ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE AIRPORT OPERATORS Monthly Newsletter March 2013 Members: CONTENTS 1. Aviation Sector ............................................................................................. 3 2. Airports 2.1 Bangalore International Airport Limited ............................................... 12 2.2 Cochin International Airport Limited .................................................... 12 2.3 Delhi International Airport Limited………………………………………………………13 2.4 GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited…………………………………….13 2.5 Mumbai International Airport Limited…………………………………………………14 3. Airlines 3.1 Air India………………………………………………………………………………………………16 3.2 SpiceJet………………………………………………………………………………………………17 3.3 Jet Airways……………………………………………………………………………………….…17 3.4 IndiGo…………………………………………………………………………………………….…..18 4. International News…………………………………………………………………………………..19 5. Cargo ……………..………………………………………………………………………………………..20 6. AERA Appellate Tribunal …………………….…………………………………………………..21 7. Traffic…….…………………………………………………………………………………………………23 Page 1 of 26 ABBREVIATIONS AAI Airports Authority of India AERA Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India ATF Aviation Turbine Fuel BCAS Bureau of Civil Aviation Security BIAL Bangalore International Airport Limited CCEA Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs CCI Competition Commission of India CIAL Cochin International Airport Limited CISF Central Industrial Security Force CSIA Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai DGCA Directorate General of Civil Aviation DIAL Delhi International Airport Limited FIPB Foreign Investment Promotion Board GHIAL GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited IATA International Air Transport Association ICAO International Civil Aviation Organisation IGIA Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi MIAL Mumbai International Airport Limited MoCA Ministry of Civil Aviation PIL Public Interest Litigation RGIA Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad RTI Right to Information UDF User Development Fee CUTE Common Use Terminal Equipment FIDS Flight Information Display Systems CAR Civil Aviation Requirement CCS Cabinet Committee on Security Page 2 of 26 1. AVIATION SECTOR1 1. MoCA on 1st March began the process of consultation with other ministries and security agencies to decide on new aircraft for VVIP usage – officially called Air India One – for the official foreign VVIP travel of the President, Vice-president and Prime Minister. The Boeing 747-jumbo that is currently being used is being replaced. The three Boeings 777s that Air India is yet to receive are being viewed as a probable replacement. 2. ICAO had conducted audit of DGCA in December 2012 and in its audit report sent to Indian aviation authorities has issued “significant safety concerns” over aircraft charter operations in India. ICAO has raised concerns in areas of operations and airworthiness. It also questioned the licensing process and the process for approving modifications carried out in aircraft by the operator. Accordingly, DGCA has formed 5 teams of three officers each which will review the licensing of each of the 147 non-scheduled operators. The teams will examine the airworthiness of charter companies’ aircraft and examine their flighty safety standard. The teams will also check the preparedness of the companies’ crew to handle emergencies. DGCA has said that it will resolve the audit issues by June this year. 3. DGCA in its recent circular has made it clear that pilots will not be penalized by their airline or DGCA in case they take the decision for the aircraft to “go-around” before making a safe landing. DGCA has also made it clear that a missed approach or go-around will not be classified as an incident. According to the DGCA, if “an approach cannot be continued to a safe, successful landing”, ‘missed approach/go-around’ is flown. 4. The Cabinet has cleared a proposal linking salaries of the Air India’s senior most management pilots to the hours they fly, while giving a guaranteed pay package, equivalent to 70 hours of flying for the rest of Air India’s pilots. 5. The government is planning to set up a new airport city near Neemrana in Rajasthan. 6. Chennai International Airport has partnered with Juniper Networks and is using Juniper Networks EX Series Ethernet Switches, integrated with Juniper’s security and routing devices, within in its new terminals to support common use applications such as CUTE, passenger information processing systems, FIDS and video surveillance. 7. MoCA is contemplating issuing some guidelines to airport operators and government agencies not to hold on to or seize aircraft as security for unpaid dues of an airline. The primary aim of these guidelines would be to prevent foreign lessors from avoiding the India market by telling the airport operators and other agencies not to take aircraft as collateral from an airline company. The directive comes following complaints from 4 international companies about difficulties in repossessing aircraft leased to grounded Kingfisher Airlines. 8. Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Ajit Singh on 5th March made a fresh plea to states to reduce tax on the ATF. 9. DGCA on 6th March said it is considering creating a separate unit within it, changing the rules and recruiting skilled manpower in order to address the concern over the safety of 1 Newspaper Clippings Page 3 of 26 business aircraft operators in the general aviation area and the problems encountered by them while flying in India. The number of business operators in India is 144. 10. The government is considering building the taxiway bridge to connect Mumbai Airport with Juhu airfield as land acquisition delays has stalled work on a proposed $2.7 billion new facility. The taxiway bridge will help ease congestion at Mumbai airport as smaller planes can be taxied to Juhu airfield. MoCA has also revived the plan to expand the Juhu Airport to enable taking away the burden of traffic from CSIA. Plans include extending Juhu Airport main runway into the sea to enable it to handle ATR turbo planed and even Airbus A320 planes. 11. AAI has signed a contract with the US Honeywell for installation of India’s first Ground Based Augmentation System at the Chennai Airport after Delhi and Mumbai. The system will enhance Chennai Airport capacity to handle more planes by providing multiple approaches. 12. The Minister of State for Civil Aviation Shri K. C. Venugopal on 7th March informed Rajya Sabha that DGCA has received complaints from some domestic airlines in March 2012, that certain on-line travel portals were selling airline tickets under opaque/bargain fare wherein the identity of the airline and flight details were not being displayed upfront. Acting upon the complaints, DGCA had stepped in and issued a Public Notice directing the airlines to immediately withdraw participation in any such scheme where the complete information about the carrier is not revealed upfront. DGCA has issued CAR on Computer Reservation System (CRS) / Global Distribution System (GDS), which has the provision that subscriber shall not make fictitious reservations in the CRS/GDS and shall not resort to any abusive ticketing practice. At present, no scheduled domestic airline is participating in opaque/bargain fares and online travel portals have removed these from their respective websites. 13. AAI has written to Kingfisher Airlines asking the airline to vacate space it occupies at its various airports across the country. AAI has also asked the airline’s management to vacate the two hangars – one each at Kolkata and Chennai – immediately. 14. Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Ajit Singh on 7th March informed Rajya Sabha that 15 more aircraft would be added in the fleet of Air India Express as part of the turnaround plan of Air India. 15. The CCS on 8th March cleared Flexible Use of Airspace (FUA) by civil and military users. There was a need to fulfill the demand of national security, where the need of airspace by the military was to be fulfilled in the fast changing environment of air warfare. Therefore, sharing of airspace on a need basis, by civil and military users was an urgent national requirement. With the implementation of Flexible Use of Airspace, there will be a fuel saving of 20,29,380 kg per annum and reduction of carbon dioxide emission by 63,93,600 kg per annum by direct routing between seven city pairs of Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Kolkata, Delhi–Chennai, Delhi-Hyderabad, Delhi- Begaluru, Kolkata-Chennai and Chennai-Mumbai. The primary objective of FUA is to enhance airspace Capacity, minimize delays, fuel conservation, emission reduction and ultimate benefits to travelling public. Implementation of FUA through efficient civilian military co-ordination is an essential requirement to foster the traffic growth with ultimate benefit to the nation’s economy.FUA permits both military and civil user to efficiently and effectively utilize the available airspace on sharing basis to Page 4 of 26 gain optimum usage, thereby enhancing its capacity, which results into efficient operations. In this model a coordinated procedure between the civil and the military and vice versa, as per need and on a real time basis if it is not being used by the user assigned with the responsibility for its control. As a first step for implementation of the FUA in India, a National High Level Airspace Policy Body (NHLAPB) for airspace use, be set up, to take up the job of strategic planning and assess/reassess the national airspace requirements of various stakeholders. It will establish flexible airspace use structure/committee’s