Showing posts with label airports Sep 2012. Show all posts
Showing posts with label airports Sep 2012. Show all posts

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Mumbai & Delhi airports cash in on growing international traffic

New Delhi: Mumbai and Delhi airports are taking steps towards becoming global international hubs. As the government is also helping the country’s national and financial capitals cash in on the growing international air traffic, the airports are now connected with most key cities of the world.
Mumbai airport’s transit numbers went up from eight per cent of the total passengers in 2007-08 to 14 per cent in 2011-12, while Delhi airport saw it growing from four per cent to 13 per cent. Delhi airport surpassed Mumbai in total number of passengers handled in 2009-10.
According to International Air Transport Association standards, each transfer passenger is treated as one arrival plus one departure and hence counted twice.
“MIAL (Mumbai International Airport Ltd) is closely working with anchor airlines in India to develop Mumbai as a hub to increase sixth freedom passengers by connecting the regions across,” according to an MIAL spokesperson.
30/09/12 Disha Kanwar/Business Standard

Cancellation of Air India Express flight to Kochi draws ire

Muscat: Hundred-and-eighteen passengers who were supposed to fly from Muscat to Kochi, the commercial capital of the southern Indian state of Kerala, in an Air India Express flight, were accommodated in hotels in Ruwi as their flight developed a "technical glitch-.
"The aircraft has developed a technical glitch before its flight. Engineers are doing their best to resolve the problem. As soon as the problem is resolved, the passengers will be flown to their destination,- Amresh Chaudhary, country manager of Air India in Muscat, told Times of Oman.
Meanwhile, the passengers who were stranded due to the flight cancellation were seen visibly agitated at the airport
"The flight was to take off at 11.50am and all the passengers had checked in. There was no information initially. We were waiting for the bus to transports us to the aircraft. By 12pm, some officials came and said that the flight could only leave the next day,- Reji Sahul, one of the stranded Air Indian Express passengers, said.
30/09/12 Times of Oman

Samiti contests Aranmula airport company’s claims

Pathanamthitta: The claim of the KGS Aranmula International Airport Limited that the company has completed all formalities for setting up the private airport in Aranmula is suspicious and misleading, Thiruvaranmula Paithruka Grama Karma Samiti (TPGKS) president K. Haridas has said.
In a statement here on Saturday, he alleged that the company official’s announcement on the proposal to set up a special economic zone in Aranmula amounted to challenging the government.
The three villages of Aranmula, Mallappuzhassery and Kidangannur were declared industrial areas through the backdoor, keeping people in the dark, he alleged. Mr. Haridas said the government should clarify whether the announcement of the private company was with the knowledge of the State authorities. He said the vacation court here had issued an injunction order preventing the KGS Group from entering the illegally converted portion of paddy land in Aranmula.
30/09/12 The Hindu

New Kolkata terminal to miss Puja date as airlines refuse to move in

Kolkata: If you hoped to fly for your Puja vacation from the glitzy new terminal at Kolkata, be prepared to be disappointed. It's unlikely to be ready before the year-end because airlines have refused to move until the aerobridges are in place.
The recent honeybee invasions at parking bays in front of the new terminal may have played a role in the airlines' insistences on aerobridges. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) was keen to inaugurate the terminal on the eve of Puja by getting at least one carrier to begin operations, but it looks like the wait may stretch to early next year.
The Airlines Operators' Committee (AOC) — a forum of domestic and foreign carriers that have operations in Kolkata — has informed airport director B P Sharma and other senior officials that they won't move before the aerobridges are ready.
30/09/12 Subhro Niyogi/Times of India

Soon BA fliers to get boarding pass a day before flight

New Delhi: In the near future, fliers on British Airways will receive boarding passes electronically 24 hours before their flight which will save time and the hassle of going through check-in process.
The passengers will just have to drop their bags at the counters and move for security check to board the plane.
"If trials of this new automated check-in service succeed, we aim to make the service an option for all customers across British Airways network by the end of 2013," Andrew Lord, BA's Director of Operations, told PTI here.
Twenty-four hours before flight, the customers would be automatically checked in and assigned a seat. They would receive their boarding pass electronically, saving them the time and effort of going through traditional check-in, Steve Clark, Senior VP Customer Service and Operations, said.
30/09/12 PTI/Business Standard

Mahindra Satyam begins building IT centre at Nagpur airport

Nagpur: Leading global consulting and IT services provider Mahindra Satyam today announced the commencement of construction of IT development centre at MIHAN SEZ at a formal ceremony here.
The company is setting up 1,000-seat IT Development Centre at an initial investment of Rs 80 crore and the first phase would be operational over the next 15-18 months.
Senior Vice President of the company, Shivanand Raja, said that "Expansion into tier-II cities is the logical expansion of our global delivery model that will augur well for our quest towards Mission 2015".    
MIHAN or Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur spread over 4,354 hectares is perhaps the biggest development project currently underway in the country, he said.
29/09/12 Press Trust of India/Business Standard  

Trafficking: 14 Lankans deported

Fourteen Sri Lankan nationals held here in connection with the human trafficking case boarded the flight to Colombo from the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport on Saturday morning, as part of the deportation under the Foreigners Act.
Another Sri Lankan, included among those to be deported, could not board the flight owing to an issue over the passport. The Kollam District Collector had issued orders to deport 15 Sri Lankan nationals of Tamil origin.
All 15 were acquitted from the case as victims by the Kollam First Class Magistrate Court II on August 18.
Fourteen of them were lodged in Gandhi Bhavan, Pathanapuram, while a woman identified as Muthumala was staying in a private lodge.
She was out on bail after the court acquitted her and was not under the protection of the district administration. Sakthikulangara SI Rupesh Raj said that one of the Sri Lankans, identified as Kanakaselvam, could not travel back as he had not retrieved his passport, which was surrendered in the court.
30/09/12 New Indian Express/IBN Live

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Hubli-Bangalore SpiceJet flight receives hearty response

Hubli: The renewed air connectivity between Bangalore-Hubli has been received with much enthusiasm by passengers. About 50 of the 78 seats of SpiceJet aircraft flying to Bangalore from here were occupied on Thursday. Almost the same number of seats were booked on Friday too.
SpiceJet started its Bangalore-Hubli operations of Thursday. Due to bad weather the airline's maiden flight from Bangalore scheduled at 7.50pm was delayed by about one-and-a-half hours, as a result of which passengers were put to inconvenience. The flight finally took off at 9.25pm and arrived at Hubli airport at 10.28pm. Staff of the airport authority of Hubli welcomed the passengers with bouquets.
29/09/12 Times of India

Vizag airport to get cargo terminal soon

Chennai/ Visakhapatnam: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has agreed to set up the terminal, which will be ready in about eight months, said KS Rao, airport director, AAI.
Giving a presentation on the facilities at Vizag airport in a ‘round table on exports by air’ organised by the Air Travellers Association of India recently, he said, “We expects good quantity of foreign-bound air cargo from this place, mostly seafood, flowers, pharma, once the terminal building ready.”
As of now, only domestic cargo is allowed from the airport. Last financial year, the airport handled 1,046 tonne cargo and this year till August, this stood at 724 tonnes, registering a growth of 38 per cent compared with the corresponding period last year.
From March, international flight services has started from Vizag and everyday there is scope to export two tonne international cargo from here.
29/09/12 Vds Rama Raju/Business Standard

Eco hurdle ahead for Idukki airport

The attempt to kick-start the preliminary work of the proposed airport here, has prompted environmentalists and other organisations to raise the banner of opposition.
While one section claims that the setting up of the airport may disturb the ecological balance of the area, another section feels that the airport is being laid to increase conveyance facility of scientists visiting the Indian Neutrino Observatory in Theni, which is not far off from the region.
Rubbishing all these claims, the people’s representatives have said that the modern transporting facility will help tap the potential of a place like Idukki, which has immense tourism opportunities.
The tourism destination of Thekkady is around 15 km away and Munnar, around 85 km from the area.Chakkupallam panchayat president Antony Scaria Kuzhikkattu, who has worked hard to set the ball rolling, said that the people, who were evicted for the project, should be given suitable compensation.
29/09/12 P B Jayasankar/New Indian Express/IBN Live

Tiruvananthapuram Airport: Now, next gen Air Traffic Control

Thiruvananthapuram: The Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is adding Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) technology to its air traffic control system. The facility, touted to be a next generation air transportation system, is intended to replace the conventional radar surveillance system.
 ‘’The new facility which will ensure more safety in surveillance operations will be launched on Saturday,’’ an AAI official said.
When compared to the radar surveillance system, ADS-B offers a lot more safety-related information to air traffic controllers. While a radar gives only basic information like aircraft position, the ADS-B gives additional information like rate of climb, air temperature, flight routing and more.
 The ADS-B will complement Indra, the advanced air traffic control system in place in the airport. Once the new system is in place, Indra will provide the air traffic controllers an integrated feed of radar and ADS-B information. The GPS-based ADS-B is also more advantageous than the radar data, which could be obstructed by physical barriers. The low installation cost of ADS-B is another factor which makes it more popular in the aviation industry.
29/09/12 Vidyanandan M S/New Indian Express/IBN Live

120 passengers of Muscat-Kochi flight stranded

Muscat: About 120 passengers, including a pregnant woman and infants, were stranded at the Muscat International Airport on Saturday after an Air India Express aircraft developed a technical snag.
“We have had a technical glitch in the Airbus A320 aircraft and we are trying to rectify the problem so that the passengers could be flown Muscat-Kochi by tonight,” Amresh Choudhary, Air India Country Manager Oman, told Gulf News.
He explained that a mechanical part is being sent from India. Permission from the Oman Aviation Services is also required for the flight to depart, he said.
“The flight was to take off at 11.50am and all the passengers were checked in,” Raji Sahul, a stranded Air Indian Express passenger, told Gulf News.
29/09/12  Sunil K. Vaidya/Gulf News

World-class amenities at Madhya Pradesh airport soon

Indore: The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has decided to introduce two international style amenities- a new terminus and cargo facility at the Devi Ahilyabai Holkar airport.
Expansion plan is underway for constructing six apron bays, six parking bays and an isolation bay at the Devi Ahilyabai Holkar airport for according it a functional international status. Flights for Haj pilgrims have, however, been operating from Indore to Jeddah since 2008.
Earlier, the aerodrome had only one terminal. At present, the expansion of its runway has been completed. Plan to expand it further for easy landing take off of larger crafts flying on the international sector is on the cards.
29/09/12 Daily Bhaskar

Vizag airport to function 24X7

New Delhi: The Defence Ministry has approved the deployment of more than 380 officers and sailors of the Navy at its base in Vishakhapatnam for enabling round-the-clock operations at the military and civilian airport there.
“The Defence Ministry has sanctioned additional manpower of 24 officers, 356 sailors and 27 civilians for INS Dega at Vishakhapatnam for ensuring that the airport is operational on a 24X7 basis,” Ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said here.
The airport, which is under the Navy, is operational only for 12-hours every day at present and there is an increasing demand for extending the flying hours in both civil and military spheres.
Recently, Minister of State for Defence M. M. Pallam Raju had said that his Ministry has given its nod for operation of international flights from the Vishakhapatanam airport which is under the control of the Navy.
29/09/12 The Hindu

Friday, September 28, 2012

Govt mulls airport slot auctions in new air policy

New Delhi: Airlines flying to Indian airports could face an auction for peak-time landing slots in a shake-up of aviation policy under the government's economic reform drive.
Authorities are also in talks with suppliers to cut taxes on aircraft fuel, a move that would help local carriers which posted losses of $2.5 billion last year as they grappled with high airport charges and below-cost fares.
Debt-strapped Kingfisher Airlines , once India's No. 2 airline, is operating only a quarter of its fleet while national carrier Air India is reliant on a $5.8 billion taxpayer bailout to stay in the air.
Earlier this month, India announced major reforms designed to revive economic growth and avoid a ratings downgrade.
"The policies that are now in place were made several years back. Things have changed now. We need to adapt to the changing times," civil aviation minister Ajit Singh told reporters on Friday.
28/09/12 Anurag Kotoky/Reuters/Business Standard

Protest held to reclaim airport from GMR

 A protest was held last at the Artificial Beach area calling to reclaim the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) from GMR, India.
The protest held in the name "The Maldivians' airport to Maldivians" initiated by some political parties within the coalition government, was not participated by large numbers of people. Out of the pro-government parties, only leaders of Adhaalath Party (AP) had been seen during last night's protest, where President of AP Sheikh Imran Abdulla took part in the gathering.
All speakers during the gathering had basically called on to regain the airport from GMR and annul the agreement made with the Indian company.
28/09/12 Muizzu Ibrahim/Haveeru Online

Karnataka to get 2 more airports by mid-2013

Reiterating that the current focus of the government is to promote sustainable and orderly industrialisation and urbanisation in the State, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar said that the airport in Gulbarga is likely be complete by this year end and the one in Shimoga by mid- 2013.
He also announced that starting from Karwar, ports along the coast would soon be expanded.
 “These will be connecting points through which we can enhance the trade relations with investors from world over,” he said. At the India Manufacturing Show 2012, which was inaugurated at the Bangalore Industrial Exhibition Centre here on Thursday, Shettar said that by 2020, Karnataka will turn into an industrial hub.
28/09/12 New Indian Express/IBN Live

CCI questions DIAL's monopolistic and arbitrary pricing

New Delhi: India's competition watchdog has raised concerns over monopolistic and arbitrary pricing by the public-private partnership that runs Delhi's international airport, weeks after the national auditor slammed the government for the terms of the deal.
The Competition Commission of India has sent an advisory to the aviation ministry highlighting the antitrust aspects of the deal, which would unfairly benefit the private firm, GMR Group, to the tune of 3,415.35 crore, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India's recent report.
"Post the CAG report, we had taken a serious view of the matter and found the deal to be anti-competitive at various levels. We have asked for a clarification from the ministry as the agreement is against the letter and spirit of the Competition Act," CCI chairman Ashok Chawla told ET.
28/09/12 Shruti Choudhury/Economic Times

IATA renews Air India's safety registration for Mumbai airport

Mumbai:  In a major boost to the national carrier Air India's image, international airlines body IATA has renewed the airline's registration for safety audit of ground operations at the Mumbai airport, the airline said today.
The Isago (IATA safety audit for ground operations) reviews an airline's headquarters organisation and management systems as well as the station's management system, passenger and baggage handling, load control, ground handling and loading, ground movement, cargo and mail handling, the AI statement said.
Air India was the first ground services provider in the country to have obtained the Isago registration in 2010, which has now been renewed, the statement said.
"The Isago certification also highlights Air India's commitment and proactive initiative to progress beyond the minimum safety and quality standards in all spheres of aviation," it said.
28/09/12 PTI/Economic Times

First Batch of Hajj Pilgrims Leaves from Mangalore Airport

Mangalore: The first Hajj flight carrying 220 pilgrims took off from Mangalore Airport at 11.30 am at Thursday September 28. There would be five trips till October 2 with a total of 1,035 pilgrims flying the Mecca, the sacred place of Muslims from Mangalore Airport
 S K Bellubbi, minister for Hajj and Wakf waved the flag to mark the formal departure of the pilgrims in the presence of Fazal Koyamma Tangal, assistant Qazi of Ullal. Twaka Ahmed Musliyar, Qazi of DK district led the prayers.Minister S K Bellubbi said that in all there are 6,800 Hajj pilgrims going from Karnataka. "Pilgrims would also be flying from Bangalore, Goa and Hyderbad," he added
28/09/12 Daijiworld.com

Ministry delays terminal opening

Chennai: Though the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is keen on opening new terminals at the Chennai airport, the civil aviation ministry seems to have put the brakes on it.
“We want to open the new buildings at the earliest, but then we have been asked by aviation secretary K. N. Srivastava, who visited the Chennai airport recently, to fix all the teething issues and open the terminals in a full-fledged manner,” AAI chairman V. P. Agrawal told DC.
The aviation secretary seems to have echoed the sentiments of the airline companies which wanted modern facilities like in-line baggage system, aerobridges, master concessionaries and a computerised Airport Operations Control Centre (AOCC) right from the beginning.
28/09/12 S. Sujatha/Deccan Chronicle

AAI to examine Juhu runway

Mumbai: A committee comprising senior helicopter pilots from the city and officials from the Airport Authority of India (AAI) will now examine the feasibility of using Juhu airport’s main runway 08/26, whenever Mumbai airport’s secondary runway 14/32 is in use.
The development comes after the pilots protested a “dangerous” recommendation made by an AAI official, allowing the use of 08/26 while 14/32 is operational. The pilots said that the runways have a conflicting flight path that could lead to a major aviation disaster.
27/09/12 Asian Age

Round-the-clock operations at Vizag airport soon

Visakhapatnam: Round-the-clock operation of the Visakhapatnam airport will soon become a reality with Finance Minister P. Chidambaram approving the recruitment of additional manpower.
The Finance Minister, under the guidelines of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, modified the rules approving the manpower recruitment and forwarded the file to the Defence Minister on Thursday for issue of orders to the Indian Navy, according to a statement issued by the chief coordinator of TSR Seva Peetham D. Varada Reddy here.
Rajya Sabha Member T. Subbarami Reddy had convinced the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister of the need for sanctioning additional manpower for INS Dega to facilitate 24-hour operation of the airport.
28/09/12 The Hindu

Automatic baggage handling planned

Bangalore: Bengaluru International Airport is planning to introduce ‘automatic’ baggage handling facilities, said a senior official of the airport operator, the Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL), here.
A pilot automation project is to commence in November, said S. Francis Rajan, vice-president, information and communication technology, BIAL, earlier this week. “The consultative process with stakeholders, especially airlines, is under way.”
The automation project is part of a wider long-term ‘smarter airport’ initiative, which is being implemented by BIAL in collaboration with IBM. Daniel Bircher, director, operations, BIAL, said the project aims to put in place an IT architecture that allows for seamless integration of multiple agencies involved in airport operations.
28/09/12 The Hindu

Rs 20 lakh worth foreign brand cigarettes seized at IGI

New Delhi: Cigarettes worth nearly Rs 20 lakh have been seized by customs officials from five Afghan nationals at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here.
The Customs officers on Thursday had intercepted five Afghan passengers Mohammad Nazir, Shukib, Zergai, Toryaji and Najibullah - coming from Kabul and recovered 984 packets (1,96,800 sticks) of 'Mond' brand cigarettes valued Rs 19.68 lakh which were being smuggled into India. "The goods have been seized under provisions of Customs Act, 1962," an official said.
28/09/12 PTI/Zee News

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Inter-ministerial panel calls for fresh approach in setting airport tariffs

New Delhi: An inter-ministerial panel has called for a fresh approach to setting airport tariffs after three major domestic airports proposed a steep hike in user charges that threaten to push up airfares further.
The airport financing task force, chaired by Planning Commission member BK Chaturvedi, has recommended that user charges for airports be fixed "upfront" at a reasonable level. "This will not only protect user interests, but also eliminate regulatory uncertainty over tariff fixation as also the potential for gold-plating of costs," the panel said in its report.
The panel's view assumes significance as the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) is considering the proposals of the airports at Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai. Earlier this year, the regulator had approved a 340 per cent increase in user charges at the New Delhi airport.  People with knowledge of the matter said that while Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) has proposed a 660 per cent increase in user charges, the airports at Kolkata and Chennai, which are operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), have sought the introduction of a steep user development fee (UDF) on passengers besides a significant increase in user charges paid by airlines.
27/09/12 Vikas Dhoot/Economic Times

Ministry looking at small, medium airports for MRO facilities

Mumbai: The Civil Aviation Ministry is looking at small and medium airports to set up MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) facilities in India. MRO business in India is pegged at $800 million at present, and is estimated to grow to $1.5 billion by 2020. Recently, Air India received the Cabinet approval to hive-off Air India Engineering Services and Air India Transport Services into wholly owned subsidiaries of the airline.The Engineering Services subsidiary will handle maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), while the Transport Services will take care of ground handling services like ticket check-in.
According to Arun Mishra, Director-General of Civil Aviation, space is a major constraint in setting up the MRO facilities.
26/09/12 Business Line

Trivandrum International Airport judged the best AAI-governed airport

Trivandrum International Airport (TIA) has bested metro airports of the country to top the latest airport service quality (ASQ) survey by Airports Council International. The airport has been adjudged as the best maintained international airport of the 10 airports governed by the Airports Authority of India, with a rating of 4.48 on a 5 point scale. Calicut International Airport came second with a rating of 4.19 and Guwahati International Airport came third with score of 4.18.
ASQ survey measures the levels of service delivered by an airport in comparison with other airports.
27/09/12 Sangeetha Nair/Times of India

Dreamliner suffers bird hit in Bangalore

Mumbai: An Air India Dreamliner aircraft, carrying 127 passengers from New Delhi, suffered a bird hit while landing at the Bangalore airport on Thursday morning, airport sources said.
The incident did not cause any harm to the passengers, they said.
There was no damage to the aircraft and it later took off for its return journey to New Delhi, an Air India spokesperson said.
The incident happened at around 9 a.m. when the Air India flight (AI 803) from New Delhi with 127 passengers on board was landing at the Bangalore airport.
27/09/12 PTI/The Hindu

Maldivian airline to connect Chennai, Mumbai from November

Chennai: With growing passenger traffic between the Maldives and India, Maldivian, the national airlines of the Maldives will fly to Mumbai and between Chennai and Dhaka from November and connect New Delhi and Kolkata later, said a top official.
"We will be connecting Chennai-Dhaka and Mumbai from November onwards. We will look at flying between New Delhi and Kolkata later. We have landing rights in the four metros," Abdul Haris, managing director at Island Aviation Services Ltd told reporters here Wednesday.
 The $50 million-worth Island Aviation owns the Maldivian airline. Haris said the airline will soon add an aircraft to its fold to connect the new destinations. Already, Maldivian connects Male and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.
27/09/12 IANS/The Pioneer

BIA may be allowed to revise charges

Bangalore: Even as the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) is expected to issue a consultation paper with regard to the proposed hike in the charges at Mumbai airport, the Bengaluru International Airport (BIAL) authorities have said that it is in discussion with the regulator to facilitate a revision of charges at an appropriate time.
BIAL currently charges Rs5,000 per single landing of international flights and Rs3,000 per single landing of domestic flights.
In response to a query if BIAL has put up a proposal before the AERA for a hike in airport charges at the Bangalore airport and if is expecting the regulator to issue a consultation paper with regard to the proposed hike anytime soon, a BIAL official said that revision in airport fees pertaining to BIA will be considered by AERA at an appropriate time.
27/09/12 Daily News & Analysis

PAC to meet on CAG report on Delhi airport next week

New Delhi:  The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, headed by BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi will begin consideration of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report on the implementation of public-private partnership in the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) next week.
The Civil Aviation Ministry will appear before the panel with its defence next Thursday.
Sources in the panel said the CAG would also make a presentation in the meeting, as the Government and the private developer have questioned the auditor’s findings. The panel is likely to probe the issue in detail, as there are differences between the CAG and the Government. The Congress, it is learnt, is in two minds on the issue.
27/09/12 AM Jigeesh/Business Line

Airport at Aranmula wont be a threat, says P J Kurien

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien has said that the reservations on the Aranmula airport are just misconceptions. Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, he said that the project will not be a threat in any way.
“Apprehensions regarding developmental activities are natural since every project has its pros and cons. However, if the advantages far outnumber the disadvantages, we should welcome the developments. The so-called ecological issues being raised by the protestors of Aranmula airport have to be viewed in perspective. People should understand that when calculated, environmental pollution being created by vehicles that ferry passengers from this area to Nedumbasserry or Shankumukham airports, comes out to be much higher than what would be caused by the building of the airport. The airport will, in fact, expedite the development of this area. Tourism will get a major boost in the region, with the iconic Aranmula boat race garnering more audience. Besides, Sabarimala pilgrims will have speedy access to the shrine once the project is implemented,” he said.
27/09/12 New Indian Express/IBN Live

Cochin airport’s MRO facility gets European certification

Kochi: The aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) unit of Cochin international airport Cochin International Aviation Services Limited ( CIASL), has obtained the certification of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for the line maintenance of aircrafts.
CIASL, a subsidiary of the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), has already got approval from other agencies like the Civil Aviation Authorities of the UAE, Qatar, Singapore and Sri Lanka apart from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
With the EASA clearance, CIASL will have permission to carry out the maintenance work of aircrafts of most of the airlines across the globe, a spokesman for CIAL said here on Tuesday.
26/09/12 T Ramavarman/Times of India

Man coming back to India to see his mother, caught at IGI airport

A Ludhiana based youth, who works in Riyadh and wanted to come back to India recently as his mother is ailing, did not get his passport from his employer in Saudi Arabia. A helpless Ajeet Singh, a native of Dashmesh Nagar in Ludhiana, came across a Pakistani national in Riyadh who gave him a fake passport which he agreed to take and took a flight for New Delhi. When he reached New Delhi, he was caught by authorities at IGI airport.
27/09/12 Neeraj Chauhan/Times of India

Indian-Canadian held trying to smuggle heroin

 A 22 year Indian-Canadian was recently held trying to smuggle heroin out of the country. Sarabjit Singh, a Canadian of Indian origin, was arrested at the Sri Guru Ram Das International Airport, Amritsar, on Tuesday night while he attempted to smuggle 2.9kg heroin which is worth 15 crore in the international market.
Sarabjit had concealed the said drug in a cavity inside his bag, but the same got detected during an X-ray scan at the airport. A resident of Ghuna Chaur village in Nawanshahr district, he was contacted by drug dealers based in Canada and lured into smuggling, probably on the promise of a hefty compensation, informed P K Tikku, Assistant commissioner, customs.
27/09/12 Live Punjab

Drugs worth Rs2.5 crore seized at Mumbai airport

Mumbai: Airport customs officials seized 15kg of the drug methaqualone on Wednesday morning. The value of the seized drugs is estimated to be over Rs2.5 crore. The drugs were neatly packed in packets of tea and salt to fool the authorities.
The team of customs officials was headed by Sameer Wankhede, the assistant commissioner of customs. After receiving a tip-off that a large consignment of drugs was being sent through courier from Mumbai to London, the team intercepted the package. They allowed the consignment to clear all formalities and then seized it before it was put on a flight that was taking off. “We had to go through three tonnes of baggage before finally finding the drug consignment. We had only received a tip-off that a drug consignment was supposed to go to London, but we had no clue through which courier company and airline it was going,” said a senior customs official.
27/09/12 Preety Acharya/Daily News & Analysis

Cargo aircraft misses exit, delays flights

Mumbai: A Jet Airways flight made a go-around, while another aircraft got delayed in take-off by a few minutes when a cargo aircraft failed to vacate the runway on time at Mumbai airport. This happened on Tuesday evening when a Jet Airways flight from Delhi was about two nautical miles from touchdown at the airport.
According to officials, the Jet Airways flight was approaching for landing. However, a cargo flight, which had landed a minute ago, missed the taxiway it was supposed to take.
26/09/12 Times of India

Close shave for Kingfisher passengers at Chennai airport

Chennai: Passengers on board a Kingfisher Airlines’ plane had a close shave after a baggage trolley collided with the aircraft at the Chennai airport on Wednesday.
The incident occurred today morning when after Kingfisher ATR plane with flight number IT-2494 was pushed back from the parking bay and was taxing to the active runway for takeoff to Bangalore. All of sudden, fluting rules, a baggage trolley vehicle intruded into the flight path and collided with the plane.
The aircraft’s fuselage was substantially damaged, leading to the abandoning of the flight plan.
26/09/12 ZeeNews

New tech at Bangalore airport will speed up processes

Bangalore: If you've been frequently frustrated by snaking queues for baggage X-ray or at check-in counters at the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA), a solution is in the offing.
The airport will be piloting an automated baggage service kiosk next year where a passenger can get his boarding pass, check-in his baggage, self-tag it and pay any excess baggage fee and directly proceed to security check.
BIA has also adopted an intelligent information architecture from IBM that connects disparate systems and processes across the airport and which will make airport processes much faster. With this, the airport has also become one of the first airports in the world to implement the Aviation Information Data Exchange (AIDX), a single standard format for exchanging flight-related data between airports, airlines, vendors and systems.
26/09/12 Times of India

'High Mumbai airport charges to hit passenger demand'

Mumbai International Airport Limited's proposal of a 660 per cent rise in aeronautical charges would hit passenger demand, say aviation industry experts.
Any rise in charges has to be approved by the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority, which is examining MIAL's proposal.
In April, AERA had approved a 345 per cent rise in Delhi airport charges.
This comprised landing and parking charges and user development fees. Airlines have opposed the rise, since this hit their operating costs.
"The increase in airport charges are not commensurate with the yield and revenue we generate from Delhi.
"We are unable to raise fares because of competition. If India wants to encourage more airlines, it should keep the charges reasonable," said the India head of a foreign airline.
25/09/12 Business Standard/Rediff.com

CIASL gets global recognition

Scaling one more step in the field of aviation the Cochin International Aviation Services Limited, the subsidiary of the Cochin International Airport Limited, has bagged the approval from one of world’s highly reputed authorities in aviation safety technology, the European Aviation Safety Agency.
It was announced in the press release published by airport director A C K Nair on Tuesday.  This will add more sheen to CIASL, which has already won recognitions from major airline repair and safety agencies of worldwide reputation.
Directorate General of the Civil Aviation, General Civil Aviation Authority, UAE, SriLankan Civil Aviation Authority, Singapore Civil Aviation Authority and Qatar Civil Aviation Authority are the major agencies who had bestowed their faith in the repair services of the CIASL. It is a great recognition for CIAL and its subsidiary CIASL, because, according to the press release, with the approval of the European Aviation Safety Agency, CIASL is getting the licence to repair the aircraft of almost all major airlines of the world.
26/09/12 New Indian Express/IBN Live

BIAL is first Indian airport to test self-boarding

Bangalore: Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) on Tuesday announced that it has deployed IBM’s technology platform to integrate passengers, partners and airport operations and conform to internationally approved Aviation Information Data Exchange (AIDX).
Through this, BIAL has now become the first Indian airport to have technology infrastructure to implement several customer-friendly solutions and achieve better collaboration and on-time performance.
25/09/12 Deccan Herald

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Kingfisher Airlines' lessors pay Airports Authority of India directly to fly planes out of India

New Delhi: Foreign aircraft leasing companies wishing to repossess their planes from near bankrupt Kingfisher are paying Airports Authority of India (AAI) about a crore for flying each plane out of India. Kingfisher owes about Rs 290 crore to the state-run AAI and the latter told the airline it would not allow any lessor to repossess aircraft from it — due to non-payment of lease rentals — to leave India unless the dues are cleared.
"About two months back, Kingfisher paid us about Rs 1 crore or 2 crore so that a lessor could take their aircraft back. Later the airline could not even pay that much to allow lessors to take planes out of India. Now lessors are coming to us and paying money to do that. So far, three aircraft have been repossessed by lessors by paying us Rs 1 crore per plane. Kingfisher has not paid them and they are paying us so that the planes can be leased out to some other airline abroad," said a senior AAI official.
25/09/12 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

AI cancels 18 more flights to Mideast even as minister assures normalcy

Barely a day after Civil Aviation Minister Ajith Singh promised to restore the cancelled Air India and Air India Express flights from Kerala, Air India announced cancellation of 18 flights to Middle East from Trivandrum International Airport.
The airline has cancelled nine flights from Trivandrum to Dubai, six to Sharjah and three to Muscat till October 12, according to Air India Trivandrum station manager SSG Jacob.
He said that the passengers who booked tickets in these flights were being informed through phone.
The official said that the airline had also made alternate arrangements to carry the passengers to their respective destinations.Majority of the passengers will be accommodated in the flights on the next day.
25/09/12 TK Devasia/Khaleej Times

Coimbatore airport employees begin three-day strike

Coimbatore: A section of the Coimbatore Airport employees, who are affiliated to the Airports Authority of India Employees Union (AAEU), began their three-day strike on the airport premises on Monday.
According to V. Satish Kumar, Branch Secretary, AAEU, 21 employees, who are office-bearers and executive committee members, are participating in the strike, which will end at 5.30 p.m. on September 26.
There are around 130 persons working at the Coimbatore airport.
He said that the protesting employees’ demands were stopping privatisation of Chennai and Kolkotta airports, stopping formation of Air Navigation Services Corporation, implementing pension scheme and regularising the inter-se seniority.
25/09/12 The Hindu

Air fares to and from Mumbai likely to soar

The Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) is expected to issue a consultation paper proposing an increase of more than 500% in the charges at the Mumbai airport due to the escalation in the cost of the modernisation work, said sources.
If the proposal is accepted by the AERA, the increased airport tariff will put an additional burden on all airlines, which will then automatically be passed on to the passengers. The AERA is a regulatory body which decides on the economic aspects of an airport.
Airport officials said that once the consultation paper is out in the public, it will be subjected to comments, recommendations and analysis from all interested parties. After due process of analysing all the aspects of the project, the AERA may decide on the actual hike in the charges.
25/09/12 Daily News & Analysis

Human error led to Shivpal Yadav plane mishap?

New Delhi: Preliminary investigation into Saturday's incident at the IGI Airport, when a private aircraft of the Uttar Pradesh government skidded off the secondary runway, has revealed that there was no problem with the aircraft's landing gear. Evidence points towards human error. The incident is still being probed and a final report will soon be submitted to the civil aviation ministry.
The aircraft, carrying Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh's younger brother Shivpal Yadav and five others, had skidded off the secondary runway on Saturday morning after its landing gear broke when the aircraft touched down. The aircraft was then dragged on its belly for around 1,500-2,000 m and veered off the runway to end up in the grass. "It was a lucky escape for those on board, especially with the aircraft ending up in the grass. Had it continued on the runway, the aircraft would have definitely caught fire and then it would have been impossible for passengers to escape," said a source. A directorate general of civil aviation team inspected the site on Saturday. Airport sources said that on first look, it appeared to be a hard landing in which the pilot was probably unable to adjust the angle of the descent.
25/09/12 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

Two UAE nationals to face animal smuggling charges in India next week

Dubai: Two UAE nationals arrested last week in India for smuggling an endangered primate have been released on bail on the condition they do not leave the country.
Next week the pair will appear in front of two different courts in New Delhi, the Indian capital. The 17-year-old is expected to appear in front of the Juvenile Justice Board on September 25, while his cousin, who is 30, is to have his case heard at the Tis Hazari district court two days later.
“The condition is that they will not leave India without the permission of the respective court,” said an official at India’s Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, which has charged the men with possession of an endangered species.
The men were arrested by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in New Delhi’s international airport when they were trying to board a flight to Dubai.
They were transferring in India on a Jet Airways flight from Bangkok when officials discovered a rare species of loris hidden in the undergarments of one of the men. A second animal was discovered later in a bin at the airport.
18/09/12 Vesela Todorova and Ramola Talwar Badam/The National

Mumbai airport tariff hike will impact passenger demand: experts

Mumbai International Airport Limited's proposal seeking 660% hike in aeronautical tariff will  adversely impact passenger demand, according to aviation industry experts.
Any hike in tariff has to be approved by Airport Economic Regulatory Authority which is now examining MIAL's proposal.  In April AERA has approved a 345% hike in tariff for Delhi airport comprising of landing and parking charges and user development fee.
Airlines have bitterly opposed the increase at Delhi  since its impacts their operating costs.  "The increase in airport charges do not commensurate with yield and revenue we generate from Delhi. We are unable to raise fares because of competition and if India wants to encourage more airlines to fly it should keep the charges reasonable,'' said a India head of foreign airline.
"In the past three months we have seen passenger demand drop with rise in fares. If Mumbai airport hikes its tariff it will  have a significant impact on demand. Passenger demand could fall. A staggered increase in tariff would be more suited than one time 660% hike as sought by Mumbai airport,'' said Sharat Dhall, president-online of travel portal Yatra.com.
24/09/12 Aneesh Phadnis & Sanjay Jog/Business Standard

IBM Helps Bengaluru International Airport Become Smarter

Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has turned to IBM to help it more nimbly manage the demands of its passengers, tenants and airport operations in the face of massive growth potential for air travel in India while controlling the volatile costs that often impact the industry.
 Smart Airport Enabler will not only decrease the cost of deployment and maintenance of current and future systems at the airport, it is also expected to bring about an overall increase in airport service quality. It will help increase efficiency in interactions between the airport, airlines and other stakeholders, lowering overall cost of operations at the airport.
 IBM’s Smart Airport Enabler will seamlessly connect disparate systems and processes across the airport and create a scalable platform for future growth. This will ultimately help the Bengaluru Airport to bring together a common view of its operations across multiple internal and external stakeholders, with an aim to provide passengers, tenants and airport clients with efficient and best in-class services.
25/09/12  Biztech2.com
 

African caught with Rs2 crore drugs

Mumbai: A 40-year-old African woman was caught carrying drugs worth over Rs2 crore by custom officials at the Mumbai airport on Monday. She hid the drugs in a bag containing stale fish and beef.
Liasu Lara Okine, a native of Benin, was caught by a team of air intelligence unit of the airport customs headed by assistant commissioner of customs, Sameer Wankhede. She was caught with 1.3 kg of cocaine, 2.1 kg of ketamine and 100 gm of methamphetamine. Customs officials have sent the samples for forensic test.
25/09/12 Preety Acharya/Daily News & Analysis

Ill passenger forces Bangalore-bound flight to land in Goa

Vasco: A Jet Lite flight that left Ahmedabad for Bangalore at 9am on Monday, made an unscheduled landing at the Dabolim International Airport in Goa at 7.45am. Airport sources said that the flight, which was carrying 125 passengers, had to land as one of them suffered a cardiac arrest.
When the flight was above Goa, the pilot was informed that a passenger, K P Satyanadan, suffered the attack. The pilot then sent a message to the Goa airport authorities informing them about the incident and seeking permission to land.
25/09/12 Times of India

Monday, September 24, 2012

Lucknow airport scam: CBI wants to quiz AAI chief, awaits aviation ministry nod

Lucknow For the last three months, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been waiting for a nod from the Civil Aviation Ministry to conduct investigation against Airport Authority of India (AAI) chairman VP Agrawal in a case of irregularities in the construction of the new terminal of Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport at Lucknow.
The agency had sought the ministry’s permission because approval from the central government is needed to conduct an inquiry against government officials of the rank of joint secretary and above.
The agency has found that sub-standard material was used in construction, higher material rates were quoted and fake bills were passed, causing a loss of Rs 1 crore to exchequer.
“In 2007-08, when the irregularities took place, Agarwal was Member (Planning) of AAI and he was responsible to prepare the project, check its financial viability and feasibility,” said a CBI officer.
24/09/12 Manish Sahu/Express India

Aviation security body wants permanent airport passes to be scrapped

New Delhi: The aviation security regulator has proposed that permanent airport entry permits issued for VIP protocol, and transferable passes made available to embassies, be scrapped.
The regulator has recommended that only non-transferable, one-time permits be issued for receiving VIPs and for diplomatic formalities at airports.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has issued over 2,000 permanent permits to MPs, embassies, state resident commissioners, ministers and some other officials for extending protocol.
These permits allow their holders unhindered access to the restricted and operational areas of airports. Any permit issued for more than 90 days is deemed “permanent”, and could be valid for up to three years.
Temporary permits are issued for operational (to pilots and cabin crew) and commercial (to shops within the airport area) purposes. Protocol passes are issued to VIPs, and transferable passes without names to embassies and ministries.
24/09/12 Ajmer Singh/Indian Express

Mass cancellation of Air India flights to Gulf angers Chandy

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has strongly protested the repeated instances of cancellation of fights operating in the West Asian sector.
Coming on top of the steep hike in fares, cancellation of flights have brought untold misery to thousand of passengers from various destinations in the State.
The Chief Minister conveyed his protest to the Prime Minister, sought his urgent intervention in the matter through alternative arrangements.
He also cited the demand for an exclusive airline that the State government proposed to launch as a permanent solution to West Asian travellers’ woes.
The State government is ready to launch the service provided the Centre granted the clearances. Chandy requested the Prime Minister to clear the proposal at the earliest.
23/09/12 Business Line

Filipino woman gets 10 years in jail in Delhi

A 44-year-old Filipino woman, who arrested at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in 2006 with two kg of heroin, has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by a Delhi court.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) MK Nagpal read out a sentence of 10 years rigorous imprisonment to Ma Sol Baillo, a resident of Manduriao in Philippines, apart from slapping a Rs1 lakh fine on her, after the court held her guilty under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.
The court awarded the woman the minimum sentence, bearing in mind the woman's family situation -- she has three children, and her youngest child was born with a hole in his heart.
23/09/12 IANS/Daily News & Analysis

Man arrested with 8 kg gold

Jaipur: One person was arrested allegedly carrying 8 kg of gold by customs officials at the Sanganer airport here, sources said today.
Manoj Sharma hailing from Sikar district arrived in a Dubai-Jaipur flight yesterday.
He was carrying gold biscuits and jewellery in his baggage which was detected during checking. He had not declared that he was travelling with 8 kg gold.
24/09/12 PTI/Business Standard

US dollars, jewellery seized at Ahmedabad airport

Ahmedabad: Customs officials at the city’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport arrested a man on Saturday morning with gold, US dollars and electronic goods, all worth Rs30 lakh.
The officials became suspicious about the passenger, Vishnu Shiva Prajapati, who arrived at the city airport from New York on a Qatar airlines flight at 5 in the morning.
A customs official said that the 35-year-old resident of Kalol had travelled abroad earlier too. For this reason, there was no way he could have been ignorant about the rule which makes it mandatory for passengers to declare gold, electronic goods as well as currencies in excess of $5,000, the official said.
24/09/12 Daily News & Analysis

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Passengers stranded after flights cancelled

Thiruvananthapuram: A week after India opened up its aviation sector to international competition, hundreds of expatriate passengers were stranded in southern India yesterday as Air India cancelled several flights on the Gulf sector.
Air India officials said the services from three airports in Kerala and in Mangalore, Karnataka had to be cancelled to fly Haj pilgrims from other parts of the country and added the stranded passengers were being accommodated on other flights.
The frequent cancellations and delays of Air India flights have sparked widespread protests in Kerala.
The Sharjah-bound passengers of Air India Express who reached the international airport here early yesterday said they were not informed about the cancellation of the flight.
Many of them said they could lose their job if they failed to report in time.
“I came all the way from Chengannur to catch the flight, only to be informed that it has been cancelled. I had checked with them the previous night on phone before finalising my travel plans,” said one of the passengers. “They could have at least sent an SMS alert on the status of my flight,” a passenger said.
Air India Express officials later made arrangements for 40 passengers to board the evening flight to Sharjah. But many are still stranded and the problem is expected to continue at least for a month until the end of the pilgrimage season.
23/09/12 Ashraf Padanna/Gulf Times

Dreams taking wings

Going to Dubai? How about taking a direct flight from Bhubaneswar! This can be a reality as early as March-April next year if Biju Patnaik airport authorities are to be believed. Domestic air travel to and from the city is also going to be a whole new experience in another three months, they say.
While decks are being cleared for elevation of the Biju Patnaik airport to international status, Fly Dubai airlines has already expressed interest to link the temple city with Dubai. Union civil aviation minister Ajit Singh on Thursday assured chief minister Naveen Patnaik in New Delhi of starting international flights from the city soon. Singh also told Naveen that his ministry would advise Air India and other domestic airlines to start international operations from Bhubaneswar.
"By December, the domestic terminal will be shifted to the upcoming state-of-the-art building while the existing terminal will be used for international flights. All necessary clearances are in place. The runways are already fit for landing and taking off of international flights," Biju Patnaik airport director Sharad Kumar told TOI on Saturday.
23/09/12 Times of India

Airport authorities initiate steps to prevent bird strikes

Surat: Surat airport authorities have initiated steps to keep the runway and the surrounding areas free of birds. This is to ensure that there is no threat of bird strikes to aircraft. This action comes after a small incident on Wednesday when one of the passenger flights escaped being hit by a bird during landing. The authorities want to avert such kind of incidents in future.
Official sources said the airport already has many safety measures in place. Airport officials have started monitoring nearby wildlife in order to avoid any potential problems.
22/09/12 Times of India

False ceiling falls at Chennai airport, four injured

Chennai: Four loaders suffered minor injuries after a portion of false ceiling came crashing down behind at around 12.45pm check-in counter near immigration area of international departure terminal at Chennai airport on Saturday.
The ceiling, a thin metal sheet, fell near a baggage conveyor used to transport bags from check-in counters to the loading area. Sources said that airline staff and security personnel had a miraculous escape because the accident happened at a lean time.
The loaders who were injured were taken to the health centre at the airport. Sources said all the injured were treated as outpatients. Airport director H S Suresh said, "It looks like the holding fasteners came off. The international terminal is due for maintenance. Work will be done after new terminals were opened. We will investigate and send a report soon."
23/09/12 Times of India

Philippines-based woman sent to jail for possessing contraband

New Delhi: A Filipino woman, arrested at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in 2006 with two kgs of heroin in her possession, has been sentenced to ten years in jail by a Delhi court.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) MK Nagpal also imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on 44-year-old Ma Sol Baillo, a resident of Manduriao in Philippines, holding her guilty under various sections of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
"Keeping in view the age, family background and all other attending circumstances, the convict (Baillo) is being awarded the minimum sentence of rigorous imprisonment for a period of 10 years each...," the court said.
Baillo was arrested on June 13, 2006 by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on a tip-off that she was to travel to Bangkok with a suitcase containing the contraband.
23/09/12 PTI/ZeeNews

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Mulayam Singh Yadav's brother, 5 others escape air accident

New Delhi: SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's brother and UP Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav and five others had a close shave today when their plane skidded off the runway on landing at the IGI airport.
The nosewheel of the state government-owned six-seater Beechcraft broke as the plane skidded off Runway 27 in high speed after landing. The nose-wheel got stuck in the mud, airport sources said.
Civil aviation regulator DGCA ordered a probe into the accident in which Yadav, PWD minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, SP general secretary and spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary and four others, including two pilots and a cabin crew, received minor injuries. The accident occured around 1130 hours.
A medical emergency team rushed to the aircraft minutes after the accident and took all of them to the airport medical facility where they were administered first-aid for minor injuries and discharged later, the sources said.
22/09/12 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

Honeybees swarm three planes at Kolkata airport

Kolkata: The honeybee menace continued to sting Kolkata airport. A swarm invaded three Jet Airways planes on Friday morning, the third such attack in less than a month.
Friday's siege lasted an hour, leaving airline and airport staff exasperated. The fire brigade had to be called in to drive the bees off.
The swarming happened in quick succession between 9.30am and 11am. The first plane to be affected was the Guwahati-bound 9W 619. Boarding was underway when the pilot noticed hundreds bees swoop in and settle on the aircraft nose close to the cockpit windshield. Within minutes, hundreds more joined in.
Alarmed, the pilot contacted airline staff who sought assistance from apron control. Two fire engines trained their cannons on the aircraft tip, setting the bees aflutter.  The swarm regrouped, hung around and settled on the nose of another Jet Airways aircraft minutes later. This time, it was the 9W 2863 from Bhubaneswar. The firemen again hosed the plane's nose. The third invasion happened on the Ranchi-bound 9W 2856 flight that was waiting for passengers to board.
22/09/12 Times of India

Singapore Airlines unveils Silverkris lounge at IGI

Singapore Airlines (SIA), which has 13 SilverKris lounges worldwide, has opened its newest outlet in India.
The airline launched its newest 'oasis of luxury' for premium customers travelling out of the Terminal 3 at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.
The lounge is designed to be a welcoming haven for the airlines’ first and business class passengers as well as PPS Club, KrisFlyer Elite Gold and Star Alliance Gold members. The airline has invested 20 million Singapore dollar in its premium lounges.
“We chose Delhi as it is one of our busiest markets in India, with two flights a day to Singapore... by offering customers an inviting space to relax in comfort, we hope to enhance their travel experience even before they board their flight,” said Tan Pee Teck, the airline's senior vice president (product and services).
22/09/12 Purabi Bora/Indian Express

Hundreds stranded in Kerala as Air India slashes flights

Thiruvananthapuram: Hundreds of non-resident Keralites bound for the Gulf and other countries were stranded in different parts of the state as the national carrier Air India slashed a large number of flights from the state. Early reports put the number of cancelled flights at 168. The reason given by authorities is that several aircraft had been shifted to Uttar Pradesh for the benefit of Haj pilgrims from the northern Indian state.
Many of the passengers who were scheduled to take early morning flights today (Saturday), got a rude shock around 3am when it was notified that the Air India Express flight from here to Sharjah had been cancelled. Dozens of passengers who had arrived from different parts of the state, including many with infants, complained to the airline officials, who said they were helpless because aircraft were being diverted to UP.
22/09/12 Akhel Mathew/Gulf News

Dubai man held by customs with Rs4 lakh in diamonds in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad: A 30-year-old man was nabbed by the Customs for trying to smuggle 16 packets of synthetic diamond crystals valued at around Rs4.40 lakh. The man identified as one Rajkumar Virendrakumar had landed at the Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport at around 5.30 am on an Air Arabia flight (G9-481) from Sharjah.
A Customs official said that the officers on duty found something suspicious about the man and so screened his baggage. “The screening showed some black spots and on checking his baggage we found 16 packets of synthetic diamond crystals from him.
The packets were wrapped in black polythene so that it could escape detection,” said the official. Customs officials have booked the youth for evasion of duty.
22/09/12 Daily News & Analysis

Chakan airport plans wait for land acquisition to begin

Pune:  The proposed Pune international airport at Rajgurunagar near Chakan is stuck at the land acquisition stage. It will take some time before the district collector can start with the process to acquire land for the Rs 1,000-crore project.
The collector, who is the sole authority vested with powers to acquire land for state projects, has identified a 1,650 hectares that cover the villages of Koye, Dhamne, Pait, Raundharwadi and Askhed Budruk in Rajgurunagar near Chakan.
On August 28, a decision to allocate Rs 200 crore to facilitate land acquisition, was taken at a meeting with chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar in Mumbai. Divisional commissioner Prabhakar Deshmukh and district collector Vikas Deshmukh had attended the meeting.
22/09/12 Vishwas Kothari/Times of India

Efforts to make Bhubaneswar airport a bird-free zone

Bhubaneswar: With the Centre assuring Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to upgrade the city airport into an international airport, the Odisha government today issued direction to the civic and airport authorities to ensure that there was no bird menace in the aerodrome area.
"It has been decided to make airport buildings pigeon free. The slaughter houses around the aerodrome will be shifted to new safe locations," a senior official said after attending a meeting chaired by chief secretary B K Patnaik.
Patnaik has directed the commissioner of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation to intensify daily cleaning of fish and meat markets around the Airport area. The BMC was also asked to put in place a dedicated mechanism for ensuring proper cleaning and dumping of garbage at a safe distance from airport.
22/09/12 PTI/Business Standard

SpiceJet's Trichy-Chennai flight cancelled

Trichy:  SpiceJet launched its inaugural flight to Colombo from Madurai on Thursday with much fanfare. But what many did not know was that the usual Trichy-Chennai SpiceJet was cancelled on the same day. Passengers speculated that this Chennai-Trichy-Chennai SpiceJet was diverted to Madurai-Colomobo-Madurai, and the neglect of Trichy's airport was complete as Friday's Chennai-Trichy-Chennai service too was cancelled.
Denying that the Trichy flight was diverted to Colombo, a SpiceJet manager said, "There were many cancellations on Thursday due to technical reasons." A ticketing staff said fewer than 12 passengers had been booked on the Trichy-Chennai 70-seater flight on Thursday, and it was cancelled due to commercial reasons. Those passengers who had booked on SpiceJet on Thursday and Friday were refunded.
22/09/12 Times of India

Intellectual forum demands shifting of airport

Itanagar: The Banderdewa Circle Intellectual Forum (BCIF) has decided to continue its agitation along with other like-minded organisations if the Arunachal Pradesh government and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) fails to shift the site of a greenfield airport.
In a six-point memorandum submitted to Chief Minister Nabam Tuki here yesterday, the Forum demanded the government to immediately revoke its decision to shift the greenfield airport from Karsingsa to Hollongi, suspension of ongoing official procedure of Hollongi site and to call back the then AAI Executive Director (planning) T K Das for public debate on the issue.
Besides, it also asked the government to declare that the land meant for construction of airport at Hollongi will be donated free of cost by the land owners and all the official formalities done so far by the state government and AAI be declared unofficial.
22/09/12 PTI/Business Standard

Where are all the trolleys?

Chennai: Visitors and passengers at the Chennai airport are increasingly finding it difficult to locate trolleys to transport luggage. The problem is acute during the morning and also at peak hours during the night, they say.
Nearly a fortnight ago V. Santhanam, a Chromepet-based RTI activist who went to the airport to see off his daughter, experienced this problem and filed a complaint with the duty manager of the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The AAI recently responded with an explanation for the problem. A senior AAI officer said the work of retrieving the trolleys was given to a contractor and his tenure ended on April 30. Due to the construction work at the airport, a lot of dust and sand has gathered on the trolleys and not many people wish to advertise their products on them. This was a major reason for the contractor refusing to renew the agreement.
22/09/12 The Hindu

Their Dubai dream crashes at Ahmedabad airport

Ahmedabad: They had packed all the excitement and donned their travel shoes to take their first ever foreign tour to Dubai. However, dreams of this group of 42 senior citizens crashed when they reached Ahmedabad international airport on Thursday night. The airlines officials told them there are no bookings in their names.
The senior citizens, most of whom were carrying a list of places they will see in Dubai and items they will shop, got in arguments with the travel agent accompanying them at the airport but gave up soon and returned back home.
The group had members of a senior citizens' club in Maninagar which had booked their four-day Dubai tour two months ago through city-based Gopi Krishna travels for Rs 33,525 per person. The promoter of the travel agency, Natwarlal Mistry had hired services of an airline ticketing company Passworld Travels to do a group booking for September 20 in FlyDubai. Mistry paid the ticketing company 25 per cent of the total fare a month back but failed to pay the rest amount.
22/09/12 Times of India

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Finally, Madurai gets international connectivity

Madurai:  The first commercial international flight from Madurai airport took off to Colombo on Thursday raising hopes of a tourism boom and increase in bilateral trade ties with the island nation.
The SpiceJet flight that took off to Colombo had 77 passengers, including 48 from the Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TNfrom Madurai who hope to tap the trade market opened up by the international connectivity to Colombo. In the return flight, 46 passengers arrived from Colombo.
"The airport is beautiful and I can compare very well on a par with the Bangalore airport or any other international airport for that matter," exclaimed Mohammed Hareesh, an export trader from Sri Lanka after landing in Madurai along with his wife Siddhi Nadeera by the Colombo - Madurai flight operated by SpiceJet on Thursday evening.
21/09/12 J Arockiaraj/Times of India

A Bumpy Start for Air India’s Dreamliner

The Dreamliner is giving Air India a hard time. The aircraft had a technical snag on the first day of its operations, delaying the national carrier’s flight by almost an hour.
Just when the flight to Bangalore was about to take off from New Delhi’s airport, a cooling unit, meant to protect the aircraft engines and equipment from overheating, malfunctioned. The issue was sorted out in 30 minutes. After that, the crew decided to refuel the plane, delaying it further.
“There was a technical snag, yes, and repairmen had to be called. The crew also decided to refuel the plane, which took some more time,” said an airline spokesman. He declined to explain the last minute decision to refuel the aircraft. A Boeing Co BA +0.34%. executive couldn’t be reached for a comment.
Such issues, even though minor, are an irritant and could keep fliers away from the airline. Air India Ltd. is banking on the Dreamliner to turn around its fortunes after five years of continuous losses. 
20/09/12 Wall Street Journal

Naveen pitches for air connectivity to West Asia

Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has pitched for air connectivity between Bhubaneswar and West Asian as well as South-East Asian nations while reiterating his demand for declaring the Biju Patnaik airport in the city as an international airport.
The demand was raised by Patnaik during his meeting with Union minister for civil aviation Ajit Singh in New Delhi on Thursday.
Patnaik pointed out that Odisha still remained deprived of international operations despite attracting a rush of investment proposals across sectors. Total investments proposed in Odisha in calendar 2011 stood at Rs 3.21 lakh crore, the highest among all states.
He stressed upon the need to provide adequate infrastructural support to the aviation sector to ensure unhindered industrialisation and also keeping in view the growing inflow of domestic as well as international tourists.
21/09/12 Business Standard

Diplomatic bag with Indian visa stickers stolen in London, MEA steps in

In a security breach, three Indian diplomatic bags containing 6,000 visa stickers have been stolen here during transit from the airport to the Indian High Commission.
It was on September 3 that the High Commission was informed of four Category 'B' diplomatic bags, including three bags that contained 6,000 visa stickers, having been stolen during transit from the Heathrow airport to India House in Aldwych, central London.
The fourth stolen bag contained stationery items, a High Commission spokesperson told PTI. "On that day, in total 27 bags were received. Out of which, 25 bags contained 50,000 visa stickers (2000 in each bag).
"The bags were being transported from Heathrow Airport by the clearing agent, who handles 'B and 'C' category diplomatic bags of the High Commission since last several years", the spokesperson said.
21/09/12 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

Maldives may even annul GMR deal: President Waheed

Male: With GMR's USD 500 million Male airport project hanging in balance, Maldives President Mohamed Waheed Friday said he was discussing the issue with all stakeholders and is even open to the option of annulling the deal with the Indian firm.
GMR had won the airport contract during the government of Waheed's predecessor Mohamed Nasheed but the project has run into rough weather, particularly after a regime change in the country earlier this year.
The opposition during Nasheed's government had challenged the privatisation process and threatened to renationalise the airport should it come to power.
An opposition party also took to court the issue of USD 25 Airport Development Charge (ADC) to be charged by on outgoing passengers by GMR, as stipulated in the concession agreement.
21/09/12 PTI/ZeeNews

Man arrested at IGI for carrying revolver in baggage

New Delhi: A man has been arrested for allegedly carrying his revolver without its valid licence in check-in baggage at the IGI airport here, police said today.
A revolver was recovered from Rahul Porwal's baggage when it was being screened by the DIAL security staff yesterday, a senior police official said.
Porwal was to board the GoAir's Delhi-Srinagar flight when he was asked to come for physical check of the baggage, in which the revolver was found.
21/09/12 Press Trust of India/Business Standard

Maharajas big bird flies into Chennai

Chennai: The air was rife with anticipation at the Chennai airport. Security staff, loaders, Airports Authority of India staff and Air India workers rubbed shoulders with officers from other airlines on the tarmac, by 9 am. And no, it had nothing to do with the fact that it was Vinayagar Chaturthi. Air India’s much talked about Boeing B787 Dreamliner was due to complete its first commercial flight by landing in the city. A little after 9.30 am, the hum of the large 256-seater plane was barely audible over the titter of voices that were waiting for its arrival. Surprisingly, the plane touched down swiftly and without too much ado and a little ahead of schedule.
Quite a few airport workers were a little miffed at having missed the landing of the ‘most advanced plane in the world’ and the water-spray salute that was accorded to it. “They said that it was landing only at 9.45 am so we were relaxed. Suddenly, security staff began getting word over the walkie-talkies that the plane had landed early, so we rushed over,” said an AAI official.
20/09/12 Daniel Thimmayya/IBN Live

DVOR 45 days old, but yet to start

Ludhiana: It has been over a month and a half since the Sahnewal Airport got the DVOR equipment, but its presence hasn't made a difference yet, as the equipment has not started functioning. The pilots still do not get any help from the equipment, which is supposed to navigate the landing and take off during the times of low visibility.
The airport had got the DVOR after a long hassle of over a year, during which residents faced a lot of inconvenience, due to regular cancellation of flights.
Airport manager V P Jain says they are waiting for Airport Authority of India (AAI) head office to provide the instrument approach landing procedure. a??Once the head office provides the procedure, the navigational equipment will soon be functional, he adds.
20/09/12 Times of India

Kolkata airport’s new terminal may miss Oct deadline

Kolkata: The new terminal of Kolkata airport is likely to miss the October deadline for commercial operation.
Developed by Airports Authority of India, the modernised facility underwent its first trial run on July 15.
While operations were scheduled to kick off before the Durga Puja Festival beginning October 21, sources confirmed to Business Line that it would be delayed by at least by another two to three months.
“The AAI is yet to announce any official date for the operations to begin formally at the new terminal.
20/09/12 Ayan Pramanik/Business Line

Income Tax department to keep special vigil at airports during Gujarat, HP polls

New Delhi: The Income Tax department will put in place a team of special expenditure observers at airports in view of upcoming Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls.
An officer of the rank of Chief Commissioner will also oversee all the election related deployment of these I-T teams in these two states after the Election Commission recently asked the CBDT to extend its manpower in this regard.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had earlier also asked its probe Directorates based in Chandigarh (for Himachal Pradesh), and Surat and Ahmedabad (for Gujarat) to deploy senior officials and staff as 'expenditure observers' for these polls, the schedule for which is expected to be announced soon.
20/09/12 PTI/Economic Times

Naveen asks for international airport at Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: The Civil Aviation Ministry on Thursday agreed to upgrade the Biju Patnaik Airport in Odisha to an international one after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik met Civil Aviation Ajit Singh in Delhi today.
"The Union minister has assured the state government that all necessary steps are being taken to upgrade Biju Patnaik Domestic Airport to an international airport at the earliest," a release issued by the Chief Minister's Office here said.
"The Union ministry will advise Air India and other domestic airlines to start international operations from Bhubaneswar," the release said.
The chief minister told Singh that the only operational domestic airport at Bhubaneswar was deprived of international operations.
20/09/12 ZeeNews

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Air India's Dreamliner makes first flight from New Delhi to Chennai

Chennai: Air India's much touted Dreamliner made its first flight from New Delhi to Chennai and was accorded a water cannon salute accompanied by traditional pujas on arrival at at the airport here.
The flight commandered by Captain A S Soman touched down Chennai with 118 people amidst cheers and water cannon salute on the festival day of Vinakayaka Chaturthi.
Traditional pujas such as breaking of coconut to mark the first flight of the Dreamliner were also conducted.
The flight later left for New Delhi with 92 fliers. Equipped with modern in-flight facilities besides boasting new-age innovations which went into the manufacturing of the Dreamliner, the B787 was inducted into the fleet recently.
19/09/12 PTI/Economic Times

For Chennai-bound Dreamliner passengers, an experience to cherish forever

Work at the Chennai airport came to a standstill for some time this morning as the first Air India Dreamliner aircraft touched down.
Airline staff working on getting other aircraft ready for departure started clicking pictures of the Dreamliner with their phone cameras, as the plane carrying passengers from Delhi landed.
As the aircraft taxied to its parking stand, it was welcomed by a traditional water cannon salute. Soon after the engines were switched off, a traditional puja followed.
In Delhi, from where the first flight of the Boeing 787 took off for Chennai, the airline staff gave the passengers roses and special cards which said “Congratulations! You are among the very first passengers to board the Dreamliner in India. Be Proud.”
19/09/12 Business Line

Flight to Colombo from Madurai airport takes off on Thursday

Madurai: Madurai Airport will see the launch of the first international flight to Colombo on Thursday. SpiceJet will be launching the international air connectivity.
A 50-member delegation from Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be on boardthe inaugural flight to explore ways to enhance two-way trade and investment between Tamil Nadu and Colombo.
Expressing happiness over the realisation of a long-pursued goal, the chamber, in a statement said the service would pave the way for acceleration of industrial and economic growth in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu.
19/09/12 Business Line

NEC to improve air connectivity in northeast

Shillong: Since the 10th Plan period, the North Eastern Council (NEC) has taken an initiative to improve air connectivity in the northeastern region.
"To understand the issues and problems of improvement of air connectivity in the region, NEC has initiated a study at an estimated cost of Rs 1.87 crore through the Airports Authority of India (AAI) under the guidance of the ministry of civil aviation and the report is expected in the next six months," an official statement said.
"The report will address the issue of linking of the remote areas through helicopters and also major townships by small aircrafts," the statement specified.
18/09/12 Times of India

GMR leadership to visit Maldives as government parties escalate nationalisation rhetoric

Board members and the head of Indian infrastructure giant GMR, G M Rao, are due to visit the Maldives later this week in a bid to resolve tensions with the government over the company’s development of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA).
The upcoming visit follows a meeting between Rao and former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom at a hospital in India where Gayoom’s wife was being treated. Gayoom also recently met with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
GMR won a 25 year concession agreement to develop and manage the airport during the Nasheed administration. The opposition at the time challenged the government’s privatisation and threatened to renationalise the airport should it come to power.
19/09/12 JJ Robinson/Minivan News

Tiger Airways starts lifting cargo from Tiruchi

Tiruchi: Air cargo uplift capacity from Tiruchi has gone up substantially as Tiger Airways, which operates direct services to Singapore from here, has started lifting cargo from here last week.
Tiger Airways is the fourth major airline to lift cargo from the city after Sri Lankan Airlines, Air Asia and to a certain extent, Mihin Lanka. Air India Express, the other major operator from the city, remains the only airline that does not lift cargo though it operates services to Singapore, Dubai and other destinations. According to sources at the airport, Tiger Airways started lifting cargo from October 15 onwards. Hitherto, cargo bound for Singapore from here were sent through Colombo or Kuala Lumpur.
With this, the total available capacity of the airlines for cargo exports from the city would be around 300 to 350 tonnes a month. Currently, Tiger Airways operates nine flights a week on the Singapore-Tiruchi-Singapore sector and is likely to add two more flights a week by October. Apart from this, Sri Lankan Airlines operates 14 flights a week to Colombo and Air Asia seven to Kuala Lumpur, all of which can carry cargo now.
19/09/12 S. Ganesan/The Hindu

Bhadra staff brush off aviation storm

Chennai: Most of the cargo handling staff attached to ground handling service provider Bhadra International remained impervious to the storm raised by Union MInister for Civil Aviation Ajit Singh.
When contacted, most of them shrugged it off as mere bureaucracy and were surprised to hear the news. “It is surprising to hear that the Minister is finding problems with our company’s contract now. Anyway, we are merely cargo handlers with a uniform, so our work will always go on,” shrugged a senior cargo loader working for the company.
Even as reports began to circulate about how Singh had called for the CBI to initiate a probe against Bhadra’s top brass, besides suspending six Airports Authority of India (AAI) top guns, it was just another regular day for the loaders of Bhadra.
19/09/12 New Indian Express/IBN Live

Thiruvananthapuram to receive chartered flights after a hiatus

Thiruvananthapuram: After three years, chartered flights from Moscow and Ekaterinburg in Russia will start arriving here from the third week of October, raising hopes of a good tourist season among the hospitality and travel industry here.
A flight from Ekaterinburg, the fourth largest city in Russia, with 284 tourists is to touch down at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport around 10 a.m. on October 18. Confirming the arrival of the flights, Airport Director V.N. Chandran said it would be the maiden chartered flight to land at the airport after the commissioning of the world-class terminal at the airport.
Since 2009, no chartered flights have touched down at the State capital, mainly due to poor response from foreign tourists. The beach resort of Kovalam was badly hit by the lack of chartered flight operations.
19/09/12 S Anil Radhakrishnan/The Hindu

SilkAir to start Vizag-Singapore non-stop flight from Oct 28

Visakhapatnam: SilkAir, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, will commence services from Visakhapatnam to Singapore from October 28.
With this new air link, the global route network of the airlines will grow to 42 in twelve countries, according to G.M Toh, the General Manager of Singapore Airlines (India).
At a press meet here on Tuesday, he said it would be the first international non-stop flight from Vizag and it would boost commerce and trade between the two cities.
Visakhapatnam, he said, was one of the fastest growing cities in India and improved air connectivity would impart impetus to its growth. The flight would be operated thrice a week and depending on the need the frequency would be enhanced, he said.
18/09/12 Business Line

Monday, September 17, 2012

10 months on, no flight to Mysore

Bengaluru: What’s wrong with the Mysore airport? It is still waiting for the resumption of commercial flight operations for the last 10 months after Kingfisher Airlines suspended its lone flight in November last year. Is it the lack of political will or the airlines’ susceptibility to industry slowdown and ever increasing Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices that are keeping flights away from Mysore? This is the question every Mysorean and tourist of heritage city is asking in disgust.
Now, there is more bad news. The two potential operators, Spice Jet and Jet Airways, who had expressed interest to start flight services from Mysore in the recent past, have backed off and confirmed that Mysore will not find place in their winter flight schedule. The Spice Jet, which has already announced its schedule, has preferred Hubli over Mysore. It is operating a night flight from Hubli to Bengaluru from September 27 to October 27 and has already started the bookings. Mr. Ajith Madhavan, sales manager, Karnataka (Trade), Spice Jet, told Deccan Chronicle that the Mysore airport is not considered as a preferred destination currently. “We are not rescheduling our flight via Mysore. I can’t elaborate the reasons for the reluctance. Moreover, there is no proposal in front of us.”
18/09/12 S.V. Krishna Chaitanya/Deccan Chronicle

Power cables cut, airport plunges into darkness

Kolkata: The city airport plunged into darkness for around five hours on Monday afternoon after power lines were disrupted by labourers at Baranagar in north Kolkata. The airport just about managed to stay afloat, maintaining the vital operations with the aid of generators. But passengers, airline staff and security personnel had a tough time going about their business in semi-darkness.
According to CESC that supplies power to the airport, contract labourers engaged by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) cut off the main as well as standby power cables by mistake. KMDA is carrying out a drainage and sewerage augmentation work on BT Road.
18/09/12 Times of India


SpiceJet Kalanidhi Maran grabbed second air route to fly daily from Madurai - Colombo - Madurai

Colombo: SpiceJet airlines, the subsidiary of Sun TV Network has grabbed the second air route to fly daily from Madurai to Colomb & back.
Sun TV Network established on April 13, 1993 is an Indian mass media company based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is a part of Sun Group. The company is owned by Kalanidhi Maran, who is the chairman and managing director.
The man who used to spew venom on Sri Lanka on a regular basis through his TV network has managed to grab the second air route to fly from Madurai – Colombo – Madurai on a daily basis. Already his airline is flying daily from – Chennai – Colombo – Colombo.
Billionaire Kalanithi Maran, grand nephew of M.Karunanidhi - the DMK patriarch is the owner of the Sun TV Network, a TV network which is a sworn anti-Sri Lanka Tamil satellite TV station involved in promoting Tamil separatists is the owner of the SpiceJet a low-cost airline headquartered in Chennai, India and is planning to operate its second international daily flight from Colombo from 9th October - Madurai - Colombo - Madurai.
18/09/12 Asiantribune.com

Airports authority relaxes deadline for Patna airport till October 31

Patna: In a big relief to the Bihar government, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has allowed operations of large aircraft such as Airbus 320 and Boeing 737 from Patna airport till October 31, an official said on Tuesday.
The AAI had earlier set an August 16 deadline on the operations of these aircraft from the airport.
The authority first extended the date till August 31, then changed it to September 19 and now October 31.
"For the third time in the last one-and-half months, the AAI has deferred till October last the effective date of implementation of its order, reducing the runway length of the airport," said an official of the state government dealing with civil av'iation.
18/09/12 Times of India



Air India-Singapore Airport Terminal Services Ltd pulls strings for Cial ground handling operations

Thiruvananthapuram: Ernakulam MP and Union minister of state for agriculture K V Thomas has written to Union civil aviation minister Ajit Singh to hand over ground handling functions at Cochin International Airport to Air India-Singapore Airport Terminal Services Ltd (AI-Sats).
Singh's office, in turn, wrote to Rohit Nandan, CMD, Air India, asking him to "look into the matter". This comes at a time when questions are being raised as to how AI-Sats gained entry into Trivandrum and Mangalore airports without following due processes.
Thomas's letter, dated July 4, 2012, said: "I am writing to you with the request of handing over ground handling services at Cochin International Airport (Cial) to AI-Sats for ensuring quality of service to various customer airlines, as well as travelling public. As you are aware, Air India has been the sole ground handling agency at Cochin International Airport for many years... Initially there was a proposal to hand over the ground handling services to AI-Sats... However, now, Air India seems to have decided against allowing AI-Sats to take over ground handling functions."
18/09/12 Sangeetha Nair/Times of India

Airlines blamed for takeoff delays at IGI

New Delhi: IGI Airport's three functional runways and the modern Terminal 3 have not translated into timely flight departures due to airline inefficiency. Data for the first seven months of this year shows that carriers were responsible for more than 90% of all delayed domestic departures from IGI. Flights landing or taking off after 15 minutes of their schedule time are considered delayed.
A study commissioned by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and conducted by Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL) from January to July, 2012 attributed domestic departure delays to five factors: airline, airport, weather, ATC and miscellaneous. However, 82.7% to 96.3% delays every month were attributed to airlines.The study found that airlines' reasons for delay were primarily 'reactionary': late arrival of aircraft into Delhi, followed by delay in crew positioning and technical reasons. Only in the dense fog conditions of January did another reason - weather - stand out in the delays chart.
18/09/12 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Burqa-clad gold smuggler arrested

Chennai: After a spate of gold smugglers were held trying to sneak the precious metal from Sri Lanka into Chennai, Customs officials caught a burqa-clad woman from Singapore on the same charge.
According to airport sources, Kulsum (42), who arrived in the city on a Jet Airways flight on Sunday night at 11.30 pm, raised the suspicions of the customs sleuths because she appeared nervous.
After her entire baggage was checked inch by inch, the woman was asked to go for a body check.
At this juncture, she threw a fuss and refused to submit to a search. Customs sleuths then forced her to hand over her burqa. They found 520 gms of gold jewellery sewn into the lining of the dress.
18/09/12 New Indian Express/IBN Live

Chopper ops to be hit for 2 hrs today

Mumbai: The secondary runway at Juhu airport will be shut for repairs from Tuesday for six months and flight operations will move to the main runway. But when the bigger, busier, Mumbai airport uses its secondary runway for aircraft landings or take-offs, Juhu airport is likely to suspend all its flight operations. Juhu houses the country's busiest heliport for off-shore operations.
"Every Tuesday and Friday, flight operations at the Mumbai airport are moved to the secondary runway from 2pm to 4pm as repair and maintenance work is carried out on the main runway," said an airport source. "So, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft will not be allowed to operate to or from Juhu during that time. This is because these aircraft will have to use Juhu's main runway and in doing so, they would come very close to the aircraft landing on the secondary runway of the Mumbai airport," the airport source added. However, the AAI is yet to issue a formal notice on this.
18/09/12 Times of India

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport gears up for CoP-11

Hyderabad: Apart from sprucing up city roads and flyovers, the state government is now making special arrangements at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport ( RGIA) for delegates to the global biodiversity meet ( CoP-11), slated to begin on October 1.
Arrangements at the airport include VIP lounges for high-profile delegates and helpdesks to guide all participants arriving at the airport. As per the plan, a group of local volunteers will be posted at Shamshabad (both arrival and departure terminals) all through the 19 days, to assist participants with official procedures at the airport.
"The two primary areas that we are focusing on are immigration and customs. Apart from ensuring that every participant is welcomed warmly, we will also see that none of them have a problem clearing these checks.
18/09/12 Times of India

Sick woman grounds flight

A London-bound aircraft flying over Chennai airspace on Sunday night made an emergency landing here after an Australian woman onboard suffered an epileptic attack.
According to airport sources, the Virgin Atlantic flight from Kuala Lumpur to London via Abu Dhabi was near Chennai when 26-year-old Nguyelle Hoaimi suffered seizures. The crew was not able to stabilize her condition and they sought permission from the Air Traffic Control here for an emergency landing.
18/09/12 New Indian Express/IBN Live

Full-fledged air cargo hub in the making

On one side, Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa and other international carriers are increasingly hovering over the Indian skies with their freighters, scouring for a perfect landing to bring in and take back air cargo loads. And on the other, heaps of potential air cargo parcels are lying at the warehouses of the Indian industry, waiting to be air-lifted and flown to their global destinations.
But the rendezvous between the two is not happening, at least not on the scale and speed that it should. Nick Rhodes, Director Cargo of Cathay Pacific, said, “India is an exciting market for us. We expect India’s contribution to our global (cargo) revenues to increase from 3.5 per cent to five per cent this fiscal and 10 per cent in the next three to four years.”
Clearly, India has the potential to play a much larger role in the air cargo market, especially with international carriers looking at Asia as a major growth driver for their air cargo business. But the major roadblock is the absence of a full-fledged air cargo hub, backed by strong regional air connectivity and road network for the last-mile transportation.
16/09/12 Amit Mitra/Business Line

Government suspends 6 Airport Authority of India officials for irregularities

New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Monday ordered suspension of six senior Airport Authority of India officers for irregularities in awarding airports ground handling contracts.
Sources said that major penalty proceedings have been also initiated against the officials.
A CBI inquiry has found these officers involved in committing irregularities and favouring a particular company namely M/s Bhadra International India Ltd in award of contracts for ground handling services at certain airports.
The officers are LL Krishnan, Executive Director (Commercial), RL Saran, DGM (Finance), S Basu, Additional GM (Commercial), Arun Mehan, DGM (Operations), PK Chadha, DGM (Operations) and Shri Ravi Verma, GM.
17/09/12 IBN Live

Puja, mementoes to mark Dreamliner’s maiden flight to Chennai

New Delhi: It promises to be a dream flight for the over 200 passengers booked on Air India’s morning flight between Delhi and Chennai on September 19, on the newly acquired Dreamliner (Boeing787).
Flyers will be welcomed on board with some small mementoes. When the flight touches down in Chennai, a small puja will be performed before the aircraft heads back to the National Capital. After a gap of about three hours, the same aircraft will be used to operate a Delhi-Bangalore return flight.
The hype around the induction of the Dreamliner started a week in advance. Following full page advertisements in leading newspapers announcing the arrival of the “most modern and advanced aircraft in the world”, the airline also sent out mailers to travel agents introducing them to the aircraft.
16/09/12 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

Juhu runway move to put choppers in flight path

Mumbai: A group of Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials have sought to issue a controversial order that allows helicopters to land on the main runway of Juhu airport when Mumbai airport's secondary runway is in use. The order is controversial as these choppers would come in close proximity to the aircraft landing on Mumbai airport's secondary runway. It would be a nightmare situation for pilots and air traffic controllers.
The notice, proposed on Thursday by a general manager of Juhu airport, said that when the secondary runway is in use at Mumbai airport, fixed-wing aircraft should not be allowed to land in Juhu, but helicopters can continue to land. The notice has triggered alarm among pilots and air safety officials. "So now there is no problem if a passenger aircraft operating from Mumbai's secondary runway collides with a helicopter landing on Juhu's main runway," said a letter sent on Sunday by S Mangala, AAI deputy general manager, aviation safety, to a number of top officials, including civil aviation minister Ajit Singh.
17/09/12 Manju V/Times of India