The Indian government has approved a ten per cent increase in aeronautical charges at 84 airports across India operated by the state owned Airports Authority of India (AAI).

This at a time when airports across Asia and in many parts of the world, are reducing airport and passenger charges to stimulate air travel.

These charges include landing, parking and terminal area navigation fees that airlines pay for using airports. Naturally, one should expect the airlines will pass on the costs to us passengers, in the form of higher fares, but at a time when airlines globally are in meltdown, will they be able to ? Conveniently, the ministry expect airlines to absorb the increases. They are already bleeding so what difference will a little more make.

Since the start of this year, the Civil Aviation ministry headed by Mr. Praful Patel, has approved increases in aeronautical charges at the now privately operated brownfield airports at Mumbai and Delhi, which account for close to 60 per cent of India's total air traffic.

The three privately operated greenfield airports at Bangalore, Kochi, and Hyderabad can also be expected to increase their charges, since they are allowed, by contract, to charge what AAI charges.

The government is also expected to clear AAI's proposal for charging development fees from departing passengers at places like Thiruchirapalli, Trivandrum, Goa, Amritsar and Ahmedabad. Reflecting a warped thinking at the ministry, as demonstrated by the exorbitant fee differential between domestic and international passengers, we can be certain that airports with higher international traffic will have their development fee proposal cleared cleared first.

Airport developers claim a resource crunch in implementing their development plans during the current economic slowdown. The sharp fall in passengers and freight have affected revenue and business plans. Thanks to its lopsided planning, the government has created monopolies and cartels out of airports. Let us not forget, this is the same government which screamed "cartelisation", just two weeks ago, when private airlines raised their fares.

Risks are inherent in any business, and in a competitive scenario economic downturns are great drivers of efficiency maximisation, leaner organisations and cost effective operations.

Indian passengers have no problem paying for facilities -- once they are built; but asking us to pay for them in advance and cover the business risks of these monopoly airport operators is not acceptable. Instead of protecting passengers, the government is only aiding this huge cartel of monopolies called airport operators.

February 9, 2009, 10:00 IST (04:30 GMT)

TV channels are reporting that an Air India Airbus A321 performing flight IC866 was involved in a rejected take-off/near miss at Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport earlier this morning.

The flight had commenced its take-off run, when a helicopter which was given permission to land, strayed across the runway to land on the helipad. On sighting the helicopter the flight crew of IC866, rejected the take-off, applying emergency braking.

All passengers on board, estimated at 148 are safe. The tires of the aircraft require changing which is being done right now.

Initially it appears a fault of the air traffic control, which appears to have given permission to the helicopter to land, while at the same time, giving permission to the Air India flight to take-off.

Update 1 - 10:55 IST (05:25 GMT)

The shocker. The army helicopter was part a three helicopter convoy of Indian President Pratibha Patil.

The presidential convoy was conveying the President from the Governor's mansion, The Raj Bhavan, along with the top most leadership of the state of Maharashtra, to the airport. Due to security procedures, it is unknown whether the President was on board the chopper which strayed on to the runway.

Clearly a major mishap has been avoided, and there is bound to be a major investigation.

Information from aviation experts indicate the plane was at V-1 speed (around 100 knots). This is why the plane was able to perform a "rejected take-off", with the autobrake system kicking in. In another few seconds, the plane would have crossed the V-2 threshold, at which point the aircraft is travelling just to fast for it to stop on the runway. That would have surely resulted in a disaster of epic proportions.

The wheels of the Airbus A321 aircraft jammed after the rejected take-off, and the aircraft tyres burst due to the excess heat caused by the emergency braking. It has been taken back to the terminal. The passengers have been dis-embarked and are in the terminal. Arrangements for an alternate aircraft are being made.

Update 2 - 13:25 IST (07:55 GMT)

A Mumbai Airport official told news agencies.

"At around 09.00 hrs today, an Air Force chopper landed on the same runway from which Air India flight IC 866 (with 150 passengers on board) was taking off for Delhi, forcing the pilot of the plane to abort take off at the last minute,"

However there is some confusion. News reports claim

the Air India aircraft was taxiing to reach the main runway for the take off when the Air Traffic Control talked to the pilot regarding the helicopter. The pilot applied the brake to bring the aircraft to a halt

Whereas, all reports indicate a high speed take-off reject, resulting in the nose wheel tyre blowing out, indicating the pilot had commenced the take-off run and was not taxiing.

Credit is being given to the alertness of Captain SS Kohli, pilot of IC 866, who aborted the take off. Captain Kohli said,

"The the chopper and our aircraft got the clearence from the ATC at the same time. The ATC had lost contact with the chopper."

"The chopper just landed without taking a landing clearance. I cannot say much more,"

Meanwhile, an official spokesperson of the President told news agencies that "Everything is perfectly fine. The President was attending her normal functions."

As per Timesnow TV.

A fleet of three helicopters including the one carrying Patil, along with Maharashtra Governor SC Jamir and some other dignitaries, had taken off from Mumbai's Naval base 'INS Kunjali' and were on their way to the airport since the President was to fly to Gondia by her special Indian Air Force Plane (IAF) plane to attend a function.

A probe into the incident has been ordered by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the sources said. A senior DGCA official is coming from New Delhi to Mumbai to join the investigation, they said.

An IAF spokesman said, "the pilots of the chopper had followed the instructions from Bombay approach meliculously. The Presidential entourage was cleared to take off from INS Kunjali and land at Santa Cruz between two taxiways". An inquiry has been ordered by the IAF into the incident, he said.

While full information is not yet available, this appears to be the most likely situation based on past knowledge, historic traffic patterns, and information.



Update 3 - 17:00 IST (11:30 GMT)

The Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) released a statement at 16:10IST ((10:40 GMT)

Mumbai Airport, the busiest airport in India was witnessing heavy air traffic and operations today morning. The ATC Mumbai was aware of the Presidential visit and were watching the approach movement of the Presidential convoy of helicopters. At that time an aircraft of Air India was on the active runway-27. The ATC, noticing movement of the aircraft on the runway, asked the aircraft to immediately apply brakes and exit through the taxiway. The aircraft exited immediately and the helicopters landed safely.

Director General Civil Aviation has ordered an investigation of the incident under rule 77 and appointed Jt. DGCA as the Inquiry Officer for the purpose of carrying out the investigation. Jt. DGCA has reached Mumabi and started investigation proceedings.

Considering this incident involved the President of India, the poor controller on duty is in for a very rough time.

Update 4 - 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT)

The Air India aircraft is registration VT-PPF. An Airbus A321-211 construction number 3340, it did it first test flight on December 5, 2007, and was delivered by Airbus on December 14, 2007. It is powered by the CFM56-5B3/3 engines.

Image copyright Flickr user Pallav105

The Government has approved the levy of Development Fee (DF) by the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) @ Rs.1300/- per departing international passenger and @ Rs.200/- per departing domestic passenger with effect from 1 March, 2009. The DF which is being levied purely on an adhoc basis, is inclusive of all applicable taxes and is for a period of 36 months only.

This approval shall be reviewed specifically upon the following milestones:

• DIAL will submit final project cost estimates within 6 months of the commencement of the levy of DF, i.e. latest by 31 August, 2009. The project cost so submitted, including amount of contingencies, and their utilization shall be audited by an independent technical auditor to be appointed by Airport Authority of India (AAI) or as the Regulator / Government may decide.
• DIAL will undertake a review of the bidding process in respect of the hospitality district. They may approach the Government with the outcome of the review within 6 months of the commencement of the levy, i.e. latest by 31 August, 2009.

The approval is subject to the following conditions:-

• The final determination of levy may be made by the Government/Regulator upon compliance of the above two milestones.
• Following procedure monitoring mechanism shall be followed:
1. DF receipts would be deposited in a separate Escrow Account. Modalities of the Escrow Account may be decided by DIAL, with the approval of the AAI, atleast one week before the commencement of levy.
2. AAI and the Central Government would have supervening powers in respect of Escrow Account to ensure that all receipts are properly accounted for and are utilized only for permitted purposes. These powers may include stoppage of withdrawal by DIAL.
3. Presently, other capital receipts like equity and debt funds are channelized through another Escrow Account of DIAL as per OMDA requirements. The Independent Auditor appointed by AAI, presently verifies only the revenue as defined in Article 1.1. of OMDA and not the receipts of capital nature and utilization thereof. As a condition of this approval, DIAL would be required to subject such capital receipts and expenditure also to AAI supervision.
4. All accounting and auditing practices, as would have been applicable to AAI, will be applicable to DF receipts and expenditure by DIAL. The modalities in this respect should be worked out between AAI and DIAL, atleast one week before the commencement of levy.
5. The compliance in respect of the above issues will be furnished by AAI and DIAL to the Central Government on event basis as well as on a periodical monthly basis.

• It will be ensured that DF is utilized for the development of such “Aeronautical Assets” only, which are “Transfer Assets” in terms of OMDA.
• DIAL should report the collection and usage of DF on a monthly basis to Central Government / Regulator through AAI.
• The levy will be reviewed 6 months after commencement by the Regulator/Central Government and thereafter at such intervals as the Regulator/Central Government may decide.
• At the stage of final determination, Regulator/Central Government will ensure adequate consultation with the users.
• The amount collected through DF would not in any case exceed the ceiling of Rs.1827/- crores (NPV as on 1.3.2009). The ceiling amount would be exclusive of taxes, if any.
• The balance amount of Rs.1250 crores received as shareholders advance (i.e., Rs.1750 crores net of Rs.500 crores to be appropriated towards equity) would be retained by DIAL. Any escalations of cost would be met from the amount so retained. In case the cost escalation is less than the retained amount, the ceiling amount of Rs.1827 crores would be reduced by an amount which is equal to the difference between the retained amount of Rs.1250 crores and the amount representing project cost escalation beyond Rs.8975 crores.
• Rate and tenure of levy are premised upon the traffic projections and other estimates. In case due to actual figures being different than those estimated, the collections during levy period exceed the amount of Rs.1827 crores (NPV as on 1.3.2009) or any other amount which the Regulator/Central Government may determine, the excess amount so collected shall not be utilized, for any purpose whatsoever, without the prior approval of the Regulator/Central Government.

The Delhi International Airport Private Limited (DIAL) are undertaking modernization, development and upgradation of IGI Airport, New Delhi as per the approved Master Plan. DIAL had estimated that the Master Plan will be implemented at an estimated cost of Rs. 8975 crores. Requisite funds were to be raised through Rupee Term Loan, External Commercial Borrowings (ECB), Base Equity, Internal Accruals and Refundable Security Deposits (RSD) from Hospitality District (commercial property development). However, it has now been brought to the notice of the Central Government that DIAL are unable to raise Refundable Security Deposits to the extent anticipated and a substantial short fall is expected. It has also been stated that the lenders have not agreed to extend any further debt as the existing debt arrangement takes into account all possible revenue streams and have suggested that levy in the nature of capital receipts to leverage any additional debt. The shareholders have brought in shareholders’ advances to the extent of Rs. 1250 crores and are not in a position to take additional equity exposure beyond Rs. 1200 crores. Further, the present declining air traffic scenario has adversely impacted the revenue streams of DIAL and the Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR). Accordingly, DIAL have proposed a levy of DF under Section 22A of the AAI Act, 1994 @ Rs. 350/- per departing domestic passenger and @ Rs. 1000 per departing international passenger for a period of 39 months.

The proposal of DIAL was examined by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in consultation with the Ministry of Law and Airports Authority of India. The Government also engaged M/s KPMG Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd. to undertake diligence and verification of the proposal submitted by DIAL. Government has been advised that DIAL can levy DF under Section 22A read with Section 12A of the AAI Act for the purposes mentioned in clause (a) of Section 22A. Further, the completion of project by March 2010, i.e., in time for Common Wealth Games 2010 was of utmost importance. Keeping in view the position that all other funding options appeared to have been exhausted, there was no option but to levy a pre-funding charge as contemplated under Section 22A so as to ensure timely completion of the project. Such pre-funding charges are accepted by ICAO subject to compliance with laid down guidelines/principles.

The Central Government have, accordingly, approved the levy of DF by DIAL @ Rs. 1300 per departing international passenger and @ Rs. 200 per departing domestic passenger w.e.f. 1.03.2009 for a period of 36 months, inclusive of all applicable taxes, purely on an ad-hoc basis, to fund an estimated short fall of Rs. 1827 crores. This approval is subject to review after 6 months when DIAL is expected to furnish the final project cost, which will be audited by an Independent Technical Auditor. DIAL have also been advised to review the bidding process of the Hospitality District to explore the possibility of raising further resources therefrom. A detailed accounting/monitoring mechanism is required to be put in place, inter-alia, including deposit of all DF receipts in a separate Escrow Account where AAI and the Central Government will have supervening powers; the account will be maintained as per accounting and audit procedures followed by AAI etc. AAI will play a critical role in the monitoring of levy and usage of DF and keep the Ministry apprised. The DF receipts shall be utilized only for construction of such “aeronautical assets” as are required to be “transferred” to AAI by DIAL upon expiry of the lease of IGI airport. The shareholders advances amounting to Rs. 1250 crores shall be retained in the project to fund expected increase in project costs.

Source : Press Information Bureau, Government of India

In my previous article I highlighted the faulty glideslope at Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) being a contributor to delays, especially in times of fog. Last Sunday January 24, 2009, BIA, again, experienced significant delays due to fog.

This issue has been hanging fire at Bengaluru International Airport since opening day.

I came across an article by Capt. A. Ranganathan, an Airline Instructor Pilot on Boeing 737 with a flying experience of 20,000 hrs, which explains the situation more technically, and with the right dose of humour.

To err is human but when an error is committed repeatedly, one must credit them with complete incompetence. They have proved that they are champions in “Bending it like Beckham”!

New Greenfield airports are constructed in Bangalore and Hyderabad. The runways are located in areas free of obstacles and the builders install PAPIs (Precision Approach Path Indicators) at a perfect 3° angle. PAPIs are mandatory equipment required by ICAO for airfields where airliner jets operate. These assist pilots to complete a precise landing in the touch down zone after they transition from an instrument approach. All the four runways, two in each city, had these installed at 3° angle.

The AAI installed the ILS (Instrument Landing System) for all the four runways. And they showed why they are great fans of the footballer. They bent the glide slope angles to 3.30° and 3.40°, instead of synchronising them with the 3° PAPIs. With this master-stroke, they killed the two airports from being capable of operating flights in CAT 2 and CAT 3 ILS conditions in fog. The recent diversions from Bangalore and Hyderabad, and the resultant air traffic congestion at Mumbai could have been avoided if the ILS Glide Slope had been less than 3.25° . The airport owners should have insisted on the AAI redoing the glide slopes. Instead, they bend the PAPI angles up to synchronise with the ILS! This is progressive thinking! Airports which should have functioned ‘24 x 365’ hours in a year are restricted to operations ONLY when the visibility is more than 550 metres,

High Glide Slope angles at Hyderabad and Bangalore. Photos: Naverus and Capt. A. Ranganathan

The implications do not stop there. All aircraft have a structural limit for their landing gear. The maximum rate of descent permitted is 600 feet per minute. A glide slope up to 3.25° will ensure a controlled flare and landing within this limit. Any higher angle will require a descent rate of 800 to 900FPM. A positive flare in the correct time is required. Any delay can result in a hard landing or a late touch down. These are a major threat while landing in heavy rain conditions. If the rain condition is accompanied by changing winds, especially tail winds, it becomes a dangerous recipe.

Read the full article here.

In his weekly column "Rational Expectations", Sunil Jain has written an excellent article titled "Mr. 20 per cent" highlighting the financial shenanigans played by the operator of Indira Gandhi International Airport, GMR promoted Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), and the resultant negative impact not just on Airports Authority of India (AAI), but also on DIAL itself.

His postscript says it all

If DIAL hadn’t tried to shortchange AAI and had its plans thwarted last year, it could have given 46 per cent of the deposits to AAI and still kept Rs 9,500 crore (54 per cent of Rs 17,590 crore) — if prices fall by half now, it gets to keep just Rs 4,475 crore! Playing by the book helps.

It is important to remember, the owners of GMR are rumoured to be "close" to various politicians of the ruling United Progressive Alliance, as well as the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the parent of AAI.

Read the full article.

According to a PIB release, at a recent parliamentary session of the Rajya Sabha, Minister for Civil Aviation, Praful Patel informed that major work in modernisation of Air Traffic Control System (ATCs) has been undertaken at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Trivandrum, Mangalore, Bangalore, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Varanasi and Guwahati.

The expenditure incurred by Airports Authority of India (AAI) on the modernisation of the Communication, Navigation and Surveillance and Air Traffic Management systems (CNS / ATM) during the last three years is as follows: (Rs. 5 Cr. = 1 Million)

• for the year 2005-06, Rs 118.20 crores;
• for the year 2006-07, Rs 66.15 crores;
• for the year 2007-08, Rs 200.71 crores.

After the installation of modern navigational/landing aids, increase in the handling capacity of airspace and airport, enhanced safety, reduction in delays in flight, saving of fuel and thus minimisation of adverse affect on environment, have been observed. Other benefits accrued include uninterrupted operation of flights through airports during the periods of poor visibility, monitoring of aircraft movements in avoiding over-flying over the restricted and prohibited areas and more effective and efficient monitoring of runways during periods of poor visibility.

Patel informed that Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radars (MSSRs) have been installed at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Trivandrum, Guwahati, Nagpur, Mangalore, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Behrampur and Varanasi, by the AAI, at a cost of Rs 229 crore.

MSSR provides position, distance, call sign and altitude of the aircraft and data link between controller and pilot. It also provides seamless surveillance over territorial airspace by filling the radar coverage gaps for smooth and efficient air-traffic flow.

New Delhi, and Mumbai will be installing a GBAS navigation system similar to the one proposed at Newark Liberty airport, by 2010.

In the Rajya Sabha today, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri Praful Patel informed the Parliament today that airport developers both in public and private sectors are not getting their dues from the airlines on time which is causing them financial problems.

As per the minister's statement in the house

In respect of Airports Authority of India’s (AAI), the dues, in Rs. Crore (Rs. 5 Cr = $1 million) of defaulting airlines are :

NACIL-Air India - 739.50; Kingfisher Airlines / Kingfisher Red - 286.62; Jet Airways / Jetlite - 32.78; Spicejet - 15.76; Paramount Airways - 12.50; Interglobe Aviation - 6.00; Go Air - 8.81. Total dues are Rs. 1,101.87 Cr.

Mumbai International Airport’s dues are as follows: NACIL-Air India - 52.90; Kingfisher Airlines / Kingfisher Red - 14.11; Jet Airways / Jet Lite - 7.51; Go Airlines - 2.29; Air Indian Charters Ltd - 0.80; Lufthansa Airlines - 0.80; Malaysia Airlines - 0.63; Emirates - 0.61;
Indigo Airlines - 0.57; Spicejet Ltd - 0.55; Singapore Airlines - 0.42; British Airways - 0.30;
Kuwait Airways - 0.27; KLM Royal Dutch Airlines - 0.26; Airlines Allied Services - 0.25; Kenya Airways - 0.25; El-al Israel Airlines - 0.23; Qatar Airways - 0.21; Saudi Arabian Airlines - 0.20; Ethiopian Airlines - 0.20; Other airlines - 3.18. Total dues are Rs. 86.54 Cr.

The total dues of airlines as on date owed to Hyderabad International Airport Limited (HIAL) is Rs. 48.75 Cr.

The total dues of airlines as on 15.12.2008 on Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) is Rs. 84.50 Cr.

The total dues of airlines on Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) is Rs.41 Cr.

Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) have also informed that there are some dues from airlines, but it appears no details are provided.

Government has given instructions to AAI to take all possible steps including legal action, if warranted against the defaulting airlines.

Just two airlines, Air India and Kingfisher owe 93% of total AAI dues, and 80.5% of MIAL dues. I suspect the trends at other airports will be similar.

Without political directive, it is career suicide for anybody at AAI, which is a government body, to even dream about, let alone execute, pursuing recovery operations against Air India, which is a government owned entity. In any case, Air India, just does not have the money. It is waiting for Sugar-Daddy a.k.a. Government of India to bail it out.

In case of Kingfisher, I am completely stupified. Dr. Mallya runs a global empire, he is astute and I am told, an extremely driven man. Aviation and Kingfisher, the airline, is his passion. What has gone wrong ? Have the liabilities of the Air Deccan merger finally caught up ?

Rs. 1,100+ Crores is not a trivial amount. This is money of the taxpayers of India, that should be put to better use, than left as overdues.

How seriously can we treat the minister's statement about instructing AAI to use all possible means to recover their dues ? It will be a simple step for AAI. All they have to do is stop the airlines from landing at their airfields, and seize the aircraft already parked. It will probably take, all of 2 seconds, before holy hell will break loose.

All the airport operators are suffering due to the economic crisis, and the subsequent reduction in overall aviation activity, be it flights, passengers or cargo.

AAI revenue has decreased by Rs. 228 Cr., April to September 2008, as compared to the corresponding period in 2007. MIAL's aeronautical revenue is down Rs. 79.83 Cr., April, 2008 to November, 2008. DIAL is down Rs. 50 Cr., and is already begging for financial assistance for its ambitious expansion plans, needed to meet the requirement of the Commonwealth Games 2010. HIAL has seen a total revenue decline by 15%. BIAL is down, but has not provided figures. The only other major airport operator, CIAL, has not been affected significantly, due to the constant middle east traffic, the one area of global aviation that is still escaping the global meltdown.

Overdues impose unneeded operational expenses on airport operators, and that ultimately comes back to passengers in the form of decreased services, delayed facilities, and higher fees. MIAL has been given permission for a 10% across the board rate hikes at Mumbai, Delhi can be expected to follow very soon.

Mr. Praful Patel is in difficult position of being the "boss" of both the defaulting airline and the airport operator owed the money. He has to make up his mind, and fast.

PTI reports, V P Agarwal, a senior Board member of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), will take over as its Chief from January 1, 2009.

As per official sources, the appointment of Agarwal, who will replace Dr K Ramalingam, has been approved by the Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet.

Agarwal has been Member (Planning) of the state-owned airports body since November 2006 and had served as Executive Director of the Northern and Northeastern Region earlier.

Ramalingam, an electronics and communication engineer, is currently on the Navigation Systems Panel of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which sets standards and practices for airlines and airports.

He is also associated with the implementation of the India's GAGAN satellite-based navigation project, being jointly developed by the AAI and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to provide total coverage of the Indian skies as well as that over the vast Indian Ocean area.

Both, Ramalingam and Agarwal have been key figures responsible for the ongoing process of modernisation of airports across the country.

The Times of India reports that air navigation services, could soon be hived off from the Airports Authority of India (AAI). In a move that would bring India in line with much of the world, these services could be free to upgrade, evolve and create another successful world-class corporation like the ONGC. Government plans are understood to be well on their way towards slimming AAI's responsibilities.

Airport operators in most other countries don't manage air traffic, explains a former civil aviation secretary, because they are generally private parties unlike India's state-controlled AAI. A sensitive service such as navigation is generally not left in private hands, he says, adding the focus is skewed here. "The focus in India is on visible infrastructure such as airports and terminal buildings and little on the crucial navigation services which would lead to seamless air travel," he says. Air Navigation Services (ANS) are responsible for roughly 2.8 million sq nautical miles of Indian airspace. With India increasingly seen as the hub between East and West, air traffic is expected to grow.

It is thought there is a conflict of interest between private airport operators in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore and the government-owned AAI. ANS include communication, navigation, surveillance (CNS) and ATC. Civil aviation ministry sources admitted that "private operators felt AAI had undue advantage over them in levying various navigation charges."

Separating air navigation from overall airport management would not come a day too soon. This was recommended by the Naresh Chandra panel. Three years ago, the Roy Paul Committee too had recommended it. It criticized AAI's "recruitment and policies" for ATC which it described as "a unique and highly-specialised job, calling for a high degree of mental alertness." It added that AAI was "not capable of attracting high-quality manpower here and there's an urgent need for drastic changes." These may be in the offing.

The ministry asked consultancy firm KPMG to suggest the way forward. It recommended taking air navigation away from AAI.

Hive off Air Traffic Control: Create a separate ATC company that works for AAI on a contract basis. This would allow it to work for any air navigation company in the world. But this isn't feasible as this service is vital for the security of the country.

Hive off Air Navigation Services: Turn it into a government-owned corporation with AAI holding a stake and representation from the aviation sector. "It'll give them responsibility and credit for good performance and help them focus on their core function," say experts. This is the most likely scenario.

KPMG refused to comment.

An ATC source says, "We welcome this move. Though we generate 45% of the revenue for AAI, its investments are on other infrastructure. AAI should look at non-aeronautical sources of revenue such as hotels and amusement parks so that it can sustain itself without us."

Adds another ATC official, "A separate entity would give us the freedom to procure the latest radars and Instrument Landing Systems, tackle manpower shortages and enhance training facilities. Have a good management person to head it and see how it becomes a successful corporation like ONGC."

Private airport operators have welcomed the proposed autonomy for air navigation, saying such a move has worked well in other sectors, be it infotech, auto or telecom. "Anything which gives us efficient, safe air traffic services, whatever be the structure, is welcome. Old mindsets have to change. In a bureaucracy, procedures often overtake proficiency," says a source. Also, AAI should have invested the money it got from its assets on improving ATC services.

"Instead, it has behaved like a civil engineering department dealing with huge contracts," says a source. Hopefully, these air pockets may disappear soon.

The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation reports that the Government of India has approved the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Indian Space Reseach Organisation's (ISRO) proposal for the implementation of the GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) project for seamless navigation over Indian airspace at an estimated cost of INR 7.74 Billion.

Ex-post facto approval has also been given to the amount of INR 1.48 Billion already spent in the first phase of the project. With GAGAN, India will be only the fourth country in the world to have a satellite based navigation system.

The management of airspace, a sovereign function, has been assigned to the AAI. The AAI presently uses ground based terrestrial navigation system for providing safe navigation over the Indian airspace. The ground based system has site limitations and range problems.

To overcome the limitations of ground based navigation systems, in 1993, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) endorsed use of a Global Satellite Navigation System as a future Air Navigation System for Aviation. Following this, the AAI and ISRO entered into an MoU in 2001 for the implementation of the GAGAN project for seamless navigation over Indian airspace.

The United States has put in place a Global Positioning System (GPS) using 29 satellites at an altitude of 20,000 km orbit. However, the position accuracies required for precision approach and landing, for Civil Aviation, cannot be met by the core GPS constellation, due to the uncertainties in the position accuracies caused by Ionospheric delays, satellite ephemeris and clock errors. The constellation needs to be augmented to provide higher accuracy, reliability and integrity, with the help of a Space Based Augmentation System (SBAS).

In order to provide enhanced accuracies with integrity, reliability and continuity, it is essential to have an augmentation system capable of collecting data in two frequencies over the service area, separate these errors at the master control centre and communicate and correct message to the aviation user in the frequency as that of the core GPS.

To achieve this, an SBAS consisting of a geo-stationary space segment for the core constellation, a ground segment consisting of reference stations, the master control centre and an uplink earth station are required. The reference stations collect dual frequency data, which is communicated to the master control centre. At the master control centre, the errors are separated and the corrected navigation message is sent to the navigation transponder on board the geo stationary satellite, which translates it to the user GPS civil frequency. The GAGAN system proposes to augment the GPS data with the help of a geo stationary satellite to be launched by ISRO and the ground based infrastructure of reference stations, uplink earth stations and master control center created by the AAI.

The implementation of the GAGAN programme is being realized in two phases:

• GAGAN TDS phase (Technology Demonstration System) - to develop and demonstrate the technological capability. This phase was successfully tested and completed in August 2007.

• GAGAN FOP (Final Operation Phase) – to be implemented for operational use and to be certified by DGCA. This phase is expected to be completed by May 2011.

INR 1.48 Billion has already been spent in the TDS phase and the balance INR 6.26 Billion is to be spent in the FOP phase. Of this, the AAI contribution is expected to INR 5.96 Billion, from its internal resources, and ISRO’s contribution will be INR 1.78 Billion, from ISRO budget. The AAI has already spent INR 1 Billion and ISRO INR 480 million in the TDS phase.

Airports need 1,000 more ATC officers
Anirban Chowdhury / New Delhi

If you thought that the IGI airport in Delhi is the only one suffering a shortage of air traffic controllers (ATC), think again. The country has 1,500 ATC officers, which is only 60 per cent of its requirement of 2,500 ATC officers.

And despite new recruitments and training, the shortage will remain for the next few years, forcing ATCs to work much more than the stipulated working hours.

In fact, even the existing numbers are not all on ground controlling aircraft. “1,500 is just the total number of the officials across the country. Since the officials have several other duties and have to be present in the headquarters also, the total number of ATC officials (ATCO) actually controlling aircraft in the country at any given time comes to around 1,200,” said an AAI official.

Take the case of the Delhi airport, which currently has 200 ATC officials in all, out of which around 120 are senior officials.

The airport recently inaugurated its third runway and the internationally accepted requisite number of ATCOs for an airport having three runways comes to 350, a figure the airport will only reach in a year’s time, given the recruitment plans.

“Currently, as a result of the shortage, ATC officials have to work six extra hours every day,” says an ATC official.

Mumbai airport has a different set of problems. The airport has two intersecting runways operating, which would call for more precision in controlling the aircraft movements to avoid collision.

“Handling cross-runway operations requires specific training. These operations currently take place for around eight hours everyday at the airport. But given the expected increase in aircraft operations, once the lean season is over, the duration of cross-runway operations will have to be increased, for which we will need more trained ATCOs,” said an MIAL executive.

Hyderabad airport currently has no shortage of ATC officials but executives said that it had faced a problem in the initial two months after it started due to lack of trained manpower in handling the equipment.

“The Hyderabad airport is the first in India apart from Bangalore to have high-end air control equipment manufactured by European company Selex. Training ATC officials to handle that equipment took a little time,” said a Hyderabad airport spokesperson.

The Hyderabad and Bangalore airports have in turn put further pressure to an already thin staff as a large of number of officials from various airports were deployed at Hyderabad and Bangalore.

"Around 73 senior and even more junior ATC officials from across the country were deployed at the Bangalore and Hyderabad airports,” said an AAI official.

Waking up to the staff crunch now, AAI has sent 300 ATCO aspirants for training to the Civil Aviation Training College (CATC), Allahabad, the only such institute which imparts ATC training. People who want to join ATC services first sit for an exam conducted by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

Those selected after the exam are sent to CATC for a training of six months to a year. The 300 new recruits are expected to join the airports by February 2009, which would ease the pressure on ATCs a bit.

However, even such ambitious recruitment plans have their problems, since there is a shortage of instructors at the training institute.

CATC has a total of 42 instructors, of whom five are retired ATC officials and the rest are officials currently deployed at various airports across the country.

"We usually deploy a skeletal staff in the college. But when the demand rises, we depute more instructors. But while we usually have a batch of around 60 students, handling a batch of 300 would require more instructors, which we are going to depute next year,” said an AAI official.

Meanwhile, a fresh batch of 96 junior ATCOs are expected to join Indian airports from September this year.

BIA facilities under scanner
B S Arun, DH News Service, New Delhi:

A team of the civil aviation ministry will visit the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) on August 19 for an inspection of the facilities there in the light adverse remarks made against the new aerodrome in its report by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

The ministry officials will also hold a meeting with the State government and BIA officials regarding improvement of passenger amenities and other issues.

The AAI, in its report, concluded that the airport was facing severe capacity constraints putting passengers in great inconvenience.

Directed by the civil aviation ministry to conduct the study in the face of criticism of the facilities and capacity bottlenecks, the AAI also observed that as against the allotted 12 to 20 per cent of space for commercial utilisation, BIA has used up to 30 per cent of the space. This, the AAI said, has affected the passenger amenities. The problem faced by the passengers was acute in the security hold area (SHA), it noted and called for measures to set them right. Lack of adequate space for toilets in the SHA area has also been cited in the report.

The report, which has been submitted to the ministry, is understood to have suggested that plans for the second terminal should be taken up right away. It has said that the airport was already brimming to its capacity of 11 million passengers a year.

On the terminal capacity, the report, prepared by a team led by AAI member (planning) V P Agarwal, pointed out that the airport was built to handle a capacity of less than 10 million passengers, while the BIA was claiming that it was 11.4 million.

Hence, it said, reopening of the old HAL airport — closed after the May 23 opening of the new airport — might have to be looked into.

It, however, noted that the runway has not been saturated but a second runway would become necessary by 2011. The Tuesday meeting will also discuss the submissions to be made before the Karnataka High Court at the August 22 hearing of the petition relating to the reopening of the HAL airport. Recently, the Karnataka Assembly set up a House Committee to go into the various inadequacies of the airport including lack of adequate number of toilets, overcrowding at SHA, excessive utilisation of commercial space, no VIP lounge and narrow access to aerobridges among other things.

BIAL CEO BRUNNER TO DECCAN HERALD

• Passenger traffic growth far surpassed all projections
• Construction of a second terminal cannot be delayed
• A mini terminal at "low cost" to be built immediately
• Second runway in four years
• More space needed for passengers inside the terminal

Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) CEO Albert Brunner has said that airport capacity is not measured by passengers per annum but by passengers per peak hour.

“Currently, we handle an average of 24 ATMs (Air Traffic Movements) during peak hours and about 303 a day. The ATC figures estimate it to be 30 ATM an hour. This calculated in passengers term result in 11 million passengers annually. BIA can easily handle 30 million passengers a year. You can play with capacity. It is always measured by peak hours. The AAI does not allow more than 30 ATM’s an hour” Mr Brunner said.

On the growth in air traffic, he explained that there has been a drop in overall air traffic since 2007, with the current growth staying put between 10 to 12 percent and a 25 to 30 percent year on year growth, during the last three years.

The construction of the second terminal building will take between two to three years to construct, while the second runway would be completed in three to four years from now.

Expansion plans

“It is not possible to construct it earlier. As far as the immediate expansion plan, we would begin construction of a ‘Terminal at Low Costs’ and not a low cost terminal. It has to be fast, simple and easy to build and should be ready in the next 12 to 15 months. The costs of the expansion are being factored into” he noted.

On the frequent comparison of the BIA with the GMR operated international airport in Hyderabad Brunner said, “Our aim was not to build an architectural marvel, but a world class a functional and operational airport. The Hyderabad airport is 30 percent bigger, but we are functionally superior”.

He added that the airport was conceived during a time when India, was not ready for a privatisation process in airport infrastructure. “Between 2000-02 there was much turbulence in the design aspects and projected air traffic growth. We increased our investment from Rs 1412 crores to Rs 2470 crores. Lufthansa Consulting that did the estimates for us put 2018 for a need of a second runway. We are ahead and would have it in 2012. They might be better in the exterior, but our airport is better inside.o addressed complaints on cleanliness and doubled the number of toilets,” said Mr Brunner.

Emphasising the necessity to convince public and industry leaders on a one airport concept, Brunner said the City will lose out on air traffic if the old airport is opened.

“Airlines would not want it. Aviation growth in the South will be hit. Cities the world over that have two airports have a greater volume of air traffic. What will we tell our concessionaires who have invested Rs 1000 crore” he said.

‘Green Pledge’ on I-Day

Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) on Wednesday unveiled ‘The Green Pledge’ on the eve of Independence Day.

A release issued by BIAL here said, akin to the aircraft taking off from its runway, the spirit at the Bengaluru International Airport is also soaring with patriotic fervour.

To commemorate Independence Day, the airport is all geared up to get the employees of the airport and the passengers to pledge - Independence from litter and a promise to keep the environment clean and green. For every pledge received, BIAL (Bangalore International Airport Limited) will plant a tree.

‘The Green Pledge’ campaign will run for one week beginning today. Albert Brunner CEO of BIAL said “We are asking all passengers who visit BIAL to sign a pledge that they will keep it clean. And for every signature we get, we’ll plant a tree. The significance of every tree is that it triggers off a healing chain reaction that improves the health of our planet. ”Additionally, symbolic of 61 years of Indian Independence, 610 trees will be planted by BIAL in the city at two locations - The Prakruthi Township in Babusapalya and at the Anugraha Ashram (School for Street Children) in Jaladamarada Doddi.

The essence of the campaign is making the city and the airport greener while sensitising the public to keep our environment litter and pollution free.

By carrying forward the philosophy behind Bengaluru International Airport’s identity that reflects the flowers and trees of our Garden City, BIAL will now actively engage the public in this noble cause. This is just the start of a sustained activity which will continue long into the coming months added the release.

Source : DH News Service

By TBM Staff | Chennai

The development plans of Chennai Airport got the clearance of the Public Investment Board (PIB) today. It will now have to be approved by the Government (CCEA approval). The work is expected to begin by September 2008. Last year in April, the Government decided that the Chennai Airport would be developed by following international standards by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The AAI has developed a master plan and design of terminals through Global Architectural Design Competition. An Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) has approved the development plans. The plans focus on the enhancement of runway capacity, apron capacity and terminal building capacity.

The Tamil Nadu government has handed over about 130 acres of land to the AAI for the development of the secondary runway. Land has also been made available by the defence authorities. In a meeting chaired by the Defence Minister, held on July 24, 2008, it was decided to hand over 21 acres of defence land to the AAI for the expansion of the airport. The Expert Committee on Infrastructural Development is expected to give the environmental clearance to the expansion project shortly.

The existing international terminal at the Chennai Airport has a capacity of three million passengers and existing domestic terminal has a capacity of six million passengers. Additional capacity of four million is being added to the international terminal to enhance its capacity to seven million passengers. A new domestic terminal is being built with capacity of ten million in addition to the existing domestic terminal, to augment the capacity of the domestic terminal to 16 million. The construction and development work is expected to be complete by October 2010. The total cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 1808.10 crore of which approximately Rs 1077.16 crores will be required for the new domestic terminal building and for the modernisation/extension of the international terminal and the face lifting of the existing international and domestic terminals. 80 per cent of the project will be funded through internal resources of the AAI and 20 per cent through commercial borrowings. No User Development Fee (UDF) or budgetary support is envisaged for this project.

The upgraded international terminal building, which will be able cater to seven million passengers a year, will have a peak hour capacity of about 4450 passengers, 109 check in counters, 35 immigration counters for departure and 39 for arrival, eight customs counters for departure and 26 for arrival, eight conveyor belts and eight aerobridges. This terminal is expected to be saturated in 2017-2018. The domestic passenger terminals which will be able to cater to 16 million passengers annually will have a peak hour capacity of about 5360 passengers, 99 check in counters, ten conveyor belts, nine aerobridges and is expected to be saturated by 2012-2013.

The pre-engineering and pre-qualification of the project have been completed. As per present estimates, work is expected to commence in September, 2008. Construction of runway, taxiway, parking bays is expected to be complete in 20 months and the terminal buildings in September 2010. Thus, the runway, taxiway, parking bays scheduled to be completed by April, 2010 and the terminal buildings by October, 2010.

Source : TravelBizMonitor.com

An official study by the Airports Authority of India assesses the annual passenger capacity of HAL Airport at 8 million passengers. 6.5 million domestic terminal and 1.5 million international terminal.

This is contrary to popular belief of 3.5 million passengers.

According to Mr. B.R. Sena, General Manager, AAI, Bangalore, the figure of 3.5 million is based on extremely old assessments. AAI has added the international terminal building, and increased the size of the existing domestic departure terminal since then.