BS Bhullar appointed new aviation chief
B S Bhullar, additional secretary in the Union aviation ministry was on Monday appointed Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). A 1986 batch IAS officer of UP cadre, Bhullar had been holding additional charge as DGCA chief since July when the previous regulator M Sathiavathy was appointed secretary in the Central government. Bhullar’s appointment was cleared by the appointments committee of the Cabinet which is headed by Prime Minister Modi. Bhullar’s elevation as DGCA chief ends the uncertainty which had gripped the aviation regulator as it awaited a full time chief. Last year, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had expressed serious concern at the lack of continuity for the position of India’s chief aviation safety regulator. Bhullar is the seventh IAS officer to become DG in past eight years. “There is a wooden board with the names of all DGs in the director-general’s office. The FAA team saw that (when it came visitng early last year) and commented at the lack of continuity,” said a source. Kurt Warner Womens Jersey
Rs 60 cr profit at ‘Ghost’ Juhu airport
The Juhu Aerodrome, which handles 100 helicopters and is the busiest heliport in India has reported a Rs 60.08 crore profit to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) kitty, making it the third most profitable airport for the government in the country, despite a host of critical requirements that will enable to make it safer for flying having remained in the cold storage.At the same time, it is listed as a ghost airport.Operators working out of Juhu are surprised at it being mentioned in the list of ghost airports. “It is shocking to note this. On the one hand, the airport is contributing to profits. On the other, the authorities have deliberately and falsely stated that all obstacles in the approach surface are temporary in nature,” Mallaya Channam, former deputy general manager – Western Region, Mumbai Air Traffic Control (ATC) said. While Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathy Raju said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Friday that airports incurred losses due to low revenue generation and that AAI has drawn up a master plan for development and increase in non-aeronautical revenues at airports across India, for Juhu all plans have only remained on paper and it finds a mention in the list of ghost airports tabled in parliament. Sources revealed that in the past three years, authorities at Juhu refused permissions to 40 aircrafts citing a space crunch, even as major li censing issues remain. After the Juhu’s aerodrome licence expired in February, the renewal process dragged on because the aviation regulator was unsatisfied with certain parameters related to safety. When the license was renewed in early June, the DGCA called for compliance reports to be submitted within a specified timeframe and this is yet to be adhered to. Jacob Markstrom Jersey
Delay in renewing DGCA licence hits flying courses
While the trainees of Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology struggle to obtain pilot licence, the institute struggles to receive flying training licence from directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA). A trainee of the institute has to pass flying tests and written examination conducted by DGCA along with minimum 40 hours of flying experience to obtain a private flight license (PPL) and a minimum of 200 hours for commercial flight licence (CFL). The institute conducts PPL course with one year duration and PPL and CPL courses combined for three years. The students of PPL and CPL course from the batch of 2013 are yet to complete the required flying hours for the license. Jerome Murphy Jersey
Gujarat govt ready to give land for international airport in Rajkot: CM Vijay Rupani
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani today said his government is ready to provide 2,800 acres of land for the international airport proposed to be built here. “The state government is ready to give 2,800 acres of land to Rajkot district authorities for the international airport,” he said at a function here. The Chief Minister made the announcement while laying the foundation stone of SAUNI (Saurashtra Narmada Avatraran Irrigation) project’s link-3 canal project to fill Aji dam, which is city’s main source of drinking water. “The state government is committed to provide international air-connectivity to Rajkot and ready to give the required land,” Rupani said. Rajkot District Collector Vikrant Pandey had recently sought 2,800 acres of land for the project.
Birsa Munda airport fails to get international tag
All efforts by airport authorities and the government to get the international tag for Birsa Munda Airport failed, despite upgrading its infrastructure for international operations three-and-a-half years ago. “None of the private flight operators are taking interest in Ranchi as a connecting link for international routes due to lack of passenger traffic,” Anil Vikram, Birsa Munda airport director, said. “We have been raising the matter in the meetings with union-state government officials and stakeholders for a long time,” Vikram added. Members of Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FJCCI) met Hazaribag MP Jayant Sinha, minister of state for civil aviation on November 27, during his visit to the state capital, and handed over a letter to him requesting to start services for Dubai. FJCCI said Dubai acts as a stopover for connecting flights to western countries and Bangkok for its connectivity to eastern countries. Jaromir Jagr Jersey
Why do most Indian airports report losses? Not a single flight lands in them, that’s why
India is one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world, clocking over 20 percent growth in domestic traffic month on month for many months now. One would assume that India’s aviation infrastructure is keeping pace with this blistering pace of growth in traffic. No, it isn’t. Majority of India’s airports are managed by state-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) and many of these remain un-served, a majority are loss making. We have close to 400 airports across the country which are un-served – they do not handle even a single flight. But we also lack airport infrastructure at several places where demand actually exists. In the past, Civil Aviation Minister A Gajapathi Raju has laid the blame at airlines’ door and compared them to horses who can be taken near the water but cannot be made to drink it. According to him, airlines not mounting flights to many existing airports are the biggest reason for patchy air connectivity in India. But look at this: there is a long list of airports run by AAI – 97 out of 122 – incurred losses in 2015-16. Not all of these are un-served. In fact, the Raja Bhoj airport in Bhopal, Sri Guru Ram Dass ji airport in Amritsar and the one in Aurangabad together accounted for over Rs 150 crore in losses but both these airports service flights regularly. They are not ghost airports at all. So should airlines solely shoulder the blame for the unused airports and loss making ones? Raju said in a written reply in Lok Sabha yesterday that airports incurred losses due to low revenue generation and that AAI has drawn up a master plan for development and increase in non-aeronautical revenues at airports across India. There is a historical method to the airport madness in India. Under previous governments, airports which are turning in losses and those which remain un-served, were built partly to pander to local politics, partly because of inability of the AAI to judge where an airport should be in a state so that airlines find it viable to operate flights there and again, partly in the hope that airlines will get smaller aircraft to operate on these routes. Chris Wormley Authentic Jersey
BCAS has conducted 91 security audits of airports: Government
The country’s top aviation security body Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has carried out 91 security audits and 53 security inspections of operational airports in the country, the Lok Sabha was informed today. “BCAS has conducted 91 security audits and 53 security inspections of operational airports within the country,” Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said in written reply to a question whether the government had ordered a security audit of 98 civil airports in the country. At present, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel are deployed at 59 airports and at remaining airports, policemen of the state concerned are deployed for security arrangements, he said in reply to another question. “The requirement of security at airports is reviewed by BCAS, the regulatory authority for civil aviation security in the country, in consultation with other security agencies, and based on this, security cover is provided,” Sinha said in reply to a question whether the government proposes to undertake a thorough overhaul of airport security and extend CISF security cover to all airports in the country. In his reply to a question on the expenditure incurred on the security personnel, he said, “The expenditure on deployment of CISF and State Police personnel at airports for security arrangements is met out of Passenger Service Fees (Security Component), which includes the recommendation to Ministry of Finance regarding deposition of such fee collections into the Consolidated Fund of India on a monthly basis.” John Johnson Jersey
DIAL, BIAL sees Rs 580 crore total profit in six months
Operators of international airports in Bengaluru and the national capital raked in profits totalling Rs 580 crore in the first six months of the current financial year, as per government data. The national capital’s aerodrome is operated by Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) while that of Bengaluru is run by Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL). While DIAL has recorded a profit of Rs 297.48 crore till September of the current fiscal, BIAL has registered a profit of Rs 282.66 crore, as per details provided by Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju in a written reply to the Lok Sabha today. The airports in the national capital and Mumbai are among those run through public-private partnerships. DIAL is a three-way venture between GMR group, Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Fraport. The stakeholders in BIAL are Fairfax, GVK group, AAI, Karnataka State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corp, and Siemens Project Ventures GmbH. About airports in general, the Minister said some of them have incurred losses due to low revenue generation which was not adequate to meet the total expenditure pertaining to the respective airports. “AAI has drawn up a master plan for development and increase in non-aeronautical revenues at airports across India … Based on recommendations of consultants as against earlier system of individual contracts/licenses, Master Concessionaire approach is being adopted in 14 select airports in the first phase,” Raju said. Further, he said consultants have been appointed for assisting in re-designing the layout of existing general retail and food & beverage outlets for optimum utilisation of the airport space. Marvin Harrison Jersey
SpiceJet proposes up to Rs 15 crore annual pay for Ajay Singh
In the black for seven straight quarters, SpiceJet plans to pay up to Rs 15 crore annual remuneration, including a fixed monthly salary of Rs 50 lakh, to its Managing Director Ajay Singh. Singh, who has been instrumental in reviving the fortunes of SpiceJet after taking back the reins in January 2015, had decided not to take salary till the airline turned profitable. The no-frills carrier has now sought shareholders’ nod for giving a remuneration of up to Rs 15 crore every year to Singh subject to various conditions. Apart from a fixed monthly salary of Rs 50 lakh, he would also be eligible to a variable pay of up to two per cent of the annual profit and the latter component would be a maximum of Rs 9 crore per annum, according to the notice of company’s annual general meeting. This is among the proposals that would be taken up at the annual general meeting scheduled to be held on December 26. The airline will seek shareholders’ approval for paying Singh a “remuneration of Rs 50,00,000 per month as fixed pay (with such component as may be agreed and decided by the board)”. Besides, he would be eligible for “up to two per cent of annual net profit of the company payable upon completion of relevant financial year (subject to a maximum of Rs 9,00,00,000 per annum) as variable pay”. As per the notice, these payments would be effective April 1, 2016 for the remainder period of his appointment — up to May 20, 2018. The remuneration for Singh has been recommended by the company’s nomination and remuneration committee. Apart from this package, Singh would be eligible for other benefits such as “company-maintained car with driver, mobile expense reimbursement, provident fund, gratuity, personal accident insurance, medical insurance for self and dependents”. The notice also said the airline’s board of directors can modify the remuneration payable to Singh. Among others, SpiceJet will move resolutions for appointment of independent directors. Staying profitable for the seventh straight quarter, SpiceJet last month reported its highest-ever quarterly profit of Rs 59 crore in July-September. It had a net profit of Rs 29 crore in the year-ago period. Jake Gardiner Jersey
Team from Airports Authority of India visits advance landing grounds
A team of officials from Airports Authority of India, Indian Air Force, Director General of Civil Aviation and Bureau of Aviation Security, led by Arunachal Pradesh civil aviation director Repo Ronya, visited the advance landing grounds (ALG) at Aalo and Pasighat. Darius Philon Authentic Jersey