Aerospace Diary

Neelam Mathews July 12, 2011 SC soon to decide on ground handling Neelam Mathews July 12, 2011 India ’s confusion on its ground handling policy is far from being sorted out. One move forward is the hearing by the Supreme Court on July 29. Domestic private airlines appealed to the Supreme Court after losing their case in High Court regarding a dispute on ground handling logistics at six of India’s metro airports. The airlines want to do their own handling as they say it is cheaper, while the government wants professional handlers citing security aspects as its main concern. The dispute is on since 2007.

Aviation Week First By Neelam Mathews NEW DELHI A lack of X-ray machines for cargo screening at India’s major airports, causing delays of up to two days, is making operators turn toward a cost-effective, less time-consuming screening technique that does not use X-ray machines. While the government has yet to clear the technique, called RASCargO, an airline official told AviationWeek the reduction in time and reliability of the proven system would help clear back logs. Delhi International Airport, for example, only has eight cargo X-ray machines, but at least 20 more are needed, says an official. The Bureau of Civil Aviation’s Security Director General was unavailable for comment. The technique that has been researched includes vapor samples collected by sucking air from cargo trucks or pallets through a specially designed filter placed in individual containers in an analysis room. Each filter is placed on a stand that holds six filters as a trained dog sniffs each filter. The...