Airlines fear chaos as new agency to take-over ground handling

Chennai: A new agency is set to take over ground-handling operations at the passenger terminals at the city airport on April 1 but airlines fear there could be chaos.
Bhadra International, they say, is not fully prepared for the huge task. They have demanded that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) conduct a preparedness audit before allowing Bhadra to take over. Earlier, 14 agencies were doing the task that Bhadra has won the contarct for.
An airport official said that the agency on Saturday handled its first flight a Thai Airways freighter that departed from cargo terminal.
Airlines have been demanding a preparedness audit for long. On March 24, a facilitation committee meeting decided to audit Bhadra's preparedness. Airlines presented their check-list but the agency said its senior staff were busy and said the job could done in the first week of April.
"We cannot sign a contract with the new agency without an audit. No airline has signed a contract," said an airline official.
Sources said "Airlines are in the dark about the equipment available with Bhadra, its manpower position and also the services it is capable of doing. We fear there will be cancellations if Bhadra is unable to handle the works by April 1."
28/03/11 V Ayyappan/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Mar 2011