Aerospace Diary

India’s Airports Feeling the Strain of Traffic Growth by  Neelam Mathews  -  February 5, 2018, 12:05 AM While Mumbai Airport faces choking levels of passenger traffic, India looks to expand its infrastructure further afield, focusing on lower-tier facilities that do not require the same levels technology, both for their air traffic needs and requirements for handling passengers. India’s growing domestic air traffic has presented challenges in air and ground infrastructure that were not faced five years ago. Already, significant pressure on air traffic management (ATM) and airport infrastructure is being felt, with mounting concerns over safety on the ground and in the air, due to congestion. The rise of budget carriers and pressure to open remote and underserved airports under the Regional Connectivity Scheme has many mid-sized airports already running close to full capacity. Airports Authority of India (AAI) has 125 airports, of which...

Neelam Mathews Marc 1, 2016 During the annual budget announcement on 29 February 2016, Indian minister of finance Arun Jaitley revealed plans to develop 160 unused airports and airstrips. The airports will be developed at a cost of USD7 million to USD14 million each, and "10 of 25 defunct airstrips will be developed in partnership with state governments", Jaitley said. There have been mixed reactions from aviation and finance experts. "If effectively managed, these investments would provide a huge impetus to regional airlines and help in unlocking significant potential in civil aviation. This is likely to be undertaken under the PPP....Read more in Janes Airports Review (Subscription)

Neelam Mathews June 24, 2014 There are so many woes domestic airlines are facing that one never hears of, that are often sniffed away. They range from something as basic as two aerobridges in Indore festering for 6 months for boarding that havent been fixed, to common terminal charges at airports, which some have referred to as "match fixing by the airports authority," (not our view!) . Do we really need aerobridges (Indore) for two flights a day?," AerospaceDiary is asked. Logic says no, but economic logic says something else, we guess. The query: "Why not create facilities where they are needed, instead of the other way around,?" makes sense again. One hopes presentations made to the PM recently took major issues in account. A case in point deeply resented by most airlines is that of Bangalore airport. "You increase  UDF, landing charges by 64% and then offer a discount of 25% on non-peak flights, still an increase of 40%," moans an operator...

Neelam Mathews Dec 12,2012 Tony Fernandes is on a roll. Air Asia confirmed another 100 Airbus A320 which further acknowledges its dominance in Asia to have a record 475 narrow bodies on order with Airbus. This order is part of the AirAsia Group’s regional strategy to continue placing the airline ahead of competition regionally with its extensive growth through new routes and added frequencies. The 100 Airbus A320s ordered consist of 36 A320s with the Current Engine Option (CEO) and 64 A320s with the New Engine Option (NEO)  to accelerate its growth in its core markets Malaysia, Thailand & Indonesia followed by its new markets Japan and the Philippines. Tony Fernandes founder said: “We confident  all this added capacity will allow us to continue to dominate Asean and springboard our expansion into North Asia, China and India in short to medium term… In line with our growth plans, in 2013 through combination of firm Airbus deliveries and leases - Malaysia will...

Asian Airlines Neelam Mathews March 2011 Security issues policy puts limits on ground handling options at India’s Airports A confrontation between India’s Government and airline industry over ground handling that has been ongoing since 2007 might now be drawing to an end after airlines lost a case in the High Court. The airlines were arguing against a government policy that restricted airlines to approved ground handlers only. Many airlines outsource the work to specialist firms. The business is estimated to be worth around US$500million per year. Stressing the issue of security, the Delhi High Court dismissed arguments against the policy in a judgment pronounced on March 4. This resulted in the airlines going to the highest court, the Supreme Court of India, where analysts say, their plea is likely to be rejected in April. Instead of outsourcing manpower, airlines will now have to deploy full-time employees or hire the services of security-cleared ground handling agencies....