Chennai: There’s a scene in Ajith’s recently released cop flick Yennai Arindhaal, where the ever flippant comedian Vivekh walks into Chennai Airport wearing a helmet.
Answering Ajith’s quizzical look, he whips off the helmet and says that this is for protection because glass panels have come crashing down at least 28 times since the airport opened. The true irony with that piece of timely humour, is that the entire scene was shot at the new airport terminal, with the gracious permission of the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
When something as small as a pane of glass cracking can happen so many times that a movie decides to take a dig at you, you’ve got a problem on your hands. Two years after the terminals were christened by the Vice President and the then Civil Aviation Minister, these operational worries have all but ensured that the airport will most likely be passed on to a private operator by mid-2015. “The deposit for the bids is expected this week and the Ministry is very keen on sticking to the schedule. There will be no delays this time and all the private parties have been assured that there will be no back-tracking as far as Chennai and Kolkata are concerned,” said an AAI official in Delhi.
GVK and GMR, who have considerable experience with Delhi and Hyderabad, are the companies tipped to be interested in taking over the airport.
But why does the MoCA and AAI want to dispose of an airport they spent `2,150 crore and nearly five years laboring over? “Economics is the answer,” explained a source close to the Aviation Minister, “We are at a crossroad where we have to worry about keeping our assets above board, if not profitable. The age of keeping government-promoted organisations running at huge losses is over with Air India.” He went on to add that most of the airports operated by AAI, especially those had been modernised at huge costs, were showing a negative balance on the sheets.
09/02/15 Daniel Thimmayya/New Indian Express
Answering Ajith’s quizzical look, he whips off the helmet and says that this is for protection because glass panels have come crashing down at least 28 times since the airport opened. The true irony with that piece of timely humour, is that the entire scene was shot at the new airport terminal, with the gracious permission of the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
When something as small as a pane of glass cracking can happen so many times that a movie decides to take a dig at you, you’ve got a problem on your hands. Two years after the terminals were christened by the Vice President and the then Civil Aviation Minister, these operational worries have all but ensured that the airport will most likely be passed on to a private operator by mid-2015. “The deposit for the bids is expected this week and the Ministry is very keen on sticking to the schedule. There will be no delays this time and all the private parties have been assured that there will be no back-tracking as far as Chennai and Kolkata are concerned,” said an AAI official in Delhi.
GVK and GMR, who have considerable experience with Delhi and Hyderabad, are the companies tipped to be interested in taking over the airport.
But why does the MoCA and AAI want to dispose of an airport they spent `2,150 crore and nearly five years laboring over? “Economics is the answer,” explained a source close to the Aviation Minister, “We are at a crossroad where we have to worry about keeping our assets above board, if not profitable. The age of keeping government-promoted organisations running at huge losses is over with Air India.” He went on to add that most of the airports operated by AAI, especially those had been modernised at huge costs, were showing a negative balance on the sheets.
09/02/15 Daniel Thimmayya/New Indian Express
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