Kolkata:Staff licence uncertainty may ground airport operations from April
Airline officials are wary of flight disruptions from April 1 if the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) refuses entry passes to staff of ground-handling agencies outsourced by various airlines at the Kolkata and other Indian airports. The current entry passes used by nearly 6 lakh staff of 400-odd ground-handling agencies at Indian airports are valid till March 31, 2017. According to the National Civil Aviation Policy 2016, from April 1, 2017, airlines will only be permitted to hire staff from three registered ground-handling agencies at each airport. Air India Air Transport Services Ltd (AI ATSL) and Bhadra International are the two recognized agencies at Kolkata airport at present, though nearly a dozen other agencies operate here, providing services to Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Go Airways. Other than 200-odd staff of AI ATSL and 350-odd people of Bhadra International, there are several other ground-handling agencies like JP Aviation Services, JSM Enterprise and MK Enterprise to whom airlines have outsourced various jobs including cleaning aircraft, loading and unloading baggage, providing wheelchair assistance and transferring baggage from aircraft ramp to arrival gate and from departure gate to aircraft ramp. Loui Eriksson Authentic Jersey
RGNAU to Launch US-India Aviation Cooperation Programme
As reported by PIB, multiple experts will be participating in the programme by delivering high end lectures on various key topics such as Next Generation Transportation Systems, Airport Planning, Air Traffic Flow Management, Safety and Security and Sustainability in Aviation. In a bid to promulgate knowledge among aviation professionals, the Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University (RGNAU) in association with US-India Aviation Cooperation Programme has decided to launch its first Executive Development Programme tomorrow, February 2, 2017. As reported by PIB, multiple experts will be participating in the programme by delivering high end lectures on various key topics such as Next Generation Transportation Systems, Airport Planning, Air Traffic Flow Management, Safety and Security and Sustainability in Aviation. Apart from this, the programme will also be attended by several CxO level executives, C-level professionals from the industry, and experts and senior officials from the Regulatory Authorities. It is widely anticipated that such initiatives will not only help the senior professionals, but also keep them in touch with the latest trends in the aviation sector. Shaquil Barrett Authentic Jersey
Will private players look at regional airports now?
State-owned airports will now be allowed to monetise the huge parcel of land that it holds across the country in order to encourage private sector participation in developing these airports. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his speech of the Union Budget 2017-18 proposed a change in the Airports Authority of India (AAI) Act allowing the airport operator to use the land bank for commercial purposes. At present, the act allows an airport operator to use land only for aviation-related services. With 128 airports across the country, AAI owns almost 55,000 acres of land. The minister also said that airports in Tier-2 cities will be taken for operation and maintenance in a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) model. Will the move encourage private players to bid for management contracts of airports in cities like Ahmedabad, Jaipur? According to senior officials in AAI, the two Budget announcements have a history and should be seen in connection. AAI, which functions under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, had applied for relaxation in land usage norms back in 2010 following a request by the country’s private parties. The move was made after AAI announced city-side development of 15 airports, through private participation. Private players said that not allowing commercial development for non-aeronautical activities will make such projects unviable, as many of these airports have very low footfall. “If the government wants private players to participate in the development of airports at regional cities, it is necessary that those players are allowed to monetise from the commercial development of those,” a senior AAI official said. A senior official of major private player which owns airport said that the group will evaluate such opportunities. “As an airport operator we are interested in either fully owning or just operation and maintenance of airports, we will evaluate on a case-by-case basis,” he said. Jimmy Vesey Womens Jersey
Aerospace Industry to come up in Donakonda in Andhra Pradesh
In what could be realising the long-cherished dreams, the sleepy town of Donakonda in the Prakasam district is going to turn into a major industrial hub in the coming years as the state government has succeeded in roping in big-ticket investments to the region. At least three major industrial houses are going to launch their operations in the industrial corridor of Donakonda shortly as the firms signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government at just concluded CII-partnership summit at Visakhapatnam. The works on Rs 6,000 crore aviation industry to be owned by the Titan Aviation a subsidiary of Titan Metals and Minerals Ltd are expected to kick-start anytime now as the company is making arrangements for laying the foundation stone for the big project. The project will come up in an extent of about 5,000 acres in Donkonda industrial park. “At least three firms, which have promised to invest in Donakonda are readying to conduct foundation laying ceremony in next few weeks,” disclosed district minister Sidda Raghava Rao. The Titan Aviation will make foot in Donakonda in collaboration with several Ukrainian companies which have strong presence in aviation and aerospace businesses across the globe. Mike Napoli Authentic Jersey
Privatise civil aviation, banking to push reforms: Economic Survey
The Economic Survey 2016-17 tabled in Parliament on Tuesday by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley called for more privatisation in the civil aviation, banking and fertiliser sectors to further the economic reforms process. “India needs an evolution in the underlying economic vision across the political spectrum and further reforms are not just a matter of overcoming vested interests that obstruct them,” the survey said. The Economic Survey 2016-17 elaborated the many difficulties that are faced during the privatisation process of the public sector enterprises. “In this context, the survey points towards the need to further privatise the civil aviation, banking and fertiliser sectors,” the survey pointed out. Besides, the survey listed ambivalence about property rights and the private sector, deficiencies in state capacity, especially in delivering essential services and inefficient redistribution as major challenges that might impede India’s progress. Andy Pettitte Womens Jersey
Survey comes down heavily on govt for propping up Air India
The Survey has come down heavily on the government’s attempts to prop up Air India. “Defying history, there is still the commitment to make the perennially unprofitable public sector airline world class,” the Survey says. The Manmohan Singh government had committed ?40,000 crore to Air India, which helped the airline report an operating profit of ?105 crore for 2015-16 against a loss of ?2,636 crore in the previous year. Air India is now looking at a consortium of 19 public sector banks to convert its loans worth ?10,000 crore into equity. If the proposal goes through, as much of 40 per cent of Air India’s equity will be held by the consortium. The revamp comes as the Reserve Bank of India has come out with S4A guidelines which look at ways and means of providing sustainable restructuring for financially stressed companies. Conversion of debt The new guidelines allow conversion of outstanding debt into sustainable and non-sustainable debt, with the latter being converted into equity. The RBI allows this if a majority of the lenders, who hold nearly 75 per cent of the value of the debt, get approval from their respective boards. State Bank of India, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Central Bank of India, Oriental Bank of India and Canara Bank are among the banks that are part of the consortium which is examining the proposal. It also points to the steps taken for airport privatisation that have taken the form of awarding management contracts rather than change in ownership. Tenders for handing over airport terminal management at Jaipur and Ahmedabad are already out and the winner will be the party which quotes the lowest cost for managing the airports as well as the highest revenue increase. While the city side land at these two airports will not be given, the car parking areas at Jaipur and Ahmedabad will be part of the contract. The contract for airport terminal management will be for 10 years. Brooks Laich Authentic Jersey
AAI to be allowed to monetise its 50,000 acres land bank
In a move that will make flying out of airports cheaper from Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports, the finance minister today announced changed in rules to allow monetisation of land assets owned by the state-owned airport operator. AAI owns over 55, 686 acres of land in and around its airports across the country and is likely to start the process of monetising about 10% of the land owned (about 5,500 acres). AAI welcomed the announcement. “This announcement in the Budget is a welcome news for us. Change in the act will allow us to lease out land for various other purposes like shopping malls and convention halls and help us increase our non-aeronautical revenues,” AAI Chairman G P Mohapatra told ET. He further said that the increase in non-aeronautical revenues would help us reduce aeronautical charges on airlines, which will benefit them as well as passengers. “We are already in discussions with the civil aviation ministry on changing the AAI Act and will start the process now,” he added. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced in the Budget that “the AAI Act will be amended to allow monetisation of land assets owned by AAI. The rules currently do not allow the land around airport to be used for limited purposes, which means a hotel can be made on the land but the same land cannot be rented for convention centres or shopping malls. Another AAI official said that this move will help us utilise land in smaller cities in the country. “Land around airports in smaller cities would not find takers, if we bid it for hotels. By allowing it for businesses like shopping malls and others, I am sure our land in smaller cities will find takers. This will help in increasing non-aero revenues,” the official said. Non-aero revenues constitute as high as 40% of the total revenues for airports globally. In the case of AAI, its just 20% of the total revenues, which increases the airport operator’s dependence on aeronautical revenues to fulfil their needs. Nick Bellore Jersey
Rivals might be manipulating OTP numbers: IndiGo
Upping the ante on ‘on-time performance’, IndiGo today alleged some of its rivals might be manipulating the numbers as they follow a system, which is not in line with global practices, to record the data. The latest salvo from IndiGo chief Aditya Ghosh comes against the backdrop of the airline’s On Time Performance (OTP) declining sharply in the last few months while rival SpiceJet has been topping the charts in this regard. Till recently, IndiGo had been harping on its top OTP ranking — generated on the existing system — to market itself and woo passengers amid stiff competition. “We suspect that the OTP reporting of some of our competitors is not quite correct. We have already submitted evidence to the DGCA that certain airlines are manipulating the OTP data and have asked for a detailed investigation,” Ghosh said during an analysts call after announcing third quarter results. OTP is one of the several measures to determine an airline’s operational efficiency. It indicates whether an airline is operating its flights on time or not. A Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) panel has started looking into the OTP monitoring mechanism of domestic carriers at four airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The committee was set up after IndiGo complained about alleged irregularities in recording OTP data. In defence of the recent fall in numbers, Ghosh said for three months to December, the airline’s OTP was 71.7 per cent as it was impacted by “a number of issues including adverse weather conditions, ATC congestions at key airports and our A320 neo issues”. Without spelling out specifics, the IndiGo President and Whole Time Director expressed confidence that it would back to its “historical operational performance”. At IndiGo, Ghosh said an automatic system is used to record arrival and departure timings of aircraft which is a practice worldover. “However, most carriers in India do not use automatic system to capture arrival and departure of aircraft and instead use a manual system to report the OTP, which has the potential of being manipulated,” he added. On Monday, SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh called for applying same rules for all players and making the system more efficient with regard to OTP. In an apparent dig at IndiGo, which used the same data for almost a decade to sell its flights to customers, Singh had also said, “I think it is little awkward for somebody to be challenging the same data based on which they said they were No 1.” Andy Dalton Authentic Jersey
PMO clears Rs 119 crore bills of Air India
Bills worth Rs 119 crore pending towards cash-strapped Air India, generated for some foreign visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have been cleared. RTI applicant Commodore (retd) Lokesh Batra said that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on January 30 uploaded on its website the details of bills worth about Rs 119.70 crore cleared for eight trips, which were shown pending or under process since last year. “I sincerely hope that all the public authorities concerned i.e. PMO, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Air India will institute suitable norms and guidelines to facilitate expeditious clearance of chartered flights bills as the issue is directly concerned with the ‘Tax-Payers’ money,” Batra said. The move comes following an order of Chief Information Commissioner R K Mathur who had refused to disclose the file notings related to the travel expenses incurred on the Prime Minister’s visits abroad, but took note of Batra’s quest for timely payment of bills by the government to the public sector units. “During the hearing, the Commission observed that the appellant’s motive is to improve the governance and transparency in settling the bills of the PM’s foreign or domestic visits, as public money was involved. The loss of public money can add to the burden of tax-payers,” Mathur said. It is observed that the appellant has repeatedly stressed on timely payment of bills and institution of suitable internal guidelines to facilitate payments, he had said. “He has stated that this is in public interest. The respondents have taken note of this,” Mathur said. The PMO has claimed on its website that bills for trips – Japan, Laos, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya and Uzbekistan – have not been received while it shows that bills are under process for the four visits. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has undertaken 27 visits abroad since assuming the office on May 26, 2014, according to the PMO website. Cordy Glenn Authentic Jersey
AAI to construct 170 parking bays as airlines look to import more aircraft
The Airports Authority of India is to build 170 aircraft parking bays and six hangars at the airports that it runs in the country. The exact number of parking bays and the airports they will come up in will be decided soon, a senior AAI official told BusinessLine. It is likely that the construction of the aircraft parking bays will not include the airports at the four metros — Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Technically speaking, these airports are no longer with AAI but are run as joint ventures with the private sector. The construction of the parking bays will allow airlines to park their aircraft late at night at these airports and possibly start early morning flights from these airports thus helping airlines to utilise their aircraft better. The move to construct more parking stands is being taken up to accommodate close to 400 aircraft that airlines in India plan to import over the next few years. Joining the list of airlines which will require space for parking their aircraft is SpiceJet, which earlier this month signed an agreement with Boeing to import 200 aircraft. Delivery of aircraft The delivery of the SpiceJet aircraft is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2018. A few days before SpiceJet, GoAir had announced that it had signed up for 72 Airbus 320 New Engine Option aircraft taking the total number of such aircraft that the airline will be inducting to 144.