Aviation Insider

Articles giving aviation insights

New Traffic Pattern At Chennai Airport From Today!

AirWhizzDec 27, 2018 No Comments

New Traffic Pattern At Chennai Airport From Today!

Aviation Insider

In a bid to reduce time taken to enter and exit Chennai Airport and ease the congestion in front of the international and domestic terminals of the airport, the pick-up and drop points at both terminals will be changed from today.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will put in place a revised traffic pattern which will be in effect from 11 am, today.

What this means is that AAI will provide separate access to departure and arrival levels in both domestic and international terminals.

The airport, which now has only one entry and exit at present,  will have three entry points.

The vehicles in the departure level will have to drop passengers and exit the airport, and will not have access to parking facility both in domestic and international terminals.

However, for those picking up passengers from the airport, there is a separate pick-up lane earmarked for private vehicles and cab aggregator Ola.

The commercial vehicles will not have access to the pick-up lane; they have been slotted the parking lanes at the airport. Passengers will have to walk down to the parking lane to get access to the commercial vehicles.

Here is a detailed summary of the changes:

  • Vehicles coming to drop passengers at the domestic terminal, as of now, take a right turn to the ramp. However, Such vehicles will now take a left turn and drive up a ramp near the airport metro station turn right and reach the departure terminal.
  • Cars that come to drop passengers at the international terminal will enter through a new gate, take a left turn, drive up the farther arm of the flyover & take a right turn to reach the departure terminal before driving down a ramp near the metro station.
  • Vehicles reaching arrival terminals on the on the ground floor will follow the same circular pattern as before.
  • Three points have been opened on GST Road for vehicles coming out of the airport to take ‘U’ turns to go towards Pallavaram.

The vehicle parking charges will remain the same. However, the charges will be revised shortly after the new traffic flow is established satisfactorily.

The new traffic plan was to be introduced in May this year, but it was delayed because the parking contractor who was also in-charge of collecting entry fee for vehicles defaulted and had to be terminated.

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Airfares Rise For International Flights This Holiday Season!

AirWhizzDec 26, 2018 No Comments

Airfares Rise For International Flights This Holiday Season!

Aviation Insider

As we head into the last couple of weeks of the year, airfares are higher on most of the key routes in and out of the country.

Airfares for last-minute international flights have witnessed a sharp jump this Christmas-New Year due to a combination of factors like the recent spurt in airlines’ operating costs and choked Indian mega airports’ inability to provide slots as per rising demands.

Travel portal Yatra analysed international fares from Delhi and Mumbai for December-end which shows spot Mumbai-San Francisco airfares rising by 45% and Delhi-New York up by 26%. However, according to data, airfares on a few select routes have fallen due to airlines adding some flights to those places.

Airfares have seen a rise to the four hot destinations for Indians during vacations – US, Europe, Southeast Asia and Australia.

Overall, demand from Indian travellers on these key routes is increasing, while the airline capacity has not kept in pace with that, resulting in fares going up during the peak travel period.

Indian airports are operating way beyond their built capacity as no infrastructure augmentation has taken place in last few years as demand soared.

The existing Mumbai airport is completely choked and the second airport is about five years away. Delhi’s IGIA, despite having all required free land, did not get the fourth runway or new or bigger terminals in time to meet the growing traffic requirement. The story is the same in almost all big cities.

Apart from choked airports which anyway can’t handle more flights, India has not increased the bilaterals or flying rights of nearby countries like UAE, Singapore and Turkey. So their airlines can’t add flights to cities where airports can still take some flights.

While Indian carriers fly to these countries (except Turkey), flying connections to rest of the world through nearby international hubs are limited due to mega carriers not being able to add flight here. This adds to the hike in fare during peak seasons.

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Chennai Airport Expands Domestic Terminal Gate For Convenience Of Passengers!

AirWhizzDec 25, 2018 No Comments

Chennai Airport Expands Domestic Terminal Gate For Convenience Of Passengers!

Aviation Insider

Chennai airport has made more space in the security hold area at gate 13 of the domestic terminal so that passengers would have space to wait for the boarding call.

The changes were made to ensure that more flights are able to board passengers at the gate on the ground floor of the terminal.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) is making space in security area of the ground floor boarding gates and has been adding chairs for passengers to wait because a couple of aerobridges are being removed to accommodate ongoing work to demolish the old domestic terminal and build an integrated terminal.

The expanded area near gate 13 of the terminal was opened last week by passengers in the presence AAI Officials.

A senior official said the changes were being made so that there would be more facilities for passengers who would be using shuttle buses. The airport has started boarding more passengers using shuttle buses during peak hours, especially for narrow-body and small airplanes.

The airport is facing a constraint due to construction work. The link building which connected the steel and glass domestic terminal and the international terminal is going to be pulled down in the coming days for which the work has started.

New chairs are being placed at the gates in an additional space of 1400 sqm on the ground floor of the domestic terminal as well. The additional space was made by taking over a passage that was running parallel to the terminals in the operational area where planes are parked.

The move also helps passengers and airlines as the number of flights is also high during peak hours and during the winter schedule.

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Fog Causes Flight Delays At Airports Across India!

AirWhizzDec 24, 2018 No Comments

Fog Causes Flight Delays At Airports Across India!

Aviation Insider

Fog continued to grip the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) with the temperature dipping to 3.7 degrees on Sunday morning. The dense fog also disrupted air and train service across the country.

Five international and 16 domestic flights have been delayed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. Around 29 international and domestic flights were delayed at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport.

A major disruption was reported from Amritsar airport as well where 13 flights were delayed due to foggy conditions. Visibility in some areas such as Patiala was mere 25 meters.

Rail service was also affected due to the weather conditions. According to official figure, at least 131 trains in several routes were cancelled due to fog. Six trains were running late and 11 were been partially cancelled.

According to reports, several passengers were stranded for hours. Frustrated commuters also took to social media platforms to complain.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), shallow to moderate fog is likely to prevail in isolated places in morning hours over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Odisha during the next 3-4 days.

Minimum temperatures might drop to 2-3°C over parts of northwest, west, central and east India during the next 2-3 days. However, there might not be any significant change in the minimum temperatures in the rest of the country for the next 3-4 days.

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Construction Of Pune Airport’s New Terminal Takes Off

AirWhizzDec 22, 2018 No Comments

Construction Of Pune Airport’s New Terminal Takes Off

Aviation Insider

Keeping in mind the rising passenger demand, construction has begun on a new 40,000 square metre (sqm) terminal for the Pune airport in Lohegaon.

According to a Pune Airport official, the deadline for building the terminal building is August 2021 but they are going to fast track the project so that it can become functional by December 2019 or January 2020.

Earlier, it was announced that the bhoomi puja for the terminal building would be performed on October 20 after which the construction work would start.

Pune MP Anil Shirole’s statement that top ministers of the Union government were invited for the event had cast a shadow on the beginning of the construction work.

However, the issue has been resolved. According to the official, the invitations have been sent and the ceremony will happen according to the appointments given. But they decided to start the construction because the project is important and should not be delayed. Most of the big projects of the Pune airport’s expansion are on the right track.

Dhairyashil Vandekar, an aviation expert and analyst, speaking about various challenges the airport can face next year said that the airport would have to match the capacity with increasing demand for flights. Another sore area that needs to be tackled effectively in 2019 is the chaotic traffic situation on roads inside and outside the airport.

Once the construction of the new terminal is completed, the airport’s size would increase to 64,300 sqm. The total cost of building the new terminal building is pegged at Rs 400 crores. Over 12 million users are expected to use the airport in 2019-20. This new terminal building would be integrated with the existing one.

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Delhi Airport Better Equipped To Handle Fog This Winter!

AirWhizzDec 21, 2018 No Comments

Delhi Airport Better Equipped To Handle Fog This Winter!

Aviation Insider

Delhi International Airport Limited(DIAL) released a statement saying that Indira Gandhi International Airport will be better equipped to tackle dense fog this winter.

According to DIAL officials the national capital is expected to witness three to four spells of dense fog in the coming weeks.

The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), the busiest in the country, handles around 1,300 flight movements every day , which is around 74 flight movements every hour. But On account of fog, the airport capacity reduces by around 40 % of the normal capacity in terms of flight movement per hour.

To handle peak hour holiday traffic, DIAL has made sure that there is sufficient food & beverage at all terminals, better system to display updated flight information & other such facilities that the passengers and airlines may require.

Also, IGIA is well equipped to handle aircraft operations safely during the periods of poor visibility. For this, the low visibility procedures (LVP) for handling air traffic during fog have been put into place for all air traffic controllers.

Operations are closed if the runway visibility range drops below 50 metres. However, There are 139 parking stands equipped with aeronautical ground lighting (AGL) system which helps aircraft to operate in CAT IIIB* conditions. In addition there are 89 parking stands available under manual guidance.

Dense fog is expected in the last week of December and there are likely to be three to four spells in the coming weeks, so plan your trip accordingly.

*CAT IIIB refers to flight operations when the runway visibility range is 175 metres and not less than 50 metres.

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India Gets Highest Rating In International Aviation Safety Assessment

AirWhizzDec 20, 2018 No Comments

India Gets Highest Rating In International Aviation Safety Assessment

Aviation Insider

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the United States (US) aviation regulator, has retained India’s aviation rating at Category 1, after conducting an audit of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

This rating certifies that DGCA, India’s apex aviation agency, adheres to the standards laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and undertakes adequate oversight of Indian airlines.

Category-1 rating means that carriers from the assessed country may initiate or continue services to the USA and also take part in reciprocal code-share arrangements with American airlines.

The IASA (International Aviation Safety Assessment Program) programme is conducted by the American regulator to assess each country that has carriers operating to the US.

The ICAO looks at eight areas during an audit. They include Primary Aviation Legislation and Civil Aviation Regulations, Civil Aviation Organisation, Personnel Licensing and Training, Aircraft Operations and Airworthiness of Aircraft.

In January 2014, the FAA downgraded India’s aviation safety ranking and it was upgraded to ‘Category 1’ in April 2015.

International Air Transport Association (IATA) has stated that India’s air connectivity has grown the fastest in the last five years (2013-18). Also, despite infrastructural hurdles, India’s aviation market has demonstrated strong growth potential for the next few years.

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Delhi Police Strengthens Security At Indira Gandhi International Airport!

AirWhizzDec 19, 2018 No Comments

Delhi Police Strengthens Security At Indira Gandhi International Airport!

Aviation Insider

Passengers arriving at the IGI airport here will be able to avail services of the Delhi Police, such as lodging e-FIRs, through an interactive kiosk at the Terminal-3.

The kiosk was launched on Tuesday by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik.

Services of the hi-tech police facilitation kiosk will be available round-the-clock and dedicated police facilitation officers will man it.

The facility will soon be extended to Terminal 1 & Terminal 2 of the Delhi Airport as well.

Mr Baijal also launched the ‘Prahari Scheme’ of the Delhi Police for its IGI airport Unit. The scheme serves as a force multiplier and a community-policing system by ensuring active participation of private security guards and chowkidars in strengthening police intelligence network.

The IGI Airport Unit has en-rolled 600 Praharies from 11 hotels and three commercial centres of aerocity and other establishments at the airport complex.

The Praharis trained by IGI Airport police have been issued identity cards supporting Delhi Police personnel in checking and frisking, self defence, keeping watch on doubtful elements, information gathering among other activities.

Indira Gandhi International Airport is the busiest airport in India and the 7Th busiest airport in the world. This decision taken by Delhi International Airport Limited will surely help strengthen the security at IGIA and make sure that travellers can fly safely.

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