revised since 2001, despite a four-fold increase in passenger traffic in the past decade.
11/11/11 Press Trust of India/Business Standard

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175 bullets trigger scare at Chennai airport

Chennai: There was a scare at the domestic airport here on Wednesday evening, when a woman passenger attempted to check-in with a duffel bag filled with bullets. Surya allegedly walked into the airport at 4 pm to board the 5.15 pm Spicejet flight to Madurai. According to airport sources, the woman gave her black bag for screening as she wanted to carry it on board.

When CISF personnel manning the scanner looked at their screens they were shocked to see that the bag was filled with what appeared to be bullets and cartridges. They stopped her and opened the bag to find that it contained 175 unfired bullets and two cartridges.

The airport police were then alerted and the bullets were handed over to them. According to a police officer, Surya explained that she had made the mistake of picking up the wrong bag, as she had left in a hurry. She reported said that her husband was a registered rifle shooter with the Madras Shooting Club, and that the bag belonged to him. Once the police identified that the bullets would fit a .22 caliber rifle, they quickly investigated whether her husband, Siva, possessed the licence.

11/11/11 New Indian Express/IBN Live

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Air Indias special flight journey on Nov 13

Nedumbassery: Hundreds of differently-abled children, destitute elders and even HIV positive kids will have a memorable day when Air India and Rotary Club of Cochin Airport with the support of various organisations and corporates arrange a free air travel from Kochi to Kanyakumari and back on Sunday, the day before Children’s Day.
The special passengers will be accompanied by Excise Minister K Babu, CIAL MD V J Kurien, dignitaries, executives and mediapersons. Celebrities from film field, magicians and musicians will entertain the kids and the elders on board the flight. Air India will operate a chartered Boeing 747-400 aircraft having a capacity of 423 passengers for the unique journey, ‘Flight with Memories-AI 2011,’ AI executive head Michael Joseph has said. The AI has arranged Malayali crew members on board who will interact with the passengers and make the journey comfortable and relaxed, AI Deputy Manager (CC) Aby George said. The crew members will render free service.
Rotary Club of Cochin Airport, the brain behind the unique programme, organises the air travel for the third consecutive year. The project for the underprivileged would normally cost over Rs 85 lakh, club president Scaria D Parackal said. The Rotary Club chose a few elder persons from different old age homes for the fight journey this year. Thirty students from different normal schools will join the physically and mentally challenged students on board as volunteers. They will assist differently abled students which will provide an opportunity for the normal students to understand the difficulties and needs of the poor handicapped and elder persons which will ensure the theme of the programme “The haves meet, understand and help the have-nots” Rotary Club secretary Santhosh Poovattil said.
11/11/11 New Indian Express/IBN Live

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Chaos at Mumbai airport after Kingfisher cancels flights

Mumbai: Furious passengers irked by cancellation of several flights by Kingfisher Airlines created a ruckus at the Mumbai airport for the third day today. The airline has cancelled more than 80 flights over the past few days and rescheduled several others causing inconvenience to passengers.

At the airport, passengers who were informed of the cancellations at the last minute, were trying to book seats on other airlines.

"The problem is reducing. Fewer people are booking Kingfisher Airlines flights due to the trouble," Mohammad Salim, a travel agent, told The Tribune.

Rival airlines have quickly moved in to cash in on Kingfisher's problems by raising fares.

Flights on the Mumbai-Delhi sector more than doubled to Rs 20,000 during the peak evening hours. The usual fare between the two cities is Rs 7,500. Similar increases have been reported on the Mumbai-Bangalore sector as well.

Reports said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation is sending a show-cause notice to the Kingfisher Airlines management. The agency is also expected to look into the sudden increase in fares by rival airlines.

10/11/11 Shiv Kumar/The Tribune

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3 in 3 yrs: Another tender for airport hangars, VIP lounge

Pune: The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has once again floated a tender for the construction of hangars and a VIP lounge at the Pune Airport. The AAI had failed to award any contract in its last two bids, in 2008 and 2010. The tender is worth Rs 22 crore.

According to sources, when the airport was expanded in 2008, the hangar was demolished with a promise that six new hangars would be constructed within six to eight months. The hangars will give shelter to private aircraft, which are parked on open tarmac, thereby creating extra space for airlines to park their aircraft. The project has to be completed in 13 months from the date of awarding the contract.

“We follow a two-bid system. If everything goes well, work should start by January and complete within a year from then,” said airport director PSRK Sudhakar. The closing date of the tender is November 21.

The airport has nine bays for airline operators. The 10 private aircraft parked on the airport pay Rs 360 per sq metre/month rent.

10/11/11 Indian Express

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Flyers, be ready to face longer foggy weather

New Delhi: If you are planning to fly in and out of Delhi between December 20 and February 20 next year, be ready to brace foggy weather. The weather man has predicted that the three-month period is likely when North India could witness fog conditions for about 100-110 hours which could disrupt normal flight operations.

Officials who attended the meeting indicated that flights between 11.30 pm to 10.30 am were likely to be affected by the onset of foggy weather.

This emerged at a meeting chaired by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Mr E.K. Bharat Bhushan with all stakeholders here on Wednesday. To ensure air travellers are not inconvenienced, the aviation regulator, the DGCA has advised all stakeholders to prepare for least inconvenience to the passengers during fog.

Delhi Airport has been advised to update the flight information displays providing weather information updated every 15 minutes. There is also a plan to tie up with prominent news channels to give information about foggy conditions.

The meeting also discussed availability of more airports for flight diversion from Delhi. It has been decided that Bhubaneswar and Udaipur airports be added to the existing list of Jaipur, Lucknow and Amritsar to which flights will be diverted due to inclement weather over Delhi.

09/11/111 Business Line

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