Construction activities for modernising and expanding the Kolkata and Chennai airports by the Airports Authority of India will begin by the end of next month, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Thursday. Replying a question on the government's recent decision to allow charging of user development fees by the private operator of the new Hyderabad airport, Patel said "We are considering the same for the new airport at Bangalore."
The government is likely to allow state-owned Airports Authority of India to raise Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) through infrastructure bonds to enable it to finance its ongoing programme to modernise and expand a large number of airports across the country.
Air India delayed the payment of March salary to its employees by a month as it had to meet year-end expenses for various purposes, Parliament was informed on Thursday.
The airline not to be put on cash and carry mode
Proposals for listing of AAI and Pawan Hans have been made in the Draft Civil Aviation Policy, released by Raju.
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, civil aviation minister Praful Patel said some of the airlines have not been settling their dues in time. The minister said several airlines, including international carriers, had outstandings to privatised airports.
The Centre will come out with a policy by next year that will prescribe guidelines to state governments, private investors and Airports Authority of India for building airports. This was announced by the Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel at an Assocham function to discuss the need for building aerotropolis (cities around the airport).
After a gap of two months, domestic passenger flight operations resumed on Monday amid reluctance by various states to open up their airports in view of rising cases of the novel coronavirus.
The metro airports, where the ministry is thinking of restricting the number of ground handling agencies, are Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said on Saturday that 149 people have been admitted to hospitals, 23 have been discharged, while three are critically injured in the B737 plane crash.
The US Homeland Security has apologised to Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel who was questioned by the immigration authorities in Chicago as his name and date of birth happened to match with that of a person on America's watch-list.
At least one man on the plane, carrying 62 people, is believed to be armed, and explosives have been found onboard, Cypriot officials said.
The DGCA's unprecedented move came after the regulator's team found that several flights operated by GMR Aviation in the last month, including one on Monday when an aircraft flew Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi to Bhubaneshwar, had skipped some mandatory tests, DGCA sources said.
Announcing this in New Delhi, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said trial runs on the new third runway of IGI Airport would begin in ten days from now. Once operational, it would go a long way to ease the air traffic congestion over the Delhi airspace. The two airports, as per the recommendations of the respective state governments, would be developed by the state-owned AAI and not privatised.
In a move which could affect the Jet-Etihad deal or start-up carriers like Tata-SIA or AirAsia India, DGCA has made it clear that foreign airlines or investors would not have the right to control the management of an Indian carrier.
Nepalese authorities on Tuesday started handing over to family members the bodies of those killed in the January 14 crash of a Yeti Airlines passenger plane with 72 people on board.
Airlines may get to do terminal-side ground handling. Currently, it is an outsourced activity.
The Centre was still undecided whether the modernisation of the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata should be done by Airports Authority of India or through joint venture, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said.
The government on Monday assured the Rajya Sabha that it was not seeking to privatise the Airports Authority of India, but was only trying to spruce up the country's image by providing world-class airports.
The government on Tuesday said the major private domestic airlines owed over Rs 274 crore (Rs 2.74 billion) to the Airports Authority of India for availing its services.
However, the court refused to stay the order of the Delhi high court that upheld such levy, saying, "we are not inclined to stay it. . . No airport could be developed if they don't have funds."
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, which is monitoring individual airports' adherence to safety standards, is in the process of issuing licenses to three airports based on their security compliance.
Unrest is again brewing among airport employees with the unions threatening another bout of workers action if urgent steps were not taken to meet their 'long-pending' demands.
This would be a key function of the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority, to be set up to regulate tariffs, said a civil aviation ministry official.
Overlooking opposition from the Left parties and airport employees, the government on Tuesday signed two agreements to set up joint venture companies between Airports Authority of India and the GMR and GVK groups.
"We are waiting for any input from any quarter," Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey said, adding, "We have not received anything so far".
The country needs a whopping Rs 36,000 crore (Rs 360 billion) investment for developing airports, two-third of which is expected to come from private players, a senior civil aviation ministry official said on Wednesday.
A total of 406 aircraft are in the fleet of eight scheduled airlines in the country, most of which were suffering losses, Lok Sabha was informed.
Work on modernising, expanding and renovating the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport will be taken up from January next year, civil aviation secretary Ashok Chawla said on Friday.
The Pakistan Supreme Court on Thursday ordered action against former prime minister Raja Parvez Ashraf and several others in the multi-billion rupee development funds case.
The Delhi high court on Friday called for strict action against those found violating masking and hand hygiene norms at airports and in aircraft, observing that the Covid-19 pandemic has not abated and keeps rearing its ugly head.
Kingfisher owes Rs 257.62 crore (Rs 2.57 billion) to the AAI, while Jet Airways Rs 38.49 crore (Rs 384.9 million) and its low cost arm JetLite Rs 13.96 crore (Rs 139.6 million), as on January 31, Civil Aviation Minister and Minister for Overseas Affairs Vayalar Ravi informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Kerala Home minister Ramesh Chennithala said an inquiry has been ordered.
Plane crash in Venezuela kills all 160 on board
The bill to set up an Airport Economic Regulatory Authority, which will fix tariffs for different agencies involved in airport operations and management, will be introduced in the budget session of Parliament next year.
Govt is considering making connectivity an integral part of airport projects as it would benefit the passengers in the long run.
The first two special flights that will operate from Thursday to evacuate Indians stranded in the UAE due to the coronavirus pandemic
Funds are not a problem for the the modernisation of the Kolkata airport by the Airports Authority of India, Civil Aviation Secretary Ajay Prasad said on Tuesday.
Many states like Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu were opposed to opening up of their airports in view of rising cases of the coronavirus infection.
