1. Shri Thupstan Chhewang 2. Shri Rayapati Sambasiva Rao 3. Shri S. Rajendran 4. Shri A.P. Jithender Reddy 5
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Minutes of the meeting of the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Civil Aviation held on 23 rd January, 2017 under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Minister of Civil Aviation at Tirupati Shri Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, Hon’ble Minister of Civil Aviation – Chairman Members of Lok Sabha 1. Shri Thupstan Chhewang 2. Shri Rayapati Sambasiva Rao 3. Shri S. Rajendran 4. Shri A.P. Jithender Reddy 5. Shri Jitendra Chaudhury Members of Rajya Sabha 6. Shri Praful Patel 7. Shri A. Vijay Kumar The list of officers who aended the meeng is at Annexure-1. 2. The Chairman welcomed all the Members and informed that due to bereavement in the family of Chairman, AAI, he would not be aending the meeting. 3. Aer a round of introducon, Shri Raheja, In- charge of capacity addion plans started the presentaon on the issue of “Introducon of NOCAS” that has been made transparent and much faster. 4 Thereaer, Secretary (CA) informed the Commiee that the height of building used to be maer of considerable delay and leading to allegaons of wrong doings and non-transparency but having moved to IT plaorm, no such problems exist now. He pointed out that there are many airports which are overcrowded for example Bagdogra, Patna and Pune but many airports like Mumbai though not crowded, require aircra handling improvement. 5. The views and suggesons of the Hon’ble Members made during the meeng along with their replies and comments made by other members are given below:- 6.1 Shri Rayapati Sambasiva Rao (i) The Hon’ble Member pointed out that new terminal at Vijayawada has recently been inaugurated to cater to addional passenger movements. He enquired whether internaonal flights are also being started. Shri I.N. Murthy said that the terminal building is not sufficient during dayme. AAI stated that they have designed a separate flow for deparng passengers, by creang one addional plaorm in the expansion departure area, in the curve side but this is sll not enough but AAI is working on other modalities also. Shri S. Raheja replied that Internaonal flights comes under the purview of Government of India. Regarding overcrowding during dayme at Airport, AAI replied that they have opened another entry but are all stop gap measures for the moment. AAI assured Hon’ble Member’s concerns will be raised in the next Board meeting of GHIAL. (ii) The Hon’ble Member commented that old Hyderabad airport can be used instead of making cargo terminal building. Shri S. Raheja replied that they were bound by the Concessionaire Agreement at Hyderabad and therefore, no control over the building. (iii) The Hon’ble Member raised the issue of medical care facility in the flights and commented that once Air India introduces medical care in their flights, other Private Airlines will follow. (iv) The Hon’ble Member complimented Vijayawada Airport as internaonal flights are to be introduced for students going abroad. He commented about the absence of aerobridges and rusted ladders at Vijayawada Airport. HMCA menoned that due to lack of help from State Government and since it is an interim terminal at Vijayawada, there are no aerobridges or proper maintenance. He assured that ladders will be painted to prevent rusting. (v) The Hon’ble Member complimented about change in Air India atude towards grievances. He asked whether there will be one more airport at new capital Amravati? HMCA replied that the State Government has given a proposal that the Vijayawada airport which is situated in Gannavaram village of Machhlipatnam Parliamentary Constuency, it is to be called Amrava, but the name should be changed aer N.T. Rama Rao. He suggested them to get an assembly resoluon passed in this regard and send it to Ministry Of Civil Aviaon. For further acon in the maer, Ministry Of Civil Aviaon will move the Cabinet note. (vi) The Hon’ble Member asked why helicopter services from Amrava to Vijayawada airport have not been introduced? The Hon’ble Member asked why Air India can’t start ambulance helicopter services and suggested that Ambulance Service should be introduced from Vijaywada airport. HMCA replied that he is ready to support any ambulance helicopter services. (vii) The Hon’ble Member suggested that full salary should be paid to staff instead of 30% as Air India has now come out of red. CMD Air India menoned that a lot of interest burden is sll present and will be taken up afterwards. Secretary (CA) clarified that Air India has not come into profit but making net losses of 4000 crore every year and interest burden of Air India is Rs.5000 crore every year. AI is not geng sufficient surplus from the operaonal profit to service this debt but they are working on debt restructuring. The Hon’ble Member commented that Government agency cannot be made as NPA. (viii) The Hon’ble Member complimented Air India for improving the service, food services and mings. He drew the aenon towards issue of only one flight from Vijayawada to Tirupa. He further suggested that it should be done before March with some aircra. CMD Air India menoned that there are plans of starting a flight with a 72 seater aircraft. 6.2. Shri A. Vijay Kumar (i) The Hon’ble Member quesoned about stage of expansion in Tucorin airport aer acquiring 500 acres of land. He asked why compleon works are pending on the runway. HMCA replied that there are two type of issues, airport specific and general issues. He assured that works at Tuticorin airport will be finished. Shri S. Raheja shortly commented that Tucorin airport is suitable for handling ATR 72 and ATR 42 types of aircra right now. Land requirement of 500 plus acres with State Government is pending for last 3 to 4 years. (ii) The Hon’ble Member asked for one airport at Kanyakumari because of sufficient land and assured his support for any future plan there. The Hon’ble Member asked for copy of leers sent to Government of Tamil Nadu. Secretary (CA) informed that plans for Kanyakumari airport are not financially feasible but will be considered if Members give their support for the same. (iii) The Hon’ble Member quesoned why at Trivandrum, domesc airport is handling some cargo and for all other items, both domesc and international airport are being used. (iv) The Hon’ble Member suggested that one airhostess with degree in BSc(Nursing) can be appointed for health concerns on flights. He asked whether they are planning to have MBBS qualificaon for an air hostess for long flights, so doctor with basic qualificaon as MBBS should be considered for this post. He asked if there was possibility of first introducing it in Air India. Secretary (CA) commented that Airlines can on their own decide to do something along these lines but normally by regulaon or by law, making it compulsory is not done globally. He assured that CMD of Air India will examine the issue separately. (v) The Hon’ble Member suggested that minimum number of toilets in flights should be increased. (vi) The Hon’ble Member suggested that flight from Trivandrum to Dubai should be restarted as it will be helpful for South Indian passengers and insisted that private airlines should run on routes that are not profitable. (vii) The Hon’ble Member commented that image of Chennai Airport is geng damaged as lot of waste material is lying inside the airport. He suggested that airport should be clean at all times. (viii) The Hon’ble Member asked about progress of Shirdi Airport. (ix) The Hon’ble Member suggested Air India to look into maer of giving sufficient rest me to air hostesses as well as pilots after long flights. (x) The Hon’ble Member raised aenon regarding presence of ladders and trollies inside the aircra parking area at Chennai airport. Shri S. Raheja replied that Metro work is going on at Chennai Airport and the metro authories will be requested to remove debris placed there. (xi) The Hon’ble Member quesoned if there was any proposal for raising the height of runway for future as aircras flooded in Chennai airport during the last rainy season. He further commented on poor drainage system at Chennai Airport. Secretary (CA) replied that no airport is built without a proper drainage system. Unfortunately the way drainage works is that to drain out, there should be a place to throw the water. At Chennai last year there was no place to throw the water. Even if they had engaged giant pumping machines, flooding would have happened as that kind of incident happens once in a 100 years. He assured that precauons will be taken regarding protecon of radar and removal of waste material from the airport. (xii) The Hon’ble Member asked if the number of flights to Tucorin and Trivandrum can be increased as there are only two flights at present. Secretary (CA) informed that Air India has plans to procure 15 ATRs and his request for starting Chennai- Tuticorin will certainly be met at that time. 6.3 Shri A.P. Jithender Reddy (i) The Hon’ble Member raised the aenon that presently infrastructure issue is of urgent importance at Hyderabad Airport. Secretary (CA) informed that 8 million passenger per annum is a significant capacity addion. Their assessment is that once the capacity expansion happens, passenger intake will be much faster and therefore the congestion at roads will reduce. Shri S. Raheja assured the Minister that AAI Members who are on the Board of GMR owned Hyderabad Airport will certainly take up these issues with their management during their upcoming Board Meengs and ensure that correcve measures are taken on priority.