A watchful eye on Jaipur sky now

Jaipur: Forget about ground-based radar air surveillance on Indian airports. Now, civilian aircraft will self-communicate with airports, their identity and speed, through an air-borne surveillance system, likely to come up by 2012 at 14 Indian airports, including Jaipur International Airport at Sanganer.
The Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B)-based air surveillance system is likely to become operational by 2012 at 14 airports, including Jaipur, Agartala, Imphal, Bhopal, Patna, Lucknow, Amritsar, Varanasi, Port Blair, Nagpur, Ahmedabad and Calicut, a senior Airports Authority of India (AAI) official from New Delhi informed on Tuesday.
Tendering exercise has already begun, said an AAI official in Jaipur attending an Asia-Pacific civil aviation meet.
Unlike, the present technology of radar-based ground-to-air air surveillance system on airports, the relatively cheaper air-borne surveillance ADS-B system, entails three components- an ADS-B transponder fitted in the aircraft, an antenna to get frequency from the aircraft transponder and a receiver at the ground Air Traffic Control (ATC), which makes airports aware about identity of the plane, its speed, flight height level and other critical information.
28/09/11 dailybhaskar.com

Read More

Army blames Ahmedabad civic body for animal menace at airport

Ahmedabad: Army officials have blamed the slums, Hanuman temple and the butcheries outside the cantonment for the menace of the rise in number of monkeys, birds and dogs on the airport runway. The officials' reaction came following a government notice to the army regarding the same.
The notice had directed the cantonment in Sahibaugh area of the city to carry out efficient garbage collection, close down the abattoirs and trim the trees adjacent to the airport wall. The notice had stated that these things were responsible for the increase in the numbers of monkeys, birds and dogs on the runway at Ahmedabad airport.
An army official, on condition of anonymity, said the resolution of the problem lies with the Gujarat government and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation(AMC).
"We have issued several notices to authorities of the Hanuman temple. The temple is the reason why the numbers of monkeys have increased in the area as the devotees feed the animals," the official said.
"We have requested the AMC to capture and relocate all monkeys in the cantonment," the official said. A legal notice should be issued to the authorities of the temple to curb this problem.
27/09/11 Roxy Gagdekar/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Three Indians turned away at Manila airport

Three Indian nationals were turned away by immigration officials at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 for holding cancelled return tickets to New Delhi, India, their port of origin.
The three flew in from Singapore last Wednesday on board a Philippine Airlines flight. Immigration officials had earlier been tipped off by Singaporean government officials that the three Indians were holding cancelled return tickets.
The three were identified as Kuldip Singh, 31, Turna Gurpreet Singh, 20, and Sukh Jinder Singh, 21.
Terminal 2 Travel Control and Enforcement Unit member Nelson Valdez said the three presented their passports to Terminal 2 immigration and said they were all businessmen who were attending a symposium in Manila. Valdez said he then asked them to take off their neckties and put them back on, but the three could not after trying for more than an hour.The three were immediately led to a holding area for questioning and to process them for the next available flight back to New Delhi, their port of origin.
As of Sunday afternoon, it was learned that the three Indians were still at the Terminal 2 immigration holding area because they did not have money to buy their return tickets.
26/09/11 Eric B. Apolonio/Manila Standard Today

Read More

Best Tier II city airport tag goes to Jaipur's T2

Jaipur: The Jaipur International Airport at Sanganer has been adjudged the best airport among the tier II cities of India and has been ranked among the top 20 airports of the world.
A survey by Airports Council International (ACI), a worldwide association of 1,650 airports in 179 nations, has put Jaipur on top of airports which cater to annual passenger traffic between one and five million. Other Indian airports which feature on the list topped by Sanganer airport, included Goa, Lucknow, Bangalore, Amritsar, Hyderabad, Varanasi, Guwahati and Pune. The category doesn't include international airports at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.
The recent survey by ACI has given a rating of 4.58 on a scale of 5 to Jaipur airport, which according to officials, is an extraordinary accomplishment. "The last survey by ACI had given us a 4.27-point rating, but with the latest rating we have come on the top of Indian airports falling in the same category as Jaipur's," Jaipur airport director RK Singh said. Singh said that any rating above 3 points in the survey is considered good, but added that "4.58 was exceptional."
27/09/11 daily bhaskar.com

Read More

AAI, Leela spar over land lease terms

New Delhi: Serious differences have cropped up between Hotel Leelaventure and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) over the terms for renewal of the lease agreement of the land where the company's marquee Hotel Leela is situated, near the Mumbai international airport.
Part of the hotel is built on land on a long-term lease from the airport authority. Nearly 65 per cent land on which the hotel is built is leased out by AAI. The lease agreement expires in July 2012. Negotiations are on for a renewed term of 30 years, extendable by another 30 years subject to satisfactory performance.
Under the terms fixed by AAI, the airport authority has demanded the listed company Hotel Leelaventure fork out 7.5 per cent of the gross turnover of the hotel as royalty in the form of revenue share. Leela has contested this, saying the revenue share should be brought down to 5.33 per cent. The hotel company argues the royalty payment of 7.5 per cent should be reduced to the extent of the percentage of land contributed by AAI to the hotel area.
Second, AAI has said the company must pay an escalation cost while the current lease rental is Rs 1,630, the price of the land would escalate by 7.5 per cent when the contract is renewed. That means Leela would have to shell out a total rental of Rs 1,752 a sq metre i.e. pay Rs 4.15 crore every year. That again is not acceptable to the company.
Third, AAI has contended the company must fork out the rental fixed at Rs 1,630 a sq metre on the entire built-up area, not the land area (which is lower). Leela contends the rental should be paid on the land area and not the actual built-up area.
27/09/11 Surajeet Das Gupta & Mihir Mishra/Business Standard

Read More

‘Monk’ hash mule nabbed at Phuket Airport

Phuket: A Nepalese “monk” was caught on Saturday at Phuket International Airport (PIA) with eight kilos of hashish in his luggage. The haul was said to be worth an estimated 800,000 baht.
The suspect, Hise Chhiring Tamang, was presented at a press conference yesterday by PIA Customs Director Montira Cherchoo.
Also present was PIA Deputy Director Thani Chuangcho, who said that the seizure was the result of a tipoff.
“I was informed by a detective that there would be a drug smuggler coming through PIA on September 24, so I ordered all officers here to step up random luggage checks on that day,” Deputy Director Thani said.
Dressed in monk's clothing, Mr Hise traveled on Qatar Airways flight 624 from India. After transiting through Malaysia he arrived at PIA, where he was stopped by customs officers who asked to search his luggage.
“The 'monk' claimed that he didn’t know who he was supposed to deliver the luggage to. We later found out that he had entered Thailand four times before, through Suvarnabhumi Airport.
“He also confessed that he received 70,000 baht each time he smuggled marijuana into Thailand,” Mr Thani said.
27/09/11 Phuket Gazette

Read More

Chennai airport operations pose major threat to passengers

Chennai: Describing the near-miss on Saturday as a "serious incident", senior aviation and navigation experts said Chennai airport operations were posing a major threat to passenger safety as the Airports Authority of India (AAI) does not consult the air traffic control (ATC) or the pilots while making any changes to flight navigation. They also point out that AAI has ignored the need for rapid exit taxiways in the multi-crore airport expansion project in Chennai.
V Krishnan, senior advisor of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, said Saturday's incident, which occurred due to the closure of the taxiway, was neither the mistake of the landed aircraft nor the ATC officials. "Rejecting the take-off of Jet Airways and decision to 'go around' by the Air India pilot were timely decisions coordinated by the ATC. Neither the ATC nor the aircraft could be blamed. Rather, they averted a major accident," said Krishnan, a member of the Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council that was constituted after the Mangalore plane crash. Krishnan said Chennai needed a rapid exit taxiway to reduce the runway occupancy time. "Even the new taxiway being built in the airport does not have the provisions of a rapid exit for the aircraft. We should not fail to take up the need for a rapid exit track when we proceed with a major expansion project," he said.
26/09/11 Arun Janardhanan/Times of India

Read More

AAI asks for exemption from Cabinet on lease permission

New Delhi: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has asked for selective exemption from the order to seek permission from the Union cabinet before the sale or long-term lease of any land of the government or a government-controlled statutory body.
The state-owned airport operator is estimated to have a land bank of 45,000 acres across all airports. The Cabinet Secretariat has asked all ministries to put up proposals for sale or long-term lease of land belonging to the central government or its agencies before the Union Cabinet, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs or the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure for approval.
This was done after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked the cabinet secretariat to frame a comprehensive policy to stop quiet transfers of government land to private parties. “We have asked for an exemption to lease out land for a period of up to 30 years without taking permission from the government,” said a senior AAI official, who did not want to be identified.
The official said AAI had a lot of land across all airports in the country and they get into various short-term leases. Taking permission for all would be time-consuming. “Our act allows us to lease out land. If we have to go to the Cabinet for the clearance for all such agreements, the whole procedure will be delayed. Getting Cabinet approval takes its own time,” the official added.
26/09/11 Mihir Mishra/Business Standard

Read More

SpiceJet Bomb Scare Creates Chaos in Kathmandu

Kathmandu: Close on the heels of all 19 people on board a domestic flight in Nepal perishing in a plane crash, Indian budget airline SpiceJet's Delhi flight was delayed due to a bomb scare, unleashing chaos at Katmandu's lone international airport Sunday.
The flight, scheduled to take off at 10.55 a.m. from Kathmandu, was halted after rumours that a bomb had been stowed away on board.
A private television channel said the bomb scare arose after an altercation among three Indian women and an American Buddhist nun.
The pilot reportedly heard the nun saying she had a bomb and the aircraft came to a halt on the runway.
25/09/11 IANS/Daijiworld.com

Read More

Close shave for 3 jets at Chennai airport

Chennai: Three aircraft came too close for comfort at Chennai airport on Saturday morning, forcing a Jet Airways flight to abort take-off at the last minute.
The pilot of the Jet Airways flight, which was moving to take-off on runway 25 at 8.40am with 120 passengers, saw an Indigo aircraft had not vacated the farther end of the runway, and stopped. Meanwhile, an Air India flight from Delhi was on its way to land. Seeing that the Jet flight was still on the runway, the Air India plane which was descending, did a 'go around', pulling up again. With the Air India plane hovering in the vicinity, the air traffic control asked the Jet pilot to reject take-off. The Air India flight landed 22 minutes later, at 9.02am.
"A miscalculation on the part of the ATC in measuring the distance between the flights and the time caused the problem," an aviation official said. An ATC source said such instances happen, but often go unreported. "There was a possibility of a collision if the Jet aircraft was allowed to take off as the Air India flight, carrying 160 passengers, was above the airport. It could also have proved tough for the Jet flight to maintain a lower height immediately after take-off," said a pilot who was present at the airport.
A minimum distance of three miles (5 km) is to be maintained between two aircraft in motion near Indian airports and this is often kept at 5 to 10 miles in Chennai.
25/09/11 Arun Janardhanan/Times of India

Read More

Sanganer airport runway work postponed till March

Jaipur: There is bad news for those who were looking forward to direct flights to various places from the state capital. The much-awaited extension of the Jaipur airport runway from 9,000 feet to 11,000 feet is being postponed till March 2012. The extension was needed to develop a better landing system and facilitate large aircraft, including Boeing 747 and Airbus 380, used in international flights.
With the deferment people of Jaipur, especially businessmen in the gemstone industry, will have to wait for another six months or a year to have large aircraft ferry them to international destinations, including Frankfurt, London, Malaysia and Thailand.
According to sources, the extension was planned to begin in October, and during the extension it was proposed that the airport was to remain closed for next 15 months. But, considering the tourist season , the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has postponed it.
"Yes it was to begin in October, but there are some problems in taking it up now," R K Singh, director, Airport Authority of India, Jaipur, told TOI on Saturday.
25/09/11 Ashish Mehta/Times of India

Read More

CM: New international terminal for Kochi airport

Kochi: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has announced the decision to build a new international terminal at the Cochin International Airport in Nedumbassery at a cost of Rs. 400 crore.
The Chief Minister was speaking at the 17th annual meeting of CIAL on Saturday. According to the proposal given by the CIAL, a state-of-the-art new international terminal will be capable of handling 10 million passengers per annum with a peak hour capacity of 4,000 passengers.
The terminal will have 16 parking bays with full aerobridge connectivity, the proposal says. The bays will be constructed in a phased manner and the airport will have a total of 40 parking bays. The terminal is expected to cater to the traffic requirements of the airport for the next 15 years.
Chandy said Union Minister for Civil Aviation Vayalar Ravi has accepted an invitation to visit the state with his team. The delegation will discuss the various developmental issues of the three airports in the state, including the dispute with Air India. The Chief Minister announced a number of new proposals under consideration, including a new road from Angamaly town to the airport, a project to widen the existing approach road from Athani Junction to the airport.
25/09/11 New Indian Express/IBN Live

Read More

Passenger claims gold jewellery stolen from checked-in baggage

An Air India Express passenger travelling from Sharjah to the South Indian city of Kochi on September 19 has alleged that on arrival at the destination gold ornaments she had stored in her baggage were missing.
Strangely, the bag was in excellent condition with no external damage and even the lock was in place.
Aneela Xavier, who had just one check-in baggage (number XH 427890) claims to have carried four boxes that contained a 52-gram chain with a green stone pendant; two gold bangles of eight grams each; a bracelet weighing eight grams; four set of earrings weighing a total 32 grams; another pair of 12 grams; and two chains of 24 grams.
25/09/11 VM Sathish/Emirates 24/7

Read More

Plane from Hubli a threat to Mumbai airport?

Mumbai: A private plane taking off from Karnataka's Hubli airport could be used to carry out a terror strike at Mumbai airport, authorities have been warned. Security agencies said fears of such an attack remained till November 15. Earlier, they had issued an attack-by-plane alert but didn't specify from where it could come.
Guidelines issued in the alert state that access control and security arrangements at the Kalina (VIP) gate and other gates leading to terminal areas and parked aircraft may be re-assessed. Accordingly, security has been tightened at the Mumbai airport.
The security agencies are also examining whether any flight request for a private aircraft from Hubli to Mumbai airport has been made within November 15. "Any permission to use private aircraft from Hubli to Mumbai may be denied unless the bona fides are very well established," the alert said.
The warning added that the attackers may try "action" like 9/11, but didn't identify any group or groups that may mount the strike. Air traffic controllers at the domestic and international terminals in the city have been put on high alert.
25/09/11 Mateen Hafeez/Times of India

Read More

New aeronautical telecom network system to enhance air safety

New Delhi: With a satellite-based navigation system in place to enhance air safety, experts from Asia- Pacific nations would next week discuss ways to implement an aeronautical telecom network (ATN) system for seamless exchange of messages for planes flying in the region.
The new system would complement and later replace voice communication between air traffic control, pilots and others by providing all flight data and information through messages.
Messages containing graphic texts like charts and weather maps can also be sent to end users across the high seas and countries from Singapore to those on the African coasts, apart from almost the entire Asia.
The Airports Authority of India, which is organising a meet of the taskforce of International Civil Aviation Organisation group in Jaipur from Monday, has installed AMHS at Mumbai and established linkage with Singapore in March this year. Regular traffic is already being exchanged on this channel, an AAI spokesperson said.
23/09/11 Economic Times

Read More

Major air mishap averted at Chennai airport

Chennai: A major air mishap was averted at Chennai airport on Saturday when a Delhi-bound private airliner which had been cleared for take-off stopped on the runway just as an Air India flight was about to land.
Airport authorities have sought explanation from Jet Airways as to why the aircraft was stopped despite it being cleared for take-off.
Airport sources said the Delhi-bound Jet Airways plane was taxiing on the runway at 8.40 am when it stopped at the end moment. At the same time, the Chennai-bound Air India flight from Delhi was given landing permission by the Air Traffic Control (ATC).
New Indian Express/IBN Live

Read More

US national deported from Delhi's IGI airport

United States national was deported on his arrival at the IGI airport in New Delhi in the wee hours of Friday after he was found to have allegedly violated visa norms during his previous visit to the country. Airport sources said David Barsamian, a radio journalist, was deported back to his country by immigration authorities. Sources said Barsamian had reported on events in Jammu and Kashmir during his last visit to India and these reports were found to be "not based on facts".
They alleged that he violated his visa norms during his visit in 2009-10 by indulging in professional work while holding a tourist visa. He was thereafter put on a watch list by the immigration authorities in order to prevent his entry when he visits the country again.
23/09/11 PTI/Rediff.com

Read More

For Mumbai Airport is a private bus shuttle the only solution?

We have been reporting over the past few days (please scroll down for details) on how Mumbai Airport, the country's busiest and situated in the financial capital, is surprisingly without any dedicated shuttle service. Passengers are left stranded at the arrival terminals due to scarcity of prepaid taxis and constant refusals by regular cabbies and auto-rickshaws to ply to the metropolis.
Again, BEST, the public bus transport provider, having a monopoly in the city, demands dedicated lanes to provide a shuttle service. The state government is completely silent on this issue.
Considering these factors, should private players be allowed to start a shuttle service to the airport?
Transport experts are in near consensus on privatising the airport bus shuttle, considering its economic viability. In terms of providing overall road transport, private services in the past have proved to be efficient.
23/09/11 Moneylife

Read More

Broker's missing son did return to India

New Delhi: Closed-circuit TV grabs at the IGI Customs office have now provided clinching evidence that the son of a leading city stock broker did not go missing in London but did return to the country on August 6. Nishit Jalan, the 24-year-old student of Coventry University , Birmingham, could not be traced since race riots erupted in London.
The case, which was initially with the IGI police, is now being probed by the special cell. Sources in the special cell said they had conclusive evidence that Nishit, doing his masters in automobile engineering in Coventry University , had his passport stamped out of IGI.
"The CCTV footage outside IGI Airport was deleted but we found him in the emigration counter CCTV footage. We are investigating the case and came to know that he had even bought a return ticket for the UK for September 16. However , Nishit did not board the flight on that day. We have informed the CBI and they have begun proceedings for taking the help of Interpol in locating him," said a police officer.
The special cell is also in contact with the UK embassy. The cops are now studying the call details and the emails exchanged between Nishit and his friends.
24/09/11 Dwaipayan Ghosh/Times of India

Read More

Airports in terrorists’ sights?

Bengaluru: The cyber crime sleuths of the State’s premier investigating agency - Criminal Investigation Department (CID) - have sought help from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) police to track the whereabouts of an accused who sent a threat e-mail warning of attacks on one of the airports in India. Strangely, the accused has sent the threat e-mail to the official e-mail ID of the cyber crime police station of the CID.
A nodal officer, who is authorised to go through the e-mails in the official e-mail ID, brought it to the notice of his seniors. A senior police officer attached to CID said the threat mail was sent to the official e-mail ID of the cyber crime police station - ccps@kar.nic.in. The mail was sent from the e-mail ID jehaadislaam@yahoo.com.Detective inspector, Cyber Crime Police Station, Mr M.D. Sharath, who is the nodal officer, found the threat mail, the officer said.
24/09/11 Deccan Chronicle

Read More

One missed chance to land led to 30-min wait

Kolkata: A problem in the Boeing 737-800 aircraft's controls in which chief minister Mamata Banerjee was travelling from Bagdogra to Kolkata on Thursday forced the pilot to let go of the first opportunity to land at 2.58pm.
Though the snag was sorted out within a couple of minutes and the pilot was ready to steer the aircraft back to align with the runway, the situation had changed dramatically.
Bad weather, an emergency in the air and a missed approach by a freighter in the turbulent 30 minutes that followed kept the Jet Airways flight carrying Mamata on hold. It was only after the cascading events concluded that flight 9W-2481 had the chance to approach the runway once again and land. The Jet Airways pilot did not contact the ATC to seek a priority landing, citing the presence of CM on board. And the controller in touch with him did not impose any restrictions.
These are the findings of the investigation into why the flight carrying Mamata had hovered over Kolkata for over 30 minutes despite reaching Kolkata on time. Though there was nothing unusual in the sequence of events on Wednesday afternoon, the probe was conducted following a formal complaint from the state government. An angry Mamata had on Wednesday claimed that her flight had been deliberately delayed till it was low on fuel. "A disaster could have happened any moment," she had alleged.
Though everyone in the aviation industry was shocked at her outburst and the accusation, airport officials said that while an error could have happened, suggestion of an intentional act that would jeopardise safety of a flight was preposterous. Officials hope the probe report, that is expected to be submitted to the state government and civil aviation ministry on Friday, will clear the air.
23/09/11 Times of India

Read More

Civil aviation ministry, airports regulator spar over airport fee

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry and the airports regulator have locked horns over an issue that has implications on the amount of airport taxes Indian fliers would pay.
The ministry has complained to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the airports regulator's approach is not conducive to the healthy growth of airports under public-private partnership (PPP).
Reacting to the charge, the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) has said its decisions are driven by passengers' interest and a fair return on equity for airport operators.
AERA Chairman Yashwant Bhave has sought time with the PMO's top official, TKA Nair, to explain the regulator's stand on what it feels is a surprise attack from the ministry.
The ministry has neither given its views on what it considers 'desirable for healthy growth' of airports under PPPs nor has it commented on the fair return on equity that airport operators must get, Bhave wrote in a missive to Nair.
The differences between the ministry and the regulator surfaced ahead of a meeting chaired by the PM on September 8 to review the major problem areas affecting the aviation ministry's work. With regard to the AERA, the ministry flagged concerns about viability of airports under the PPP model because of the regulator's approach.
23/09/11 Vikas Dhoot/Economic Times

Read More

Integrated air space management from Chennai today

New Delhi: Today the air space between 26,000 feet and 46,000 feet in the Chennai Flight Information Region (FIR) will be handled by Chennai control, instead of four different controls as is being done now. At present, individual controls in various cities, including Bangalore, Mangalore, Vizag, and guide aircraft through their flight.
The integration of various ATC radars into one in Chennai will also mean that the cockpit crew flying in the higher zones will have to communicate with only one person rather than various people as happens when they are transferred from one ATC to another during a flight.
“Aircraft flying from the Far East and going to the West will benefit from the introduction of the system. For domestic airlines, the real benefit will be on the Delhi-Mumbai routes,” a senior pilot with Air India said.
A senior pilot with a private airline points out that the real benefit of the system will start coming in when there is an integrated air space management system throughout the Indian airspace. AAI is already working on this and expects it to happen by next year.
22/09/11 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

Read More

Mamata strains at seat belt

Calcutta: Mid-air turbulence acquired new meaning on Wednesday with Mamata Banerjee fuming in her seat as a Jet Konnect flight circled the city for an extra 30 minutes without the pilot communicating to the passengers why the plane wasn’t landing.
When the Boeing 737-800 from Bagdogra finally touched down at 3.25pm and the doors opened, chief minister Mamata stormed out of the aircraft to meet officials and demand an explanation for not being informed about the reason for the delayed landing.
“She called up a senior official of air traffic control and then confronted the duty manager of the domestic terminal, who was waiting to receive her. The officials briefed her on what the problem was, but Mamata wasn’t convinced. She said the passengers should have been informed about it,” a member of her entourage said.
The Jet pilot had apparently faced difficulty aligning the aircraft with the runway in the rain. Once that was resolved, a Kingfisher flight running short of fuel had to be cleared for priority landing, further delaying the chief minister’s flight.
Mamata, who was returning from a tour of earthquake-hit Sikkim and north Bengal along with Union minister of state Mukul Roy, couldn’t get over it even after leaving the airport. She headed straight for Writers’ Buildings, where she had a meeting on the incident with chief secretary Samar Ghosh and home secretary G.D. Gautama.
Sources in the chief minister’s secretariat said the home department had then written to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), seeking an official explanation.
A senior official said the AAI’s regional office had instituted an inquiry, based on the chief minister’s complaint.
22/09/11 The Telegraph

Read More

Govt okays import of jet for Surat-Mumbai air taxi

Surat: The Surat-Mumbai air taxi could soon be a reality as the proposal of the Mumbai-based air service company interested in the project to import a 19-seater LET 410 aircraft for non-scheduled air transport services for Gujarat has been approved by the ministry of civil aviation.
A group of diamantaires led by the Lexus group are in talks with Maritime Energy Heli Air Services Private Limited (MEHAIR) to connect Surat and Mumbai and other destinations in Gujarat with a 19-seater aircraft. The move comes after Air India rejected repeated requests by diamantaires and textile tycoons to connect Surat with Mumbai.
MEHAIR is looking for investors for its project to connect Surat-Mumbai and other destinations in Gujarat with a 19-seater aircraft. The company has asked a firm commitment of 100 hours per flying month for a period of 24 months.
Now, that the civil aviation ministry has given the permission to import the aircraft, the company officials have expedited talks with the diamantaires led by Lexus group to sign an agreement at the earliest, so that the Surat-Mumbai air taxi services can be started before Diwali.
21/09/11 Melvyn Thomas/Times of India

Read More

IIT experts to help cut noise near Delhi Airport

New Delhi: The central government Wednesday informed the Delhi High Court that it has sought help from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) experts to reduce the noise level near the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here.
Appearing for the civil aviation ministry, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) A.S. Chandhiok told the division bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna that the government has sought suggestions from IIT experts to check noise arising from planes, specially at night.
The court asked the government to file a detailed affidavit by Nov 9. Hearing a plea filed by residents of Vasant Kunj and adjoining areas, seeking a ban on night flying on the newly-opened third runway as it disturbs their sleep, the bench March 30 saw a powerpoint presentation by all the stakeholders on the issue, including the NGO, Chetna, that filed the petition.
The in-camera presentation was an attempt by the residents to apprise the court about the high decibel levels in their colonies due to the aircraft, even as the Airports Authority of India and the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) showcased steps taken by them to reduce noise.
21/09/11 IANS/News One

Read More

Destructive beetle spotted trying to enter Detroit

A South Asian bug described as one of the world’s most destructive agricultural pests has shown up at Detroit ports of entry, U.S. authorities said Wednesday.
“They’ve been found locally and nationally,” said Chief Ron Smith of the Detroit Customs and Border Protection office. “We’ve had seven confirmed this year at Detroit, a couple in bags at the airport and in commercial shipments.”
Canadian and American authorities say that, despite the increase in numbers, the khapra beetle has not yet gained a foothold in North America.
In the U.S., Customs and Border Protection agricultural specialists say they’ve caught 158 of the beetles trying to sneak into the country so far this year, more than the total interceptions reported last year.
The interceptions were made from passengers and cargo from air, land and sea ports of entry by 11 CBP field offices across the country, including Detroit.
The pest is native to India but has invaded many tropical and subtropical countries in Africa, Asia as well as parts of Europe and South and Central America. They stow away in cracks and crevices in burlap bags, sacks, crates, railcars, ship holds and trucks. In some cases they have been found among the luggage of travellers arriving from vacations abroad.
21/09/11 Don Lajore/The Windsor Star

Read More

SpiceJet connects Vizag to Tirupati and Bangalore

The first commercial Bangalore-Vizag flight landed at the Vizag Airport at 10:40 am and the inaugural Vizag-Tirupati flight took off at 11:10 am.
SpiceJet Limited, India’s most preferred budget airline, today commenced commercial operations at Vizag with its much-awaited Q-400 aircraft with daily flights to Tirupati and Bangalore. SpiceJet is also increasing its service of the Vizag-Hyderabad route with the introduction of their 3rd daily flight from the 28th September on the Q-400 aircraft.
The first commercial Bangalore-Vizag flight landed at the Vizag Airport at 10:40 am and the inaugural Vizag-Tirupati flight took off at 11:10 am.
21/09/11 India Infoline

Read More

Airline fires employee for sheltering criminal brother

New Delhi: A senior security officer , employed with private airline Kingfisher, found himself out of a job on Tuesday after the Delhi police wrote to the airline management explaining how the official had allegedly harboured a wanted criminal from UP even after being aware of his crimes.
The officer in question was allegedly sheltering his own brother, Molli, who had reportedly kidnapped the wife of a colonel of the Indian Army posted at Allahabad and then murdered her.
When contacted, a spokesperson for the airline confirmed the incident and said all necessary action had been taken within the past 24 hours.
It was after the UP police traced Molli's mobile phone location and found it to be around the T-3 terminal in the IGI Airport, that they contacted their counterparts in the Delhi police.
"We detained the accused from outside T-3 terminal who then confessed to the crime. It was 48 hours ago that we informed our UP counterparts who then came and took away the accused on a transit remand,'' said a senior Delhi police cop.
He alleged that Molli's brother was trying to arrange for tickets so that Molli could flee the country. Police claimed that he had even helped his brother to escape from UP on Saturday, claimed cops.
22/09/11 Dwaipayan Ghosh/Times of India

Read More

Indian arrested at Colombo airport with euro stash

Colombo An Indian national was arrested at the international airport here after Sri Lankan authorities reportedly seized Euros worth over 9 million rupees from him.
"The Indian passport holder was to take this morning's Srilankan Airlines flight to Singapore. He was the last passenger to arrive at gate 12. We searched him following our suspicion and found that he was carrying Euros illegally," Parakrama Basnayake of the Bandaranaike international airport customs told reporters.
21/09/11 Express India

Read More

Woodbridge TSA officer sentenced for stealing from Indian travelers

Woodbridge: A township man who worked as a lead transportation security officer for the Transportation Security Administration at Newark Liberty International Airport has been sentenced to six months home confinement for stealing money from travelers during security screenings.
U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said Al Raimi, 30, of Woodbridge also was ordered to pay $24,150 restitution to his victims and pay a $3,000 fine when he was sentenced on Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares in Newark federal court. He also was sentenced to three years’ supervised release.
Raimi had previously admitted that he and his supervisor regularly stole from travelers when he pleaded guilty Feb. 24 to theft by a government officer. Between October 2009 to September 2010, Raimi was a lead transportation security officer at the B-3 security checkpoint for Terminal B at Newark Airport.
During that time, Raimi stole between $10,000 and $30,000 in cash from travelers.
According to a complaint against Arato, the B-3 checkpoint where Raimi worked served Air India flights. Travelers to India began complaining about money and other valuables missing from carry-on luggage after secondary checks in August 2009. Most of the passengers were non-English-speaking Indian women, according to the complaint.
21/09/11 My Central Jersey.com

Read More

Defective Landing - DGCA Recommends Action Against Pilot

Mangalore: Relating to an incident in which the pilot of an Air India Express flight committed mistake in landing his aircraft at Bajpe airport on June 25 this year, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has instructed the concerned to take action against the pilot.
The flight had touched down farther than the prescribed area. Realizing his mistake and the dangers it posed, the pilot applied brakes, because of which a catastrophe was averted. Although no loss of lives or property had take place in this incident, the DGCA had conducted inquiry into the incident as per rules. It has come to the conclusion that the pilot was at fault.
21/09/11 Daijiworld.com

Read More

500 fliers suffer in oil arm-twist

Kolkata: Around 500 holidayers returning to Tehran from Thai seaside resort Phuket landed in a mess at Kolkata airport late on Monday night as Indian Oil refused to refuel the two aircraft till dues were cleared. Till the transaction took place on Tuesday afternoon, the hapless passengers remained stranded in Kolkata, a bulk of them cooped up inside an aircraft for nearly 12 hours because the airport did not have the requisite infrastructure to host them.
When the nightmare finally ended and the flights took off late on Tuesday afternoon, the passengers were famished, having had only a sparse meal in those 12 hours. Those travelling economy class were worse off with feet swollen and toes numb from the long hours in the cramped seats. The toilets also stank as they remained dirty for nearly a day. When the passengers finally reached their destination late on Tuesday, they had no fond memories of the wonderful time in Thailand's fun resort. They carried home a traumatic experience that is sure to haunt them for a long time to come.
Iranian private carrier Mahan Air, which has had a dodgy record with allegations of forged acquisition of three Boeing 747-400 aircraft and a ban within the European Union for a year, has off late been making a technical halt in Kolkata during the return journey from Phuket to Tehran.
21/09/11 Times of India

Read More

Two Iranian planes make unscheduled landing in Kolkata

Two planes of Mahan Air, a private airline company based in Iran, made an unscheduled landing at NSC Bose international airport in Kolkata after they ran out of fuel while going to Tehran, officials said today. Airport sources said the flights from Phuket in Thailand contacted air traffic control in the city to land at the airport at 8pm and 9pm yesterday.The planes are still in the airport after they developed technical problems and will fly later after maintenance and repair, airport officials said.
20/09/11 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

HAL-Concor rolls out cargo operations in Nashik

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), the state-run aircraft manufacturer, and Container Corporation of India (Concor), the rake operator, on Tuesday announced launch of international air cargo operations from Nashik Ojhar airport.
HAL, which owns the airport and uses it for defence related activities, plans to scale up passenger operations there and also set up a maintenance, repairs and overhaul facility.
Kingfisher currently operates Mumbai flights from the airport.
The air cargo operations at the Ojhar airport would be undertaken by Halcon, an equal-stake joint venture between HAL and Concor.
Clarion Solutions, a terminal operating company from Transworld group would handle the cargo facility at the airport and also bring
business.
HAL has invested close to Rs60 crore in infrastructure upgradation at the airport while Halcon has invested Rs12.66 crore towards cargo facility investment.
Due to its location, HAL’s managing director PV Deshmukh is confident that the airport will help decongest excess cargo at the Mumbai International Airport.
21/09/11 Amritha Pillay/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Lufthansa team to come in Oct first week to explore Kochi-Europe direct flight

Kochi: A delegation from Lufthansa Airlines is likely to visit Cochin airport in the first week of October to explore the possibility of starting direct flight from here to Europe.
The visit is a sequel to the intense lobbying being carried out jointly by the officials of the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) , industrial associations and other stakeholders like travel agents and hospitality industry groups, to get any airlines to start direct flight from Kochi to Europe.
According to the CIAL sources, there is ample scope for launching direct flight from Kochi to Europe. "As per the inputs received from IATA sources, about 500 passengers fly from Kochi to Europe and US every day. This was a surprise revelation even to us. So far they had been flying mainly through the Gulf route. There is definitely a scope for a daily direct flight to Europe from Kochi,'' airport director ACK Nair told TOI.
The number of leisure travellers visiting Kerala from Europe annually is as high as 600,000.
21/09/11 T Ramavarman/Times of India

Read More

Holbrooke flight delayed for non-payment of fees: Wiki

New Delhi: The US embassy faced a difficult time when a top US diplomat’s government aircraft was held on the tarmac at the Defence airport in Palam Air Base for non-payment of airport fees. A peeved US embassy had then proposed that the US government may consider cancellation of a high-level visit to India to illustrate that India “will pay a price” for failing to extend courtesy to US government aircraft.
Special Representative (Af-Pak) Richard Holbrooke’s departure from the IAF’s base in March, 2009 was delayed as the US government aircraft carrying him did not have requisite clearances, revealed a US embassy cable released by WikiLeaks.
The aircraft was held following a change in the External Affairs Ministry’s policy in 2007, which directed all the US government aircraft visiting India, without any explicit invitation, to pay airport fees related to parking, landing and navigation. The flight was released following personal intervention of a top MEA official.
20/09/11 Smita Aggarwal/Indian Express

Read More

Cash vanishes from passenger’s bag during Jet Airways flight

Mumbai: An airline passenger who arrived in Mumbai from Kuala Lumpur via Chennai, found his luggage tampered with and Rs 5,000 missing. While he was dissuaded from lodging a police complaint, the airline has expressed inability to compensate him or accept responsibility for the incident.
Ronald D’Souza, a finance professional and resident of Borivali, lost cash from a handbag kept in a larger bag and checked in as luggage, while taking a Jet Airways flight to Mumbai from Chennai on September 11.
D’Souza was returning from Kuala Lumpur when he decided to buy liquor and carry it with him. He removed the small bag containing Rs 5,000 and put it in his check-in luggage.
On reaching Mumbai, D’Souza found the lock of his luggage broken, the smaller bag cut open and the cash missing. “I wanted to lodge a complaint, but was dissuaded by Jet staff, so I just lodged a complaint with the airline,” he said.
21/09/11 Sanjeev Devasia/Mumbai Mirror

Read More

AI major hindrance in Surat’s air connectivity?

Surat: At least 25 courier delivery men carry diamonds worth crores of rupees from Surat to Mumbai every day in a train. They return next day afternoon with cargo worth several crores under protection of armed guards.
Diamond barons think carrying valuable goods in trains is dangerous. Besides they say travelling consumes a lot of time.
The diamond barons are ready to book seats for a month for their men in flights to Mumbai as it is both safe and fast. A private air service operator sees business opportunity in this and has come forward to start flight service with a 19 seat aircraft between Mumbai and Surat. However, for loss making national carrier Air India, it does not matter.
Air India has turned a blind eye to the legitimate demands of people in places like Surat, said a senior official from South Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
21/09/11 Himanshu Bhatt/Times of India

Read More

Aerobridge ready, but airlines aren't

Nagpur: On Sunday morning, Neelima Bowade, a frequent flyer, was disappointed like other passengers on learning that she would not be boarding the Air India's Nagpur-Mumbai flight using the newly-commissioned aerobridge at Nagpur's Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport.
Reason: airlines remain reluctant to use the aerobridges. After innumerable delays, Mihan India Limited (MIL), the company operating the city Airport, commissioned one of the two aerobridges on September 12. However, even after a week not a single airline has operated flights using it. An aerobridge connects the terminal building to the aircraft allowing passengers to enter and exit directly.
Both aerobridges have been ready for months but were not being pressed into service for various reasons. On September 12, only Aerobridge No. 1 was commissioned and started operations. Aerobridge No. 2 will start operations after a few technical problems are dealt with and recarpeting of tarmac and taxiway is completed.
20/09/11 Sachin Dravekar/Times of India

Read More

AI Express incident in Mangalore: DGCA probe underway

New Delhi: The Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing an incident where an Air India Express flight landed ominously deep on the table top runway in Mangalore.Officials said that the incident occured on 25 June when an Air India Express flight from Mumbai landed in Mangalore.They said what followed was a difference of opinion between the pilot and the co pilot while the plane was landing.The captain decided to take off and land again after circling the airport, but the co-pilot in the nick of time applied the brakes and the aircraft stopped very close to a gorge, sources said."There was some problem with the landing of the air craft. Investigation is going on," DGCA chief E K Bharat Bhushan said.
20/09/11 PTI/IBN Live

Read More

Jet Airways to launch flight to Manila from December

New Delhi: Jet Airways will be launching its services to Manila from December this year and induct 11 new Boeing aircraft by March 2013.
"We are enthusiastic about our Delhi-Manila flight which is going to be launched from December this year," a senior Jet Airways official said.
The airlines will be acquiring 11 new Boeing 737-800 NR by March 2013 and three would be inducted in the fleet by March 2012.
Jet Airways plans to deploy the new aircraft to South East Asian, SAARC countries and the Gulf region.
20/09/11 PTI/Economic Times

Read More

Work on Bangalore airport 2nd runway to start next year

Bangalore: The Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) plans to take up work on the second runway next year.
According to Mr G.V. Krishna Reddy, Chairman, GVK Group, which has 43 per cent stake in BIAL, work on the second runway at the airport would be taken up next year, and work on the third runway will begin after that. He said this on the sidelines of the Regional Celebration of Civil Aviation Centenary at Bangalore on Monday.
Work on the expansion of terminal building is underway at the airport. BIAL plans to expand the terminal from 72,000 sq.m to 1.34 lakh sq.m. Mr Reddy said that once that expansion work is done, work on the second runway will start.
Speaking at the event, Mr S.V. Ranganath, Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka, said that work on expansion of regional airports at Mangalore, Mysore and Hubli was also in full swing with the State Government contributing through allocation of land and water.
Other small airports that are coming up through the public-private partnership model in the State are at Gulbarga, Bidar, Shimoga and Hassan, he pointed out.
19/09/11 Business Line

Read More

India’s IndiGo arrives at Changi Airport

Changi Airport Group welcomed IndiGo to its growing network of carriers as India’s largest low-cost carrier commences operations at Changi Airport. IndiGo is the fifth Indian carrier to operate at Changi1.
IndiGo will operate daily passenger services to New Delhi on the Airbus A320 aircraft with a capacity of 180 passengers in a single-class configuration. It will add a Mumbai-Singapore service commencing in the middle of October. IndiGo will operate at Changi Airport Terminal 2.
With the addition of IndiGo, the Singapore-New Delhi route will be served by four carriers2 operating a total of 70 flights a week. The Singapore-Mumbai route will be served by six carriers3 operating a total of 90 flights a week.
20/09/11 TravelDailyNews

Read More

Lack of infrastructure delays CISF cover for Juhu airport

Mumbai: The security at Juhu airport, which has become a matter of major concern after the recent terror threats, was to be strengthened by December 2010. However, the lax attitude and inability of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to provide infrastructure has delayed the deployment of 200 Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel at the airport.
Arecent terror alert from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) about terrorists using smaller aircraft to cause mayhem has sent all the security agencies into a tizzy. The threat has become all the more serious because the Juhu airport from where choppers take-off and land is an ill-guarded area. In fact, on September 17 the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security had called a meeting with all chopper operators asking them to enhance security measures.
20/09/11 Naveeta Singh/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

AI connects Bhubaneswar-Kolkata, again

Bhubaneswar : After a gap of over three years, Air India has decided to reintroduce a daily flight connecting Bhubaneswar and Kolkata from September 23.
The aircraft will leave Kolkata at 6.50 pm and arrive in Bhubaneswar at 7.35 pm. On its return journey, the flight will take off from Biju Patnaik Airport at 8.05 pm and will land at Kolkata at 8.50 pm.
20/09/11 Times of India

Read More

AAI to approach govt to raise Rs 5000cr through bonds

The Airports Authority of India (AAI), which runs 125 airports across the country, would approach the government to allow it to raise Rs 5,000 crore through infrastructure bonds, its top official said today.

"We will again approach the government to allow us to issue infrastructure bonds for the next phase of development of 15 airports during the 12th Plan period," AAI Chairman VP Agrawal told reporters.

AAI's plea to raise a similar amount through tax-free infrastructure bonds in 2009 to develop 35 non-metro airports was rejected by the government then. The modernisation and upgradation work on many of these airports has already been completed.

Replying to questions on the sidelines of a seminar on the Indian aviation sector organised by Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, he said these bonds could be tax-free but the government would have to take a decision on the entire issue.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had announced in the 2011-12 general budget that government would allow issuance of tax-free infrastructure bonds worth Rs 30,000 crore by various bodies in the current financial year.

The 15 airports which are to be developed in the next phase would be those non-metro airports "which can be revived and where there is a big traffic potential" that can be developed by the airlines over a few years, he had said.

19/09/11 PTI/Moneycontrol.com

Read More

Kingfisher flight makes harsh landing

Bangalore: A Kingfisher Airlines flight from Delhi made a rough landing in Bangalore giving a jolt to the passengers late evening at the Bengaluru International Airport on Sunday.

Captain Salaluddin on the commercial flight (Airbus 8321) announced:?“Sorry for the harsh landing ladies and gentlemen, I was training my under officer (Gaurav), he will get the hang of it soon.”

A senior IPS officer who was in the aircraft told Deccan Herald:?“One could realise that the pilot was flying low and even the approach for landing was wrong. Finally, the pilot lost control of the aircraft and did a very harsh landing.”

18/09/11 Deccan Herald

Read More

A-I Express to operate direct flights to three Kerala cities

Muscat: In a move that is bound to bring cheers to Kerala expatriates, Air India Express (A-I Express) will now be operating direct flights to the southern Indian state as well as increase the number of flights.

A-I Express, the Indian budget airline, has rescheduled its flight operations and from October 31, the airline will be operating direct flights to its three destinations in Kerala — Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi — from Muscat, in addition to the addition of two new flights to its fleet.

According to the new schedule, from Muscat, A-I Express will be operating daily seven standalone flights per week to Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram and four flights per week to Kochi. From Salalah, the airline will be operating two standalone flights per week to Kozhikode, one to Thiruvananthapuram, and one to Kochi.

The airline will now be operating 19 flights per week as against the existing 17 flights per week.

“In the winter schedule, which begins on October 30, Air India Express will be rationalising its routes between the Sultanate and India, especially focusing on Kerala, to offer convenient connectivity to passengers. The changes were made at the headquarters in India to meet the growing market demand. The new schedule will be more helpful for the passengers,” Mohit Sain, Air India’s Muscat country manager, told Times of Oman.

19/09/11 Rejimon K/Times of Oman

Read More

MMRDA accused of fraud in redevelopment of Mumbai Airport

Many respondents who sent suggestions and objections to a notice issued by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the special planning authority for airport region, alleged that the plan for redevelopment of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport was a fraud.

As per the proposal, HDIL, a private developer, is to construct rehabilitation colonies for slum dwellers occupying the airport land, while GVK, the company that has tied up with Airport Authority of India (AAI) to transform the existing airport, is to pay for this redevelopment.

At a public hearing for suggestions and objections held by MMRDA, BJP general secretary Parag Alawani alleged that this plan was total eyewash. “It simply means using airport land for commercial purpose. We demand an immediate withdrawal of the plan,” said Alawani.

Meanwhile, RTI activist Anil Galgali has also raised a number of queries. “In the past, the AAI had started rehabilitation of these slums. Shivshahi Punarvasan Prakalp Ltd, a state government undertaking, constructed the pilot project at Saki Naka costing Rs25 crore to AAI. Taking into consideration the increased cost, it would cost AAI not more than Rs1200 crore for entire rehabilitation work.

19/09/11 Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Work on Bangalore airport 2nd runway to start next year

Bangalore: The Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) plans to take up work on the second runway next year.

According to Mr G.V. Krishna Reddy, Chairman, GVK Group, which has 43 per cent stake in BIAL, work on the second runway at the airport would be taken up next year, and work on the third runway will begin after that. He said this on the sidelines of the Regional Celebration of Civil Aviation Centenary at Bangalore on Monday.

BIAL operates the Bengaluru International Airport.

Work on the expansion of terminal building is underway at the airport. BIAL plans to expand the terminal from 72,000 sq.m to 1.34 lakh sq.m. Mr Reddy said that once that expansion work is done, work on the second runway will start.

Speaking at the event, Mr S.V. Ranganath, Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka, said that work on expansion of regional airports at Mangalore, Mysore and Hubli was also in full swing with the State Government contributing through allocation of land and water.

Other small airports that are coming up through the public-private partnership model in the State are at Gulbarga, Bidar, Shimoga and Hassan, he pointed out.

19/09/11 Business Line

Read More

Pune needs new airport to sustain growth: Governor K Sankaranarayanan

Pune: Governor K Sankaranarayanan on Sunday stressed on the need for Pune to have an international airport. “An international airport is needed to keep up the pace of economic growth that the city has been witnessing in the last few years. The citizens have waited for too long to enjoy the privileges of an international airport,” he said.

The governor was speaking as chief guest at the award of excellence ceremony organised by the Top Management Consortium (TMC) at a city hotel.

According to him, Pune is a world-class city and its people deserve nothing less than world-class infrastructure. And the city needs a world-class international airport on a priority basis.

“Pune is growing horizontally and vertically. It will bring with it a whole lot of problems of infrastructure, road development, supply of potable water, sanitation and traffic congestion, which can acquire serious proportions unless timely measures are taken to address them,” the governor noted.

19/09/11 Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Cracks in windscreen, AI flight makes priority landing

Kolkata: A Port Blair-Kolkata Air India flight made a priority landing in Kolkata on Sunday after its windscreen developed cracks shortly before touching down, airport sources said.
Air India's flight AI-788 with 59 passengers on board took off from Port Blair on scheduled time at 8.15 am.
The aircraft landed safely at 10.30 pm, the sources said.
18/09/11 Indian Express

Read More

CIAL to have new world-class terminal for international travel

Nedumbassery: In an attempt to match up to the passenger amenities offered by new-generation airports such as the Bangalore and Hyderabad airports, and envisaging the future growth in passenger traffic, the Cochin International Airport Limited here is all set to establish a new international terminal having a higher passenger-handling capacity.
According to top company officials, CIAL has worked out a proposal to develop a world-class workstation for international travel, roughly estimated to cost about Rs.250 crore.
The plan will be presented before the company Director Board on September 24 and the works on the project will begin soon after receiving its approval.
“The upcoming terminal will have the capacity to handle about 2,000 passengers an hour as against the 1,200-passengers capacity of the existing international terminal,'' a senior company official said.
After the launch of the new terminal, the existing international terminal will be converted into a domestic terminal while the present domestic terminal will be allotted for private executive jets and airport retailing activities.
Given the current rate of growth, the annual passenger traffic through CIAL is expected to reach 75 lakh from the current 43 lakh by the end of this decade.
18/09/11 The Hindu

Read More

Low visibility forces Ludhiana-bound flight to land in Chandigarh

Ludhiana: Passengers had a harrowing time on Friday after a Delhi-Ludhiana flight was forced to land in Chandigarh due to low visibility at the Sahnewal airport. They had to reach Ludhiana from Chandigarh in buses and taxis in pouring rain.
The Ludhiana-bound Air India flight took off from Delhi as usual, but just when it was about to land in Ludhiana, the visibility around the airport became low. As landings at the airport are still dependent on natural light, the flight was not able to land. The plane kept hovering above the airport for some time and finally was diverted to Chandigarh.
18/09/11 daily bhaskar.com

Read More

Fly for free from Amritsar to Mumbai!

Jalandhar: Come October and air connectivity between Europe and Amritsar will get strengthen further giving boost to the Punjab tourism! The Ministry of Civil Aviation has given its nod to the direct flight from Vienna (Austria) to Amritsar.
Moreover, the passengers travelling in the flight will get an incentive of flying from Amritsar to Mumbai and Takht Sri Hazur Sahib totally free of cost, while the passengers boarding the flight elsewhere will have to pay Rs 5,000 to 6,000.
Operational from the first week of October, the flight will enable the passengers from Vienna (Austria) to reach India in just 6 hours covering 30 other destinations in Europe.
Sharing the information, Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu said, “The move would give a boost of Rs 70 to 100 crore annually to the tourism of Punjab."
18/09/11 daily bhaskar.com

Read More

AAI officer kills self at airport

Kolkata: A senior Airports Authority of India official jumped off the eight-storey control tower building that houses the air traffic control on Saturday afternoon.
Though the general manager did not leave behind a suicide note, police ruled out foul play and said the act could have been triggered by severe bouts of depression that he had been suffering over the past three months. The 51-year-old is survived by his wife and daughter.
Kushal Kumar Gupta, who was in charge of coordinating aerodrome activities at Patna, Bhubaneswar, Ranchi, Port Blair, Gaya, Raipur and Cooch Behar, entered the tower building around 2pm and is suspected to have taken the elevator to the seventh floor where the aviation safety office, anti-hijacking room and regional training centre are located. He then took the stairs to the terrace that also leads to the air traffic control (ATC) and jumped off it around 2.20pm.
Though Gupta was rushed to a hospital a kilometre away, the 100-ft fall crushed his hip and backbone and ruptured his organs, leading to massive internal and external hemorrhage. According to hospital records, doctors declared him dead at 4.10pm.
Colleagues said Gupta was suffering from depression and was undergoing treatment. According to sources, a family discord had led to Gupta taking up separate quarters. While his wife and daughter lived in Beliaghata, he had moved to a flat at Jessore Road.
18/09/11 Times of India

Read More

Spanish Opposition Criticizes ‘Feverish' Tender for Airports

Spain's opposition People's Party, which polls indicate will win elections on Nov. 20, criticized the government's tender to sell management contracts for Madrid and Barcelona airports, saying the timetable is “feverish.”
“It's not acceptable to rush through the biggest asset sale as they are doing with the privatization of Aena,” Andres Ayala, the PP's infrastructure spokesman, told lawmakers yesterday, according to an e-mailed statement from the party. ‘It is being done at the worst moment.''
The Socialist government wants to raise at least 3.7 billion euros ($5.1 billion) from the management contract for Madrid Barajas airport and 1.6 billion euros from Barcelona El Prat.
Ferrovial SA, the owner of London's Heathrow airport, has teamed up with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Australia's Industry Funds Management Pty Ltd. and Infinity Investments of Abu Dhabi for its offer to run both airports, while Acciona SA is allied to Frankfurt airport operator Fraport AG.
A group led by Fomento de Construcciones & Contratas SA and including Singapore's Changi Airport Group and Munich-based Siemens AG is also bidding for the two hubs, as is GMR Infrastructure Ltd. of India and a team including Aeroports de Paris and Global Infrastructure Partners of the U.S.
Grupo San Jose is bidding solely for Madrid Barajas, while Barcelona-based Abertis Infraestructuras SA wants to run only its home city's hub.
17/09/11 Bloomberg/Businessweek

Read More

High on alerts, airport conducts out-of-turn drill

Mumbai: With intelligence inputs citing a grave terror threat to the airport, and the same getting authenticated in past few weeks via different terror e-mails, security agencies conducted a mock drill yesterday to ensure that the airport is well-equipped to deal with any menace to security.
On Friday afternoon, security agencies Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), and the state police, in conjunction with the airport staff - conducted the mock anti-hijack exercise at the secondary runway of Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA).
A passenger bus posed as an aircraft, with CISF, BCAS and MIAL staff enacting as passengers, crew and hijackers.
The drills at the airport are usually conducted once every year. After the last one was conducted in December 2010, the next was scheduled for November-December this year. But the delicacy of the situation necessitated expediting the exercise.
"Over the past few weeks, we have been receiving e-mails from different terror groups which maintain that they will target different airports. The mock drill was not scheduled.
But in the midst of the threats, we decided to conduct it early this time," a top BCAS official from Delhi said.
17/09/11 Bipin Kumar Singh/MiD DAY

Read More

Customs blames Air India for flight delays

Kochi: Customs today alleged that "flight delays and difficulties" faced by international passengers of Air India flights last week at Cochin International Airport was due to the non-observance by Air India of Customs Rules and Procedures that gained importance in light of global terrorist activities. In a statement, Customs said last week?s delay of Muscat and Sharjah bound Air India flights from the International Airport at Nedumbassery near here was due to lapses on the part of AI, in not submitting Passenger and Cargo Manifest and crew personal property declarations to Customs. These are mandatory documents required by Customs at every airport during the time of arrival and departure of international flights, the statement said. Customs officers primarily rely on these documents to detect cases of smuggling of drugs, fake currency, contrabands and other wildlife related matters, which are of national security concern -- especially at present when terrorist organisations are behind such activities, the statement said.
17/09/11 PTI/IBN Live

Read More

Airport at Kannur to take wings

Kochi: It seems that first step towards building a runway at the proposed airport at Kannur will take off in near future. Excise Minister K Babu has said that the construction of the runway for the proposed airport will begin next year. The plan will be worked out in such a way that the first aircraft can land at the airport in 2014.
The minister said that the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has been asked to prepare a project report for the airport. The Centre for Earth Sciences (CESS) will conduct the environmental studies. Both the reports are expected to ready in four months.
17/09/11 T Ramavarman/Times of India

Read More

Deploy police at Juhu airport: AAI

Mumbai: Policemen have finally taken their post at Juhu airport . Following the security threat last Tuesday, which specified that the Mumbai airport is in danger of being attacked by small planes, Airports Authority of India sprhung into action. After a series of high-level meetings with security heads, AAI asked the local police to deploy personnel to check passengers and guard the airport boundary.
Juhu airport has been in focus since the security threat due to its porous boundary and lack of security. Almost 1.5 meters of the airport boundary has been broken into by Nehru Nagar slums which have encroached 29 acres of the airport premises. The slums are only 100 meters from the airport's secondary and more frequently used runway.
17/09/11 Chinmayi Shalya/Times of India

Read More

New Governor sweats it out at powerless airport

Chennai: People across the state might be waiting to host the new Governor K Rosaiah, but on a warm Friday forenoon at the Chennai airport, he was made to wait in a lounge devoid of electricity due to a power outage followed by a generator failure. Rosaiah was slated to depart by the 10.50 am Air India flight to Vishakapatnam and had arrived at the VVIP gate (No 5) a little after 10.10 am.
According to sources in airport security, his security detail accompanied him into the VIP lounge, where he was supposed to relax till all the other passengers had cleared security and boarded the flight. However, the source revealed that there was a sudden power cut and the automatic generator did not turn on. After five minutes of waiting for it, AAI technicians were summoned to fix it. It apparently turned out to be a major fault and took over 40 minutes to repair. “During this time, the Governor had to sweat it out in the enclosed lounge which had little ventilation,” revealed the source.
“The governor’s departure was a last minute fixture and we were not expecting him to come,” explained Airport Director E P Hareendranath.
17/09/11 Indian Express/IBN Live

Read More

Jaipur Airport's runway project deferred by 6 months

Jaipur: The much-awaited expansion and streamlining of the Jaipur Airport runway has been deferred by six months.
This means that the big aircrafts like Boeing 747 will continue to elude the premier international airport in the city.
The runway work at Jaipur Airport was slated to begin from October, but owing to some difficulties in processing of tenders, the entire exercise will at least take another six months to start.
The major project was cleared by Airports Authority of India (AAI) some eight months ago. Entire work of extending and strengthening the runway was expected to take up to two years to complete.
With the crucial work not likely to commence before February-March 2012, the planned partial closure of the airport's runway from next month will no longer take place, sources with the Jaipur Airport said.
17/09/11 daily bhaskar.com

Read More

Kabootarbazi bid by couple, dummy daughter foiled

Ahmedabad: It was the perfect plan. This couple could have easily passed through the immigration check at Ahmedabad airport with a dummy daughter and her fake passport. A tip-off from city crime branch officials put a spanner in their works. Immigration officials at the airport successfully foiled a 'kabootarbazi' or human trafficking bid of a Chandlodia-based couple.
The couple, Jitendrakumar Hiralal and Daminiben Soni, was caught taking Komal Patel, 21, a resident of Jasalpur village in Kadi, by making her their daughter. The couple and Patel were caught from Ahmedabad airport on Thursday night when they were to board the Ahmedabad-Delhi-Chicago Air India 011 flight. The couple was helping Komal illegally migrate to Toronto via the US and had a tourist visa for Canada.
Immigration officials said that the trio was handed over to crime branch officials and the mastermind of the entire plan is Saijgam, Kalol-based agent Amrutlal Desai.
17/09/11 Times of India

Read More

AI flight makes emergency landing in Salalah

Muscat: Budget airline plane from India reportedly made an emergency landing at Salalah airport yesterday morning due to technical snag.
The Air India (A-I) Express flight from the south Indian state of Kerala, with nearly 150 passengers on board, made ‘emergency landing’ at one end of the runways and was towed to the remote bay.
The passengers were later transported from the remote bay to the terminal. The flight, which was scheduled to return to India yesterday itself at 12:50pm, has been cancelled.
One of the passengers travelling in the aircraft told Times of Oman that the ACs were switched off an hour before the emergency landing and an announcement was made that the plane was going to make a “risky landing”.
An Air India official in Oman confirmed that some technical problems had occurred to the flight.
Meanwhile, Salalah airport officials were ready with all kinds of safety measures to meet any kind of emergency situation. Fire engines, water tankers, ambulances and a well-equipped emergency team were present at the scene.
“A few minutes before the landing, we were alerted by the crew about the situation. There was a little trouble during the landing,” Ashraf, a passenger of the flight, told Times of Oman.
17/09/11 Rejimon K/Times of Oman

Read More

New company for ground handling operations at Kochi

Kochi: Air India will soon hand over the ground handling operations at the Cochin airport to AI/SATS, the joint venture it had formed with the Singapore Air Terminal Service.
A spokesman for Air India told a group of reporters here that the company will upgrade the quality and speed of ground handling operations. The new company will take over the operations after Air India management formally hands over a 'letter of introduction' to the CIAL on this. The AI/SATS has already been deployed in the airports at Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and partly in Thiruvananthapuram
One of the new advantages of the new company is that it can bring down the turnaround time for the aircraft landing at the airport. Presently, the passengers have to wait at least 15 minutes to get their luggage cleared at the airport, but with the new company is targeting it to be brought down to six minutes, the spokesman said.
17/09/11 T Ramavarman/Times of India

Read More

2 held for smuggling imported watches

New Delhi: Two men were arrested on Thursday night by IGI Airport custom officials, one for carrying an expensive ladies watch in his underwear and the other for concealing four Rolex watches in his rectum.
"Seven high-end watches were seized at the IGI Airport by preventive officers of air-customs. The collective value of these seven watches is Rs 90 lakh," said Ashutosh Baranwal, assistant commissioner of customs, IGI Airport.
In the first case, passenger Asif Khan Ahmed Khan, a resident of Thane in Maharashtra, arrived from Hong Kong on Air India flight AI-317 on Thursday night. He was found wearing a solid gold Rolex watch studded with diamonds and sapphires. When officials put him through more detailed search, they discovered a Franck Muller ladies Geneve 'heart watch' in his underwear. The market value of the two watches wad pegged at Rs 46 lakh. "Khan is a PAN card holder with a declared business of readymade garments worth Rs 6 lakh per annum," said Baranwal.
17/09/11 Times of India

Read More

Fly for free from Amritsar to Mumbai!

Jalandhar: Come October and air connectivity between Europe and Amritsar will get strengthen further giving boost to the Punjab tourism! The Ministry of Civil Aviation has given its nod to the direct flight from Vienna (Austria) to Amritsar.
Moreover, the passengers travelling in the flight will get an incentive of flying from Amritsar to Mumbai and Takht Sri Hazur Sahib totally free of cost, while the passengers boarding the flight elsewhere will have to pay Rs 5,000 to 6,000.
Operational from the first week of October, the flight will enable the passengers from Vienna (Austria) to reach India in just 6 hours covering 30 other destinations in Europe.
16/09/11 daily bhaskar.com

Read More

SC bans contractual engagement of trolley retrievers in Delhi Airport

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL) to abolish all contract labour at Delhi's international and domestic airports and regularise the services of trolley retrievers.
Much to the cheer of 136 trolley retrievers who were employed by contractor TDI International Private Ltd at the airports in 1992 but were sacked in 2003, the court directed DIAL to pay Rs 5 lakh to each of them as compensation since they could not be re-employed in place of the present work force.
Disposing of six petitions by employees and DIAL, a bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma said the July 26, 2004 central notification under the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act (CLRAA) prohibiting employment of contract labour in establishments of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) at IGI airport and domestic terminal was binding on DIAL as it took over the operations from AAI.
16/09/11 Times of India

Read More

Drukair ATR 42-500 grounded for the sixth time

About 35 Drukair passengers were stranded for a night in Kolkata, India, on September 14 after their flight KB 211 was cancelled.
The flight that was scheduled for 12:30pm take off on Wednesday was able to do so only at 9:15am yesterday.
A 22-year old passenger said that after waiting for about two hours in Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International airport, Kolkata that afternoon, they were told that the flight was cancelled because the ATR 42-500 had technical failure.
The corporate employee said that when she went to inquire, Drukair officials in Kolkata said they could not provide more details besides there being some technical failure with the aircraft.
“We were kept in good hotels and our expenses were borne by Drukair but we could not make any communication because it was too expensive,” a passenger said.
However, Drukair’s chief executive officer, Tandin Jamso, said the aircraft could not make its flight because of maintenance and not technical problem.
“We do this all the time,” he said. But he did not explain why another aircraft was not substituted for the scheduled service when the aircraft was under maintenance.
Tandin Jamso also said that no passengers were grounded as another airbus was sent in place of the aircraft.
This was the sixth grounding of the aircraft in its less than four months service with Drukair.
16/09/11 Kuensel Online

Read More

T3 arrival flooded, flights affected

New Delhi In a first for Delhi, 117 mm rainfall was recorded in just one hour on Thursday near the IGI airport area. The sudden downpour hit flight movement. Drains outside the T3 terminal overflowed, flooding the arrival area.
Airport authorities shut down passenger movement in the domestic arrival lounge and diverted travellers through the international side of T3. Passengers had to walk through water, many with shoes in hand.
“When rainfall is as high as 117 mm in just one hour, we call it a cloudburst. This heavy deluge was witnessed in areas around the airport like Vasant Kunj and Dwarka,” said Dr R K Jenamani, Director-in-charge of the Met Department at IGI Airport.
The rain broke records in the Meteorological department’s observatory at the airport set up in January 1, 1952.
Since all recorded observation of rainfall is for a 24-hour period, the last it poured over the airport was 190.2 mm on September 16, 1963, recorded over 24 hours.
16/09/11 Express India

Read More

Kolkata man to sue Jet Airways for not allowing him to fly after accident

Mumbai: Ranjiv Ghosh has renamed Mumbai as a city of nightmares instead of dreams and blames Jet Airways for the same. In his most traumatic 48 hours ever, Ghosh first got bruises all over his face and 14 stitches on his leg after his bike skid on the slippery roads of Goa during a business trip on Monday and if that was not enough, Ghosh was further deplaned in Mumbai on Tuesday evening from a Jetlite connecting flight to Kolkata, deeming him unfit to fly due to his health conditions.
Later, the 34-year-old was allegedly left stranded at the Mumbai airport for over three hours on a wheel chair with his domestic help and finally just dropped to the Arogyanidhi hospital in Juhu in an ambulance and made to bear all expenses.
“While given a fit to fly certificate by doctors in Goa’s Vintage hospital I was explained that the stitches and pain may lead to temperature and risen blood pressure which proved true.
Therefore, I asked for a quilt for which I was asked to wait till Mumbai but instead they called a doctor there, who recorded my temperature as 100 degrees Celsius while it was 99, said I had high blood pressure and eventually they wanted me off-loaded to get a fresh fit to fly certificate while I was feeling just fine to fly,” said an agitated Ghosh who is now taking legal advice to approach the consumer court. The family has already filed an FIR in Kolkata which the police have promised to forward to the police station concerned in Mumbai.
16/09/11 Sunchika B Pandey/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

EIS on Mopa airport to begin on Oct 1

Panaji: The steering committee on Mopa airport on Thursday has decided to appoint EMRTC private consultant, New Delhi, to conduct an environment impact study (EIS) for the proposed greenfield Mopa airport. EIS will begin from October 1.
The steering committee meeting was chaired by chief minister Digambar Kamat.
Speaking to TOI, director of Mopa airport and North Goa collector Mihir Vardhan said, "To conduct the EIS, the state government has appointed EMRTC private consultant, New Delhi. They are empanelled consultants for airport study and will begin from October 1."
Vardhan stated that the consultant will take three months to complete the study. During the study, public hearing will be organized, objections and suggestions raised will be compiled, and then the final report will be sent to the appraisal committee of the government of India for the final approval.
16/09/11 Times of India

Read More

State govt scales down Kushinagar project

Lucknow Despite being declared as “non-viable” by private players in the past, the Uttar Pradesh government is in no mood to give up the idea of building an international airport in Kushinagar.
In its latest attempt to make the project viable, the government has scaled it down drastically, bringing down the cost of the project from over Rs 650 crore to Rs 230 crore.
This has been done by mainly cutting down on the land that was to be given as an incentive in Kushinagar and Kapilvasti to the private developer and also some of the infrastructure at the airport such as passenger boarding bridges and the cargo terminal. Even the area of the main terminal building has been reduced from 18,000 square metres to 6,250 square metres.
The government has decided to scale down the project and apply with the government of India for up to 20 per cent viability gap funding. That is not all. The government has also accepted the private players’ objections to its projection of passenger traffic: it has been reduced from four lakh passengers per year earlier to 2.5 lakh. Mainly, the expected footfall of international tourists, estimated at 3.2 lakh earlier, has been reduced to 1.9 lakh.
15/09/11 Maulshree Seth,Maulshree Seth/Express India

Read More

Maureen Wadia held for duty evasion at Mumbai airport

Mumbai: Maureen Wadia, the wife of Bombay Dyeing chairman Nusli Wadia, was detained at the Chhatrapati Sh- ivaji International airport for duty evasion on goods from Heathrow airport in London on Wednesday. Customs officials said that she was let off after paying Rs 5.30 lakh as duty.

Maureen is a former airhostess who heads Gladrags magazine and is a force behind the Mrs India beauty pageant.

Sources said she came by a Jet Airways flight UA 9822 on Wednesday morning. She was carrying fashion accessories like belts, expensive lingerie and perfumes from Italy and UK, collectively valued at Rs 15 lakh, an official said. She walked through the green channel when the Customs officials stopped her and questioned her for three hours.

Customs commissioner P M Govande confirmed that she had paid the duty.

15/09/11 Times of India

Read More

Heavy rains force 4 flights to go-around, one diversion at Delhi airport

New Delhi: A cloudburst followed by heavy rains hit air traffic movement at the Delhi airport this afternoon with at least one flight diverted and four others asked to make a 'go-around'.
The MeT office said it was one of the heaviest and "unprecedented" downpour of this season, with 117 mm recorded within an hour which could completely submerge any low-lying airport like Mumbai.
Water-logging on the arrival side of the IGI Airport inconvenienced passengers which led the airport operator to arrange the delivery of their baggages on the conveyor belts at the international side as a precautionary measure, a DIAL spokesperson said.
A Jet Airways flight, 9W-2632, was made to 'go-around' at 1449 hours. But as it was still unable to land due to the heavy downpour, it was finally diverted to Jaipur at 1515 hours, the spokesperson said.
Four flights of IndiGo, JetLite, Kingfisher and Air India, which were scheduled to land between 1415 and 1515 hours, were made to do a 'go around' due to the heavy rains.
15/09/11 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Bird hits Spicejet flight in Gujarat, damages nose

Ahmedabad: Just a week after the airport authorities' claimed to have reduced the number of bird hit incidents, a Spicejet flight was hit by a bird on Wednesday morning. The accident was so fierce that the nose of the aircraft -Radome got damaged and this left 68 passengers high and dry.
According to the sources at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPI), the Pune-Ahmedabad-Jaipur flight was hit by a bird (kite) at 9:35 am while the flight was making a landing. The bird hit is said to have completely damaged the nose of the aircraft, said a source, adding that the strike made a dent of about 1 foot in the aircraft's body. A radar (weather radar) housed inside the dome-shaped Radome was also damaged by the impact of the hit.
15/09/11 Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Chennai ATC to control traffic over 20,000 ft

New Delhi: From September 22, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) — which handles the air traffic control (ATC) functions — will launch the integration of upper airspace throughout southern India from the Chennai Air Traffic Control (ATC). Top AAI
sources told this newspaper in New Delhi that this would mean that the Chennai ATC would control traffic movements of aircraft above 20,000 feet throughout southern India which will result in drastic cut in the workload of air traffic controllers and “seamless” air traffic movement. This will also ensure consistent vertical and horizontal separation of aircraft throughout the airspace.
Sources said the other ATC centres at Mangalore, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram would handle the air traffic movement in their respective areas below 20,000 feet.
15/09/11 Sridhar Kumaraswami/Asian Age

Read More

Passenger De-planed for Opening Craft's Emergency Door

New Delhi: A New Delhi-bound flight was delayed for three hours at the Lucknow airport after a passenger opened the emergency exit of the plane, the Kingfisher Airlines said Wednesday.
"The aircraft was stationary at that time as boarding was still in progress. The guest was de-planed and handed over to the authorities. After a thorough examination, the aircraft was cleared for departure," it added.
14/09/11 IANS/Daijiworld

Read More

Flight carrying Andhra CM hovers for 45min due to bad weather

Hyderabad: Poor weather forced a Kingfisher Airlines aircraft with Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on board to hover for over 45 minutes this morning before it landed safely at Madhurapudi airport in Rajahmundry, giving some anxious moments to the state administration.
The Air Traffic Control at Madhurapudi airport did not give ground clearance for the aircraft from Hyderabad to land at the scheduled time 10.30 AM as there was "no clear visibility"
This forced the ATR aircraft to hover in the skies for about 45 minutes before the ATC finally gave the clearance for landing, official sources said.
"There was no rain or strong wind. The sky was also not cloudy but there was no sunshine. Hence, the ATC did not give the ground clearance for the aircraft's landing," state Minister for Stamps and Registration Thota Narasimham told PTI over phone from Rajahmundry.
The flight finally touched ground at 11.15 AM.
15/09/11 PTI/Deccan Herald

Read More

Al-Qaeda’s bombs from sky threat adds to vigil at airports

Mumbai: Security agencies are on high alert after receiving inputs from central intelligence agencies that al-Qaeda could carry out an attack in the city. The inputs assume high significance as they come in the wake of the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Three alerts came in three days prompting authorities to beef up security.
Union home minister P Chidambaram, who was in town on Monday, held a meeting with chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, senior ministers and police officials, a day before the completion of the second month after the 13/7 Mumbai blasts.
According to sources, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) sent inputs that the al-Qaeda planned to carry out an attack using small aircraft and charter planes. The input said Qaeda wanted to send a message that the outfit was alive and kicking.
“It says that nations friendly to the US can be targeted by Qaeda,” said an intelligence official. He refused to elaborate.
14/09/11 Daily News & Analysis

Read More

Encroachers ransack Malda airport office

Malda: Members of 35 families, who have allegedly encroached upon Malda airport land, agitated and ransacked the airport office on Tuesday after they were served evacuation notice. They claimed that the airport authorities had connived with a promoter to build high-rises after evacuating them. They vowed a greater agitation if the authority does not budge.
Around a hundred families of Ward No. 23 and 24 of English Bazaar had been allegedly living on airport land. Among them, 60 families got 'patta' (right of the land) while 35 families were yet to get the right. A few days ago, the airport authority served them notice to vacate the land. They were asked to attend Tuesday's hearing. But in the morning, 500 people rammed into the airport office and began agitating.
14/09/11 Times of India

Read More

AAI, vendors meet to redress grievances

To build an effective business partnership with the vendors, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is working on a series of suggestions to ensure more transparency in its dealings and address issues of cost reduction and curbing corrupt practices.
The decision came after a meeting AAI Chairman VP Agrawal and other officials had with the vendors here, which was also attended by several independent external monitors like former Civil Aviation Secretary M Madhavan Nambiar, Director General SCOPE UD Choubey and former CPWD Director General JN Bhawani Prasad, an AAI spokesperson said.
Agrawal said the meeting gave the vendors an opportunity to redress their grievances and create mutual trust so as to deal with the issues of cost reduction, curbing corrupt practice and improving image of AAI and vendors collectively. The AAI chief also assured the vendors that their suggestions would be duly considered for appropriate decisions so that "a transparent and efficient business partnership" can be carried by the vendors and the airports body.
14/09/11 PTI/Moneycontrol.com

Read More

First Haj flight to leave from Karipur on September 29

The first Haj flight from the State will leave Calicut International Airport, Karipur, on September 29.
Saudi Arabian Airlines will operate 27 flights to carry 8,100 pilgrims under government supervision from Kerala, Lakshadweep, and Mahe till October 15.
Karipur is the embarkation point for the pilgrims from Kerala, Lakshadweep, and Mahe.
State Haj Committee chairman P.T.A. Rahim, MLA, said the inaugural flight would take off from Karipur at 10.45 a.m. with 300 pilgrims. The pilgrims would be flown to Medina, and their return would be from Jeddah.
The committee, on Tuesday, released the pilgrim manifests indicating the date of journey for the pilgrims. Mr. Rahim said the pilgrims should ensure their journey date from the Haj committee website.
14/09/11 The Hindu

Read More

Scala Drives 400 Screen Indira Gandhi International Airport Network at New Delhi

New Delhi: Scala India announced today that Scala software was chosen to drive the first ever Digital Signage Airport Advertising network in Terminal 3 at the Indira Gandhi International Airport – New Delhi, the largest and newest airport facility in India.
One of India’s Leading OOH Media Agency has obtained the advertising rights for Indira Gandhi International Airport, where they now can offer both static and digital advertising to their customers. For the digital advertising possibilities they have chosen Scala to deliver the software solution for their network. The OOH network at Indira Gandhi International Airport - Delhi consists of:
180 individual 65 inch screens in portrait mode, spread over various locations around the airport including travelators, departure gates and security hold areas of both international and domestic piers.
A 48 screen giant video wall about 10m x 2m in total dimension at the domestic departures section.
14/09/11 PRWeb

Read More

Soon, CCTVs at Sahnewal airport

Ludhiana: Close-circuit television (CCTV) cameras will soon be installed at Sahnewal airport. The recent blast outside Delhi high court has expedited the project that has been hanging fire since a year.
Sources said, "When flight between Ludhiana and Delhi was resumed in April 2010, the authorities were told to install CCTVs at the airport. Security experts from Delhi had visited the airport and it was decided that 18 cameras would be installed at all the passenger areas, including arrival, departure and waiting rooms.''
"A private company team is expected to visit the airport next week to complete the project work,'' they added.
13/09/11 Nidhin Singhi/Times of India

Read More

Runway fiasco: Mumbai desperate for a new airport?

Mumbai: The past one week has almost been a nightmare for the passengers and authorities at the Mumbai airport. There have been at least five near misses or technical problems in one week.
The Turkish Airlines flight stuck in mud was towed away only after three days. The incident put the main runway of the Mumbai airport out of action for three days. During that time at least 18 flights were diverted, at least two airlines canceled their flights and only 15 to 25 per cent of flights were on time.
Just one incident is all it took to throw one of India's busiest airports out of gear for three days. The Mumbai airport, that many call overburdened, sees over 700 flights a day on an average, and when things are going smoothly, only 60-70 per cent of them are on time at this airport.
While the newly refurbished main runway is now up to international standards, there are still gaping holes in the airport infrastructure.
The vital Surface Movement Radar equipment acquired in 2008, is not yet functional. The SMR is vital for monitoring ground traffic.
The secondary runway cannot be used when visibility drops below 1400 metres, as opposed to the main runway which can be used even when the visibility is 550 metres.
12/09/11 Raksha Shetty/CNN-IBN

Read More