Cabinet approves land swap between Bihar govt, AAI for Patna airport
The government today cleared swapping of land between Bihar government and Airports Authority of India for the expansion and development of Patna airport, which handles traffic more than three times of its existing capacity. Union Cabinet, which met here under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved transfer of 11.35 acres of (Bihar government) land to AAI by way of exchanging equivalent area of AAI’s land at Anisabad, an official release said today. The AAI plans to expand Patna airport as the existing terminal building was built for a capacity of 0.5 million passengers per annum, against which 1.5 million passengers per annum are already using the airport. The proposed land at Patna Airport will be used for expansion of the airport and construction of new terminal building along-with other associated infrastructures, the release said. The State government has also agreed in-principle for transfer of the land, it added. The proposed new terminal building would have a capacity to cater to three million passengers per annum.
Goa tourist traffic to increase three-fold with new airport: Nitin Gadkari
After the under-construction Mopa international airport in North Goa becomes operational, the state’s inbound tourist traffic will increase three-fold, Union Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari Minister said on Thursday. Addressing a poll rally in Shiroda constituency, 40 km from here, he said: “Today, 91 planes come to Goa every day, but after the Mopa airport comes into being, within a year and a half, Goa will get around 250 aeroplanes. HomeIndia news Goa tourist traffic to increase three-fold with new airport: Nitin Gadkari Goa tourist traffic to increase three-fold with new airport: Nitin Gadkari Goa, one of the most popular beach and nightlife tourism destinations in the country, currently attracts more than four lakh tourists. By: IANS | Panaji | Published: January 27, 2017 10:54 AM 222 SHARES FacebookTwitterGoogle+LinkedInEmail Goa, one of the most popular beach and nightlife tourism destinations in the country, currently attracts more than four lakh tourists. (Reuters) Goa, one of the most popular beach and nightlife tourism destinations in the country, currently attracts more than four lakh tourists. (Reuters) After the under-construction Mopa international airport in North Goa becomes operational, the state’s inbound tourist traffic will increase three-fold, Union Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari Minister said on Thursday. Addressing a poll rally in Shiroda constituency, 40 km from here, he said: “Today, 91 planes come to Goa every day, but after the Mopa airport comes into being, within a year and a half, Goa will get around 250 aeroplanes. “That means, if Goa gets three times the tourists, hotels will increase threefold and youth will get threefold jobs.” Goa, one of the most popular beach and nightlife tourism destinations in the country, currently attracts more than four lakh tourists. The minister also said that the upcoming four-lane highway from Mumbai to Goa, which is being built at a cost of Rs 14,000 crore, would help save a lot of lives, which are lost in accidents along the currently used Mumbai-Goa highway. “Mumbai Goa highway is a death trap, so many people have died. When I became minister I decided to build a cement-concrete road and work on the Rs 14,000 crore four lane road has started,” he said. Jason Witten Authentic Jersey
Those fancy airport stores may help lower airfares
The next time you confuse an airport with a mall, don’t fret and fume. Because higher “non-aeronautical“ earnings will help the airport operator levy lower charges on airlines. This will in turn mean lower fares for flyers. The passenger-friendly move comes as the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) has decided to determine the future tariffs of major airports under the `hybrid till’ model. Under this, 30% of non-aeronautical revenue will be used to subsidise aviation charges. It will also provide a boost to investment in airport sector by ensuring funding to projects without burdening airlines -and in turn passengers -with skyhigh charges. However, the tariffs of Delhi and Mumbai airports will not be impacted by this and continue to be determined as per the agreements with the airport operators at these metros. “`Single till’ may not be appropriate at this juncture when there is high growth and capacity expansion is the need of the hour. The Authority’s methodology for tariff determination should be consistent with the government policy ,“ AERA order says. Several airport operators were in favour of the ‘single till’ model -where non-aeronautical earnings are not used to cross-subsidise aero charges, leading to higher charges for airlines. This, in turn, leads to higher fares and airport user charges. Amber Dubey, head of av iation at KPMG, said in a Facebook post that AERA’s move was in line with the civil aviation policy . “This is likely to boost investor sentiment in the Indian airport sector which has so far seen tepid response from leading global players, despite huge growth opportunities here. End of a six-year struggle. Good move (by) AERA,“ his post said. “The `single till’ mechanism does not provide adequate funds to airport operators for taking up various expansion and modernisation programmes. `Hybrid till’ is more suitable for fund capital additions. One of the major functions of the Authority is to ensure that the airport operator has adequate funds to make capital additions at the appropriate time. `Single till’ mechanism cannot provide adequate funds to the airport operators in a timely manner and it cannot be adopted uniformly at all times and at all airports,“ AERA order says. Dalvin Tomlinson Jersey
Pay regional connectivity levy either from pocket or charge customer, Aviation minister tells airlines
The aviation ministry has warned private airlines that they need to start contributing to the corpus that will fund the regional connectivity scheme. “You (airlines) are contesting that it (the charge) is illegal. Now we, within the government, have a procedure and a whole department of law. No proposal is brought out unless the legal department approves it. Now, we are a free country — even a murderer can go to court,” aviation minister Ashok Gajapati Raju told ET. “I go by our law department. They say it is legal. No government will bring out an illegal rule. So, they are liable by law. We do not intervene in airline’s business plans. So, whether they charge it from passengers or pay it themselves is their call,” he added. He said the regional connectivity scheme was drawn up after discussions with stakeholders, including airlines. The scheme, which aims to provide regional connectivity at Rs 2,500 per hour of flight, is to be funded by charging carriers a fee per landing at all major airports in the country. The Centre has imposed a levy of Rs 7,500 per flight between cities that are up to 1,000 km apart. For distances of 1,000-1,500 km, the levy will be Rs 8,000 per flight, and for above 1,500 km, Rs 8,500 per flight. The money is to be deposited in an escrow account operated by the Airports Authority of India. It’s estimated that this will earn Rs 500 crore annually to fund up to 90% of the subsidy cost to make regional flights financially viable for operators. Barring Air India, which started levying a fee of Rs 70 per passenger on most domestic routes from January 16, no other airline has started paying it. Private airlines have termed the levy illegal. The Federation of Indian Airlines, which comprises IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet and GoAir, have also challenged the government’s order in courts. Minister of state for aviation Jayant Sinha had told a press conference that the government is in talks with airlines to resolve the issue. Kolton Miller Womens Jersey
AAI chairman inaugurates central air traffic flow management in Delhi
Dr. Guruprasad Mohapatra, Chairman, Airports Authority of India (AAI) formally dedicated the Central Command Centre, Air Traffic Flow Management, at New Air Traffic Services Complex here on Thursday. The inauguration took place in the presence AAI board members, senior officers of AAI and representatives of various airlines. Dr.Mohapatra said on the occasion of the 68th Republic Day, “India is on the threshold of becoming seventh country in the world, to implement air traffic flow control measures across the country which will accrue benefits in terms of reduced carbon foot print, embarking on Green environment concept, fuel savings and economic benefits to the air travelers.” He said that the AAI is in the process of implementing the CATFM system covering the entire Indian airspace and major airports, to begin with, subsequently nationwide application. The C-ATFM system is primarily meant to address the balancing of capacity against the demand to achieve optimum utilization of the major resources viz., airport, airspace and aircraft at every Indian airport where there is a capacity constraint. The ATFM Service relies on a number of supporting systems, processes and operational data which are already in place, for efficient management of Air Traffic Flow across the country. The system displays weather information along with static information about airports, airspaces and air routes. It processes the demand / capacity information, provides decision making tools to the ATFM flow managers for collaborative decision making, in consultation with airlines, Military and Airports Operators to facilitate the regulated flow of traffic in each airport in India. With the introduction of ATFM in India, it is envisaged to have: Enhanced safety, cost savings to airlines resulting out of fuel savings approximately to the tune of Rs. 1680 crores per year, reduction in operating cost for airlines and contribution to green environment. Weston Richburg Womens Jersey
Airport curb to cabin in a flash of your eye
Clear, the biometric screening firm long hobbled by a limited network, is landing in several major US airports soon, including New York’s LaGuardia, marking the start of an era that could radically accelerate your trip from curb to cabin. But there are some bumps to smooth out first. Clear, which started at JFK International Airport earlier this month, will open screening lanes at LaGuardia and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson in the next few days, followed by Los Angeles International and Minneapolis-St. Paul by April. All told, the expansion will put Clear at 22 major airports, covering the majority of domestic American flights, according to the company. Clear doesn’t replace TSA PreCheck so much as complement it. It checks travellers’ identities with a fingerprint or iris scan, eliminating the boarding pass and identity checks. That lets Clear members proceed directly to bag and body screening. The company says about 65% of its users at the busiest airports have also enrolled in PreCheck, allowing them to retain their shoes, belts, and laptops during the screening. Clear is a reincarnation of the verified-identification idea begun by journalist Steven Brill in 2003. That company ran out of money and shut down in 2009. It was purchased in bankruptcy the following year for about $6 million by investors including Clear’s current CEO, former hedge fund manager Caryn Seidman-Becker. Other stakeholders include T. Rowe Price Group Inc., Sterling Equities, investor Bill Miller, and former executives of Priceline Group Inc. (Clear also offers security checks at various professional sports arenas.) The New York-based company, in which Delta Air Lines Inc. holds a 5% stake, has been working hard to expand its network to the point where veteran air travelers would view it as comprehensive. Glaring omissions at some major hubs, such as Chicago O’Hare and Newark Liberty, have made some frequent fliers disinclined to consider paying for the service. “In order to provide the best service and to meet the expectations of our members, we have to be in all the right airports,” said David Cohen, Clear’s chief administrative officer. “That’s really important.” There are other obstacles still facing Clear. Its lanes, for one, aren’t always located in the same terminals that have the bulk of an airport’s traffic. At both Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston-Bush airports, for example, Clear’s lanes are in terminals not used by the dominant carriers at those hubs, American Airlines Group Inc. and United Continental Holdings Inc., respectively. Cohen said each airport has different needs and requirements about where Clear can establish screening. Clear charges $179 annually, with new enrollees receiving a one-month trial for free. The company has also experimented with a variety of pricing promotions, such as $29 for a three-month enrolment last summer. Members of Delta’s SkyMiles frequent flier program get discounted memberships, while Delta covers the cost for its top-level elite members. Clear members can add a spouse or domestic partner for $50, and children 17 and younger are free. Clear says it has more than 700,000 members nationwide and will surpass 1 million in the next few months, with annual enrollment growth of 110%. If Clear reaches critical mass and becomes a viable option for all who wish to enroll, it may face a bigger problem: success. More travelers using Clear may spell longer queues at airports that already face space constraints. Isn’t Clear useful to its customers precisely because its audience is limited? Cohen said the company hasn’t yet faced this problem, even as it processes upwards of 2,000 travelers each day at its busiest locations. And the tech firm has an advantage when it comes to that issue, he said: By using technology like automated kiosks, it can expand without hiring more employees. Andre Tippett Jersey
Listen to Airlines to make the Regional Connectivity Scheme a Success
Modi government’s ambitious regional connectivity scheme is a laudable initiative that can help transform India’s aviation sector like never before. While the move is praiseworthy, airlines and government need to arrive at a consensus on how to make it work and they need to do this quickly. Under the regional connectivity scheme, UDAN, government is offering a subsidy to participating airlines that operate to airports where either no scheduled flight operates as on date or where the frequency of flights is very limited. Fares on RCS routes have been capped at Rs 2,500 per hour of flying. The scheme – and herein lies the problem – would be funded through a regional connectivity fund (RCF) created from levy of Rs 7,500 – Rs 8,500 charged to the airlines on a per-flight basis. The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), which represents Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo – has opposed the levy. “Members of the FIA believe that the objective of the civil aviation policy is and, as has been stated in the policy itself, is to reduce costs. Already, 50% of an airline ticket cost goes in various forms of direct and indirect taxes and fees and so on. Here is something that adds to that cost for consumers and that’s what we oppose,” a senior airline official said as he explained on why they had opposed the move. The government, airlines say, should make every effort to bring down the cost of aviation, bring down fares and stimulate the market. The airlines seem to have a valid point here. Airlines feel there are other ways in which the scheme can be paid for – either as a budgetary grant or in terms of Airports Authority of India, which with its large deposits and high profitability, can step in. “It’s their airports which will get populated and a lot of their dead assets will become viable again once the scheme takes off. Perhaps there could be another way of funding this scheme. We feel we should not put another additional charge on passengers. Every additional charge is limiting our ability to reduce fares,” said another airline official. India is the fastest growing aviation market in the world today. Growth happens when you stimulate. This has been India’s experience in the telecom sector as well. “How much can the fares go up? Our ATF prices are already the most expensive in the world,” the official said. What airlines are saying, it seems, makes sense. The high taxes and fuel prices have seen many airlines fold up in the past and a great initiative like the RCS shouldn’t add to the passenger’s and airline’s misery. Ricardo Louis Womens Jersey
UAE, India share thriving aviation market in region
The UAE and India share a thriving aviation sector with carriers from both sides consistently recording significant annual upswing in passenger traffic on the back of a vibrant travel demand from the 2.8 million NRIs in the Emirates apart from fast growing two-way tourist traffic. The latest data released by Dubai International Airport, or DXB, the world’s busiest airport for international passengers, exemplify the fast growing air connectivity between the two countries. DXB, which is targetting a traffic of 89 million in 2017, announced on Tuesday that it recorded capacity increases and witnessed the launch of new services by Spice Jet, Jet Airways, Air India and other carriers in 2016 as India continued to lead as Dubai’s single largest destination country. Both countries’ aviation sectors are expected to get a further fillip following the second visit to the New Delhi by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, to India aimed at elevating all-round bilateral ties to a new level. The UAE and India had signed several aviation accords, including various seat quota agreements inked by New Delhi with Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah over the years to keep with the continuous surge in traffic demand. Vince Williams Womens Jersey
Russia and India Negotiating Su-30 Combat Jet Support Deal
Russia and India are close to signing a long-term support agreement for the fleet of Sukhoi Su-30MKI combat aircraft operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF). It includes an improved schedule for the delivery of spares from Russia, local manufacturing of some spares and the creation of logistics hub for the aircraft at the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) production facility in Bangalore. India has contracted for the delivery of more than 300 of these aircraft. The Su-30MKI is a specialized variant of the Su-30MK-model series and was developed and built at the Irkut factory in Russia. It features several modifications that differentiate it from the original Su-30 design. These include a set of canard foreplanes and a thrust vector control (TVC) module coupled to the aircraft’s fly-by-wire flight control system; the N011M passive electronically scanning array (PESA) radar set produced by the NIIP design bureau in Moscow; and a mix of Israeli, French and Indian-produced avionics. It is this unique configuration of this aircraft, which is different from the other Su-30MK variants sold for export, that complicates the logistics chain for this aircraft, say Russian aerospace specialists familiar with the program. Indian officials had previously expressed dissatisfaction with the declining availability rates for the Su-30MKI, but have seen improvements in those numbers recently. “Sukhoi availability, which had slipped to 46 percent, is today above 63 percent,” said the Indian defense minister, Manohar Parrikar, in a statement to Indian news outlets. “Our status with Russia is much better than two years back. We have signed many of the support contracts this year. Very few are left. We are working on long-term arrangements, including manufacturing some of the [Su-30MKI] spares in India. Earlier, there were some problems due to the need to change their [Russian] laws.” Mel Blount Authentic Jersey
AERA allows new airports to adopt hybrid model for tariffs
Regulator AERA has allowed upcoming airports to follow a hybrid model for determining tariffs that may lead to fliers shelling out more as airlines may pass on the additional burden to them. Under the ‘Hybrid Till’ model only up to 30 per cent of the non-aeronautical revenues, which include segments like retail, food & beverages and parking, would be used for cross-subsidisation of aeronautical charges. Aeronautical charges include those related to route and terminal navigation services. Currently, most of the airports follow ‘Single Till’ model whereby non-aeronautical revenues are completely used to cross subsidise aeronautical charges. With the new model, only up to 30 per cent of the non- aeronautical revenues would be used for cross subsidisation. Such a tariff mechanism could push the expenses higher for fliers as airport operators might hike the user development charges. The new national civil aviation policy, unveiled in June last year, had recommended ‘Hybrid Till’ model. In a six-page order, dated January 23, AERA (Airports Economic Regulatory Authority) said that in the future tariffs at major airports would be determined under “Hybrid Till wherein 30 per cent of non-aeronautical revenues will be used to cross-subsidise aeronautical charges”. A.J. Derby Womens Jersey