125 lives were in danger as Air India’s damaged plane landed in Hyderabad

Hyderabad:The 125 passengers on board Air India’s AI 541 flight — Tirupati to New Delhi via Hyderabad — had a narrow escape on Tuesday afternoon, with aviation experts saying the damage caused to the aircraft could have had serious ramifications. Based on images of the now grounded plane, experts said they indicated impairment to the radar and stabiliser, which are part of an aircraft’s primary control system.
The matter came to light after the flight landed at the city’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport around 4pm on January 29. A preliminary survey showed the underside and wings of the A321 (from airbus A320 family) had suffered damage, allegedly due to the presence of “foreign object” (presumably concrete) on the runway at Tirupati. The aircraft was moved to the hanger at RGIA, and an inquiry initiated into the incident.
A senior pilot familiar with the incident, said: “It appears a foreign object (or concrete) went through the engine at the time of take-off and was thrust out in different directions, thus damaging the wings. It seems serious, and could have led to the pilot losing hold over the primary control.”
Confirming the incident, an official spokesperson of AI said that a probe is on to ascertain the exact cause of the damage. “It is now known that the runway at Tirupati was in poor condition. Though there has been damage to the aircraft, we are glad that the pilot managed to land safely at RGIA. All our passengers travelling onwards to New Delhi were accommodated on AI and other private carriers subsequently. An inquiry and repair of the plane will be carried out simultaneously,” the spokesperson said.
When contacted, Tirupati’s airport director, claimed the damage wasn’t caused because of the runway. “Nothing happened to the aircraft during take-off. Only on landing in Hyderabad, they found there were some ‘scratches’ on the body,” the director said. Incidentally, soon after this, an inspection of the runway revealed there was damage at the edge.
31/01/19 Times of India

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AAI Seeks Consultants to Prepare Detailed Report for a 4 MW Solar Project at Trichy Airport

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is looking for a consultant to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for a 4 MW ground mounted solar PV project proposed at Trichy airport.

The last date for the submission of bids is February 12, 2019.The technical bids will open on February 13, 2019 while the financial bids will open on February 18, 2019.

To be eligible for the services, an agency should have successfully installed or provided consultancy services for at least one grid connected solar PV project of 4 MW or above during the last seven years.

It should also have annual average financial turnover of at least ₹1,50,000(~$2,104.80) against the works executed during last three years.

The estimated cost of the consultancy service is ₹5,00,000(~$7,016.00) and the duration for completing the work is two months.

The AAI, which comes under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, is a statutory authority responsible for the creation, management, and upgradation of civil aviation infrastructure in India.

The AAI is seeking to use solar as a low-cost and renewable source of power to fuel operations at various airports across India.
31/01/19 Nitin Kabeer/Mercom

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IndiGo to build MRO at Bengaluru airport, its second in India

New Delhi: IndiGo will build its second maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at Bengaluru. The airline, which has over 200 aircraft in its fleet with more than 360 more yet to be delivered according to existing orders, has a MRO facility at its Delhi airport base but given its size has gone in for another one. IndiGo operates over 1,300 daily flights, of which 158 are out of Bengaluru.
The airline on Thursday said its parent company InterGlobe Aviation and Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), operator of Kempegowda International Airport, have entered into a 20-year agreement to sub-lease land at the airport to build a state-of-the-art MRO facility. The 13,000-sq metre hangar, to be built on five acres in the airport campus, will be able to accommodate two narrow body aircraft and have support infrastructure, including an engine shop warehouse and engineering offices for all repair and maintenance. This facility is expected to be operational by next March.
31/01/19 Times of India

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In Lohegaon airport, percentage increase in domestic passenger traffic plummets

Pune: The city airport may be among the busiest, but the percentage increase in domestic passenger traffic has fallen during November 2017-November 2018 as compared with the same period the previous year.

Pune airport sources told TOI that while the new flights — both domestic and international — are welcome, the focus this year is on increasing and managing passenger services.
Experts cite different reasons for the decline. “Pune airport has kept up its double-digit growth, but it has shown some moderation in 2018 in terms of international and domestic traffic. Factors like sharp rise in crude oil prices and rupee depreciation adversely impacted the demand. Efforts on the parts of airlines to increase their yield also led to higher fares during vacation and festival periods, resulting in comparatively lower passenger load this year. In fact, India's domestic air passenger growth fell to 11% in November last year, the lowest in the past 51 months,” aviation analyst and expert Dhairyashil Vandekar told TOI.
31/01/19 Joy Sengupta/Times of India

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Vijayawada runway expansion to be completed by March

Vijayawada:  An airport development committee meeting chaired by Krishna district collector B Lakshmikantham on Wednesday set a March 2019 deadline to complete the much-awaited runway expansion at the Vijayawada International Airport.

“The Vijayawada airport is progressing fast and passenger float between Vijayawada and Singapore has increased. The integrated terminal will be a special attraction for the airport and the expanded runway will help to facilitate huge aircraft,” said the collector.

The ongoing work has prevented a few airlines from pressing into service huge aircraft.

The success of direct flights between Vijayawada- Singapore has energized the Vijayawada airport. Once the runway expansion is completed, there is likely to be direct flights to Dubai and other international destinations.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI), which started the runway expansion from 2286 meters to 3360 meters in 2017, missed the deadline because the district administration had failed to hand over the land to AAI when landowners raised a hue and cry. The diversion of irrigation canals, too, impacted the pace of work.

31/01/19 Times pf India

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Expect 5-15 minute flight time cut from April

Mumbai: From April, you can expect to get shorter flight durations, at least on your tickets to begin with. You could find that the journey time listed by airlines for domestic flights landing at Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru has decreased by 5-15 minutes. In an attempt to reduce air traffic congestion, the government plans to enforce slot discipline at the three airports.

One of the ways would be to cut down inflated journey time cited by airlines as a buffer against delays. Thus, proud “early arrival” announcements by domestic pilots, even on flights with delayed departures, might soon reduce.

April marks the start of airline summer schedule. The civil aviation ministry has brought out an action plan, under which regulator DGCA would need to ensure that landing/takeoff slots and block times match. (Block time is the time taken by a flight right from the moment it pushes back from the departure gate till it arrives at the destination gate.) At present, to boost their punctuality record, airlines, when applying for landing slots, typically inflate their block times by 5-15 minutes. This is why when you look up, say, a Mumbai-Delhi flight on a travel portal, you will find that the journey time listed by different carriers vary from 2 hour 5 minutes to 2 hour 25 minutes, even for departures within an hour of each other.

A study carried out by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) between September 24 and November 30 last year found that slot indiscipline was rampant. At Mumbai, 73% of flights landed over 10 minutes ahead of schedule. At Delhi, this was 52%. The study compiled departure time data from over 80 domestic airports and arrival data at Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru to look at early arrivals at these three congested airports.

A takeoff slot or a landing slot is a right granted by an airport to an airline that allows the latter to schedule a flight departure or arrival at that specific time. Slot discipline is crucial because congested airports like Mumbai handle three to four departures or arrivals every five minutes. “A flight that arrives to land before its time congests airspace. A majority of domestic flights arrive before time, making it difficult to effectively manage air traffic,” said a senior air traffic controller.
Early this month, the civil aviation ministry met stakeholders (including DGCA, airlines, AAI and private airport authorities) to check early arrivals and enforce slot discipline to be able to handle fastgrowing air traffic better.

During the meeting, AAI listed two primary reasons for early arrivals, including block time inflation. The other reason is that airlines often plan and operate departures 5-15 minutes ahead of schedule (provided passengers are seated by then).
31/01/19 Manju V/Times of India

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Morning flights cancelled at Srinagar airport due to bad weather

Srinagar: Several morning flights were on Thursday morning cancelled at Srinagar airport due to bad weather.
Officials at Srinagar International Airport said due to bad weather several flights were cancelled.
“Air Asia I5-716, Indigo 6E-2554, 6E 576, 6E 653, Go Air 128/129 SXR-DEL, Vistara UK 611 SXR-IXJ, Spicejet SG 161 SXR-IXJ were cancelled,” Srinagar Airport authorities said on Twitter.
Fresh snowfall began today morning at many places across the valley including summer capital Srinagar.
31/01/19 Greater Kashmir

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Kozhikode: Lobby for cut in aviation fuel tax

Kozhikode: Passengers forums and industrial organisations have lamented on what they called the step-motherly treatment being meted out to the Karipur International Airport even as the state and Central government are showering supporting schemes to promote the Kannur international Airport Limited (KIAL).
The Central government should take measures to ensure support to save the Karipur International Airport which has been hit with the freebies showered on KIAL, they said.
It may be recalled that major airlines operators have started cutting down services from Karipur airport as they are planning to operate more services from KIAL. Jet Airways has announced cutting down Mumbai-Kozhikode and Kozhikode-Mumbai services from Karipur from February 7.
The number of services will come down from seven in a week to four, according to airline authorities.  Earlier, Jet Airways had withdrawn its two international services from Karipur.
Air India has also announced cutting down its Kozhikode-Thiruva-nanthapuram services from seven a week to six.
The Malabar Devel-opment Council has approached the Union ministry of civil aviation and the Airport Authority of India demanding major cuts in taxes for Aviation Turbine Fuel and parking and landing fee for aircraft at Karipur.
31/01/19 Deccan Chronicle

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Now, fly from city without paper boarding pass

Mumbai: From February 1, domestic passengers flying out of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport’s Terminal 2 won’t have to carry physical copies of their boarding pass.

Passengers will now have to authenticate their boarding pass at pre-embarkation security check points by scanning the QR code of their boarding pass on their mobile phone or a physical copy of the pass at e-gates, using the live passenger dataset. The e-gates will be located between the check-in counters and the security check hold area.

The pilot project of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will be applicable for domestic passengers of Air India, Jet Airways and Vistara, which operate out of the integrated terminal at Terminal 2. The new method of authenticating the boarding pass will free the CISF staff from the responsibility of stamping boarding passes. The move will save the time of the CISF staff and also improve the overall security check process.

A Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) spokesperson said the pilot project is aimed at reducing the time in completing pre-flight boarding checks. The spokesperson said, “It is a forward-looking service that is technology-driven and offers seamless digital experience to passengers. The self-service facility has drastically reduced waiting time and queues at touch points.”

The spokesperson said that the initiative is a step towards adopting modern technology by making the entire procedure hassle-free for passengers.

MIAL has already equipped its two terminals with self-service check-in kiosks, Common Use Self Service systems that generate boarding passes and baggage tags, and the self-baggage drop facility helps passengers in making faster check-ins.
31/01/19 Aditya Anand/The Hindu

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Expansion of Surat airport building to boost trade: PM Narendra Modi

Surat: Referring to the recent study by London-based Oxford Economics that Surat will be the fastest growing city in the world through 2035, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the future belongs to Surat and other nine fastest growing cities of India.
Congratulating the huge crowd present at the foundation stone laying ceremony of Surat terminal building expansion on Wednesday, Modi said, “All top 10 fastest growing cities in the world till 2035 are in India and Surat is on the top. The future belongs to Surat and the nine fastest growing cities. It is our responsibility that these cities should be prepared for the present and future. Apart from infrastructure, education, health etc., we have to touch the hearts of the people to be on the top.”

PM said that the Surat’s spirit of surging ahead will get a further boost with the expansion of terminal building at Rs 354 crore and the development projects of Surat Municipal corporation (SMC) worth over Rs 1,000 crore.

“Surat’s airport is third biggest and busiest airport of Gujarat. The expansion of terminal building will become capable to handle 1,200 domestic and 600 international peak hour passengers. It will be capable of handling 26 lakh passengers per annum from the current 4 lakh passengers. Also, the cargo complex at Surat airport will boost the exports from Surat and people visiting from other countries will save time and money,” said Modi.
31/01/19 Times of India

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Air India proposing to launch night flights to and fro from Srinagar

Srinagar: A delegation of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) led its president, Sheikh Ashiq Ahmad on Wednesday met General Manager-Commercial, Northern Region, Air India Ltd., Divya Mohan at her office chambers to discuss and deliberate various issues confronted by travel trade.
Various issues regarding night flights, facilities and functioning of Air India were discussed in detail. It was discussed in the meeting that Air India is working out to launch night flights to and fro from Srinagar soon. She assured the delegation about the commercial viability of night flights, an official statement read.
“She has been kind enough to assure the delegation about working on Srinagar-Jeddah direct flights as the load since last two years has increased tremendously,” a KCCI spokesperson in the statement said, adding that she also agreed on demand of increase in Air tickets of Umrah pilgrims to be enhanced to the level of 100 to 200 seats at Srinagar city office and enable IATA (International Air Transport Association) holders to issue tickets against bank guarantees.
General Manager-Commercial, Air India assured that all the issues raised by the chamber would be considered on top priority.
31/01/19 Kashmir Reader

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Three 'Stress Busting' Dogs at Indian Airport ‘Stolen’ by Ex-Staffer - ReportsCC0

New Delhi: A report of a dog abduction was filed at a police station in Mumbai, the financial capital of India, reporting that three dogs belonging to a private firm contracted by Mumbai Airport to provide therapy to distressed flyers were stolen by the company's former employee, says a report in Mumbai Mirror.

Mumbai Airport had engaged a company, Fur Ball Story (FBS) that provides therapy dogs for hire to aid passengers that suffered from flight-related anxieties. The founder of FBS Animesh Katiyar had filed the said police complaint against Arushi Dixit who had been a company employee until November 2018 but also holds 18% equity in the firm.

Animesh had purchased three pups Effy, Hachi, and Oreo and had them trained. Subsequent to the signing of a contract with Mumbai Airport, the dogs were shifted to Mumbai and housed in a flat with Arushi. The Mumbai operations were under Arushi's purvey. She was the tenant on record for the flat where she lived along with the dogs.

As local authorities in Mumbai do not permit dogs to be registered with companies as owners, the three canines were registered under Arushi's ownership.

Last November Arushi was sacked from the company for alleged misconduct and unprofessionalism and the dogs were reassigned to two other company staffers. But the flat where they were being housed continued to have her as the tenant on record.

According to Animesh, she vacated the flat and went off with the dogs and has "adamantly" refused to disclose the new location where they are currently being housed.

Arushi countered that she is being "mercilessly" harassed and asserted that she is the rightful owner of the dogs and has documents to prove this. She announced that she would file her version in a counter complaint against the company's founder Animesh and other partners.
31/01/19 Sputnik

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Commissioning of Goa Airport may be delayed due to SC order: Parrikar

Panaji: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday informed State Assembly that there could be a delay in the commissioning of phase I of Mopa Airport due to stay on tree cutting earlier and status quo ordered by the Supreme Court this month.
In a written reply in response to a question asked by BJP MLA Rajesh Patnekar, the Chief Minister, who also holds Aiport Portfolio, he said, 'Construction of Phase I of Mopa Airport has commenced and is expected to be commissioned by September 2020 as per Concession Agreement... As per Concession Agreement the Phase I of the airport is to be commissioned by September 2020. However, there could be a delay in the commissioning of Phase I due to stay on tree cutting earlier and status quo ordered by the Supreme Court vide order dated 18/1/2019.'
30/01/19 UNI

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Supreme Court order for status quo could delay Mopa airport, accepts Goa CM Parrikar

Provorim: Though phase I of the Mopa International airport, which was slated to be commissioned by September 2020 has begun, Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday said that the project could be delayed due to the Supreme Court’s stay on tree cutting and the status quo ordered by the Apex Court on January 18.

In a written reply to the Goa Legislative Assembly, Parrikar said that construction of phase I of the airport had commenced and as per the concession agreement, the airport was supposed to be commissioned by September 2020 as per the concession agreement with GMR Airports.

“There is no proposal at present to have a railway terminal at the airport,” Parrikar also said in the written reply.

The project has a provision for two runways but initially, only one runway with a taxiway will be built while the second runway will be constructed based on the traffic flow at the airport.
30/01/19 Newton Sequeira/Times of India

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Toilets at Chennai airport to be renovated

Chennai: For passengers who have always felt a sense of discomfort using toilets at Chennai airport, there may be some relief on the way.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials said they plan to renovate the toilets in the domestic terminal and the departure hall of the international terminal.

“We recently got the approval to execute this work. Eleven toilet (blocks) in the domestic terminal in both the departure and arrival halls and five toilet (blocks) in the departure hall of the international terminal will be renovated.

Since the old international arrival hall will be demolished completely as part of phase II modernisation project and rebuilt, the toilets in that building alone are not going to be renovated,” an official said.

Chennai airport’s passenger and air traffic has been growing rapidly; over 30,000 passengers travel through the airport every day and there are over 500 aircraft movements a day. With such a growth, it has become important to retain the washrooms clean in the terminals, as it is one of the basic facilities a passenger expects.
30/01/19 Sunitha Sekar/The Hindu

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Chandigarh airport functional 24x7 by March 31, Punjab and Haryana HC told

Chandigarh: The central government on Tuesday claimed the Chandigarh international airport would be functional for round-the-clock flying operations by March 31.

Informing the Punjab and Haryana high court, the centre has stated that all work related to night operations is expected to be completed by the end of March this year. Assistant Solicitor General of India Chetan Mittal told the court that most of the work related to making the airport fully operational round-the-clock has been completed. He also told the court that the issues related to delay in payments of agencies involved in the work at airport would also be resolved expeditiously.

Mittal further told the court that the Chandigarh International Airport Limited (CHIAL) is already receiving offers from some airlines to start Chandigarh-Delhi flights till 11.45 pm and 6 am. Mittal said the airlines have shown interest in late night and early morning flights after CHIAL has decided to extend parking facility at the airport.

At the moment, the watch hours at the airport are from 8am to 8pm.

Meanwhile, the UT administration informed the high court that it has already initiated process to acquire 0.6 acre land for the purpose of installing category-III instrument landing system (ILS) at the local airport.
30/01/19 Times of India

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Student goes missing from Vadodara airport

Vadodara: A student of fine arts faculty of MS University (MSU) went missing from Vadodara airport on Monday afternoon.

Subeng Bohra (25), a native of Assam, is a fourth-year student of sculpture department. According to police sources, Bohra had been remaining disturbed for the past couple of weeks. Bohra’s friends said that when he came to city on Uttarayan, they sent him back as he was unwell. However, he again came to Vadodara on January 19.

On Monday, he decided to go to Guwahati and reached Vadodara airport around 1.30 pm. Since he did not have ticket, the security personnel did not allow him to enter the terminal.

Police said that Bohra then went to the ticket counter of Jet Airways to buy the ticket for Guwahati. At the ticket counter, he said that he had only Rs 2,000 with him and would return with more cash. Bohra left his luggage and phone near the ticket counter, but did not return for a long time.

The airline staff then informed the security personnel about the luggage. The security personnel then called up Bohra’s friends from his phone and informed them about the luggage and that he has gone missing. Later, Harni police were also informed and a missing person’s complaint was registered.

On Tuesday, police registered the statements of his friends and informed his parents. “Lately, he had started talking about spiritual things. He used to say that the world is not right and it needs to be corrected,” said Bohra’s friend and classmate Avinash Bhishnurkar. When Bohra returned from Assam on January 19, he stayed with Bhishnurkar.
30/01/19 Times of India

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PM Modi Likely to Lay Foundation Stone For Jewar Airport in Feb, Says Mahesh Sharma

Noida (UP): Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to lay the foundation stone for the Jewar airport in Gautam Buddh Nagar next month, Union Minister Mahesh Sharma said on Wednesday.

"The foundation stone laying ceremony for the Jewar airport is likely to be held between February 23 and 25," Sharma, the Gautam Budhh Nagar MP, said.


Last week, a metro rail service was launched to connect Noida and Greater Noida and other projects are also underway, including elevated road corridors, he said.


"Our government has not only made announcements, but delivered projects," he added.

"Anybody coming from Meerut can reach the Jewar airport in just 45 minutes. There will not be a single traffic light on the stretch connecting Jewar and Meerut," Sharma said.

The proposed airport, second in the National Capital Region (NCR) after Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, would cost around Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore and is expected to be operational by 2022-23.
30/01/19 PTI/News18

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Indigo Decision To Operate Daily Direct Srinagar-Bengaluru Flights Hailed

Jammu:  Advisor to the Governor, Khurshid Ahmed Ganai, Tuesday welcomed the decision of Indigo Airlines to operate daily direct flights between Srinagar and Bengaluru from February 15 next month.

In his message, Ganai, who is in-charge of the Tourism Department, said direct flights from Bengaluru to Srinagar on daily basis will give a huge fillip to tourism in the State and increase footfall of visitors from South India. He emphasized the role of aviation industry in promotion of tourism and added that the Government is willing to facilitate private airline carriers to operate more direct flights to Srinagar and Jammu from other metropolitan cities like Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

The Advisor said the Governor’s Administration is taking a number of measures to herald J&K’s resurgence as a mainstream and wholesome travel destination in the country. He said the State’s Tourism Department is organizing road shows in different states to attract inbound tourists especially from southern states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu, the sector which has largely remained untapped.
30/01/19 Kashmir Observer

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Hindon airport in Ghaziabad to be operational for UDAN flights by March

New Delhi: You will be able to fly from the Hindon air base near Delhi to places like Pithoragarh, Jaisalmer, Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Hubli and Kannur by March this year. A senior aviation ministry official Wednesday said the civil enclave being built by Airports Authority of India (AAI) will become operational by March after which up to 80-seater planes can operate flights under the subsidised regional air connectivity scheme UDAN. The airport will be able to handle aircraft which carry less than 80 passengers.
Since Delhi IGI Airport does not have free slots, it was unable to accommodate new RCS flights — on which fares are capped at Rs 2,500 per hour of flying for a certain number of seats on each flight. Hindon will handle these flights till IGIA’s expansion work to have a fourth runway and a bigger terminal 1 is completed in three to four years.

According to AAI, the first set of flights to and from Hindon bid out under “ude desk ka aam nagrik” (UDAN)-II RCS scheme will some routes being operated by big low cost carriers including: Lucknow-Hindon-Kolkata-Jorhat; Hindon-Bhopal-Ozar (Nasik); Hindon-Jaisalmer-Udaipur; Hindon-Gorakhur-Allahabad; Hindon-Allahabad-Kolkata; Hindon-Kannur; Ozar (Nasik)-Hindon and Tirupati-Hubli-Hindon. Most of these new flights will be by IndiGo and a couple of small, new players.

30/01/19 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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