Airports Authority of India asks GoAir to clear Rs 70 crore of dues

New Delhi: While airlines in India are making consumers happy by offering a slew of discounts, some are falling back on payments to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and are delaying requests for an increase in bank guarantees.

The AAI has sent a notice to GoAir, asking it to clear dues of Rs 70 crore in landing and parking charges. The manager of the nation's airports has also sought a meeting with Jet Airways to discuss a long-pending request for increasing the amount of its bank guarantee, furnished as a cover for payments.

Airports Authority of India approves two direct international flights

Ahmedabad: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has approved two direct international flights from Gujarat - Ahmedabad to London and Surat to Dubai.

The announcement came after state Aviation Minister Saurabh Patel held a detailed meeting with AAI chairman S Raheja, who was here today, along with other top officials of the Union Civil Aviation Ministry, according to an official Gujarat government press release issued here today.

Sudhir Raheja to temporarily serve as Chairman of AAI

Mumbai: Sudhir Raheja, a board member of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), has from today taken over as its Chairman, after the government, for the second time this year, granted temporary charge to an executive to head the country’s largest airport owner, Tarun Shukla reported for Mint.

The government has been struggling to fill the post since abruptly terminating then Chairman, V P Agarwal’s extension six months ago. Alok Sinha, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, who was then given temporary charge, will be returning to his state cadre Uttar Pradesh today.

Airport Authority of India incurring losses on 93 of its airports

Mumbai: The Airports Authority of India has been incurring losses on 93 of its airports, even as the state-owned agency plans to build and operate 50 low-cost airports in the country in the next few years.

The overall plan, according to the latest Economy Survey of the newly elected BJP government, is to build 200 budget airports in the next 20 years.
For 2012-13, AAI posted a loss of Rs 1,547 crore on airports such as Amritsar, Aurangabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Varanasi and Bhopal apart from numerous small ones, according to the latest government figures. The loss was up 41% over the previous year. Some of these airports are operational and recognised on AAI's accounts even though airlines don't operate from them.

Airports Authority of India asks all airports to set up Ebola checkposts

Bangalore:  The Airports Authority of India has instructed airports across the country to set up screening facilities at arrival terminals to nip mounting fears of an Ebola outbreak in the bud.

The directive has been issued in accordance with guidelines laid out by the World Health Organization (WHO) to airports around the globe.

The worldwide Ebola panic has pushed Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) into action. It has started screening international passengers but flyers say this isn't enough and want broader precautions followed. They feel every passenger who transited via an Indian city should be screened.

Airports Authority of India pays centre Rs 145 crore

Mumbai:State owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) paid an interim dividend of Rs 145 crore to the government for the previous fiscal. AAI Chairman Alok Sinha presented the dividend cheque to the union civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, an official release said.
Read news in full 05/08/14 PTI/Deccan Chronicle

Near misses on rise in Indian airspace, show AAI records

Mumbai: If you are a frequent flyer, this news will send a chill down your spine. Indian airspace has seen as many as 17 cases of near misses so far in the year 2013-2014, four more than last year.
Airprox is when two aircraft come dangerously close to each other. As per the UN-backed International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), an airprox is defined as a situation in which, in the opinion of a pilot or air traffic services personnel, the distance between aircraft as well as their relative positions and speed have been such that the safety of the aircraft involved may have been compromised. This situation is expected only at a time of actual risk, not potential risk.

IAA takes Afghan aviation professionals under its wing

New Delhi: India has been approached by the United Nations and Afghanistan to train aviation professionals in the war-torn country where the international body is in the process of handing over airports.
The Indian Aviation Academy (IAA), a wing of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), is now imparting training to civil aviation professionals associated with airport operations in Afghanistan.
Senior functionaries from the United Nations Office of Projects Services (UNOPS) and Afghanistan government held a meeting with AAI Chairman Alok Sinha on Wednesday to work out the modalities to conduct the training.

AAI help sought to revive Puducherry airport

Puducherry: The State government has asked the Chairman of Airports Authority of India (AAI) to convene a consultation with private airline operators to resume flight services from Puducherry Airport.

In a communication to the Chairman of AAI, Welfare and Tourism Minister P.Rajavelu said that Puducherry was one of the very few State headquarters in the country which is yet to be provided with regular air connectivity. “The growth of tourism and economic development in and around Puducherry, is greatly affected by lack of air connectivity. The State government has been taking all possible steps for operationalisation of the airport,” he said.

Airports Authority of India and NIIT Technologies launch multi-airport AOCC at Chennai Airport

New Delhi: In what could further stretch India's bid to ask the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for an upgrade of its air safety rating to category 1, US-based consultant, The Wicks Group (TWG), has asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to first complete the training of all its new technical personnel before it decides to apply for a fresh safety audit.
TWG, which has been hired to work for a year with the DGCA under a bilateral assistance programme funded by the United States Trade and Development Agency, gave this advice after its first survey early June. It will now conduct a second survey this month, a top civil aviation ministry official told FE.
“TWG has completed one survey, and will come back for another this month. They have asked us to finish training of all new appointments. We have to be completely sure that we are ready before we approach the FAA,” the ministry official said.

AAI readies plan for low-cost airports

New Delhi: There's good news for all flyers fed up with paying prohibitively steep airport charges for using terminals at places like Delhi and Mumbai. State-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) has prepared a blueprint of low-cost or no-frills terminals that will allow airports to come up across India and improve connectivity.

Aviation secretary Ashok Lavasa disclosed this at an industry-government interface organized by Economic Times along with the American Chamber of Commerce here on Wednesday. "The design of airports built in past few years have been rather ambitious. There is a lot of scope for cutting costs and conserving energy. The roadmap for no-frills airport is ready and that should help up achieve the objective of enhancing regional connectivity," Lavasa, an energy conservationist, said.

Experts call for complete AAI revamp

Aviation experts and industry analysts have called on the government to revamp Airports Authority of India (AAI), following civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju's report to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, in which he said accumulated losses of Rs 49,000 crore have put the aviation sector on the verge of collapse.

The core function of AAI, which was carved out of the civil aviation ministry in 1995, was to improve quality and service in airports across the country. Officials decided that of AAI's two principal responsibilities, operations and engi

neering, operations would be the first priority as it involved safety and quality of terminal management as well as airside operations.
However, several projects and extensive construction work over the past few years has changed the character of AAI, with the authority hiring fewer airport management and operation experts and more engineers. Experts say

Officers' body worried over malfunctioning radars, writes to AAI

An officers' association has written to Airports Authority of India (AAI) top bosses over the poor functioning of radars at many airports in the country, highlighting the risk this poses to people's safety.

Radars are important tools of aircraft navigation system and any failure or error on their part at any busy airport can have a cascading effect the world over.

Falling of radar antenna at Delhi airport just by a moderate wind of less than 50 knots on June 13 prompted the association to write to AAI.

Jumbo plans fail, fliers suffer

The government and its various agencies bicker. Fliers like you and me pay the price.

This, in short, is the story of the Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport in Patna — the facility does little to honour the great man it is named after.

Lack of consensus between the Bihar government and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) — which works under the Union civil aviation ministry — over the years on either extending the runway or shifting the airport to a new location does not only force the airlines to operate under “risky” conditions, but also keeps adding to the woes of fliers in different forms.

The brunt of the short runway curse at the city airport was yet again borne by hundreds of fliers during the past two days after the directorate-general of civil aviation restricted GoAir and IndiGo airlines to fly their aircraft with full passenger load.

Hundreds of passengers faced sudden cancellation of tickets due to the strict stand taken by DGCA — which regulates civil aviation in India — after it found that both airlines were violating load penalty norms for around a fortnight.

AAI cuts flight timing at Srinagar International Airport

Srinagar: In the middle of peak tourism season, Indian Air force (IAF) has decided to start renovation and upgradation of the runway at Srinagar International Airport forcing Airports Authority of India (AAI) to restrict the flight timing schedule to 4.30 PM.
The move has led to strong resentment among the stakeholders here who allege that there seems to be deliberate attempt by certain quarters in the establishment to scuttle the tourist arrivals to Kashmir. “There seems to be a pattern that every year the renovation of the runway is started at the peak of the tourism season seemingly to scuttle the tourist arrivals to Kashmir,” a group of tourism players told Greater Kashmir.
However, official sources said the runway, which was made operational in 2009, has developed cracks and there are potholes visible on the surface which can jeopardize the safety of passengers. “The runway has developed cracks due to use of substandard material used for renovation in 2009, otherwise it is not possible that cracks would develop in such a short span of time,” they said and demanded a CBI probe into the “substandard” works executed at the runway.
Sources said there are reports of rampant use of sub-standard material in the construction of the Airport building and terminals at the Srinagar International Airport.

Bharat Ratna JRD Tata award for Airports Authority of India member Somasundaram

New Delhi: Somasundaram, member (Air Navigation Services), Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been conferred upon the prestigious Bharat Ratna JRD Tata Award instituted by Aeronautical Society of India (ASI) for the year 2013.
"He has contributed substantially not only in improving ANS infrastructure in the country for enhancing safety, efficiency and capacity of the airspace but also towards seamless ATM and global harmonization. Earlier, he has won international ATC Awards consecutively for 3 years," an aviation ministry statement said.

AAI to seek fresh agreement for airport privatisation

Ahmedabad: With the new civil aviation ministry having assumed charge, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) is planning to soon take up the airport privatisation matter with the government. Before inviting request for quotation (RFQs) from potential bidders, AAI intends to come up with a fresh model concession agreement, which was stalled due to certain reservations by the previous government.

"The model concession agreement will lay down the terms of the bidding process. The agreement had been prepared once in March but the same was stalled since the previous government had certain reservations against it. We are now hopeful with the new government, the process will be expedited," said a senior official in the Airport Authority of India (AAI). According to the official, without the model concession agreement, the RFQs could not be received from the potential bidders by AAI.

Airport privatisation: Authority seeks fresh requests

Lucknow: The proposed privatisation of Lucknow airport has moved a step further with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) seeking fresh request for qualification (RFQ) by May 31.
Sought by May 31, the RFQ comes up categorically with detailed requirements a private party will have to undertake in renovating the Lucknow airport.
According to the document, the private company will have to spend around Rs 500 crore to renovate the existing terminal building which got constructed in 2009 at an estimated cost of around Rs 200 crore.

AAI to build solar power plants at 30 airports

New Delhi: In a bid to tap alternative sources of energy, Airports Authority of India (AAI) has decided to build solar power plants at about 30 of its airports across the country.
AAI plans to install 50 MW capacity plants in the first phase, which would be enhanced to 150 MW over a period of time, an AAI spokesperson said today.
The plants would be established on surplus land available with it at these identified airports or on the large roof tops of the airport structures.

Airport employees threaten boycott over proposed privatization move

Lucknow: Agitated over the government's proposed move to privatise Lucknow airport, employees of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) have resorted to a strange way of protest. They greet the passengers flying to and from Lucknow airport with a pamphlet that decries the proposed privatization and describes how it would drill a hole in the flyers' pocket, raising the cost of flying up to 30%.
The employees quietly deploy themselves at the security hold area (SHA), the boarding area and the ticket counters and hand over flyers the one-page anti-privatisation pamphlet. "We have to make the passengers aware of the consequences of privatisation," president of Airports Authority of India employees union, Vivek Pandey, told TOI.
Read News In full 20/10/13 Times of India