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Kannur International Airport To Open On 9th December 2018!

AirWhizzOct 06, 2018 No Comments

Kannur International Airport To Open On 9th December 2018!

Aviation Insider

Kerala’s fourth international airport at Kannur is all set to open on 9th December 2018, following an approval by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Kannur International Airport Ltd (KIAL) Managing Director, V. Thulasidas confirmed the launched date, saying that “we are ready for operations”.

KIAL authorities are trying their best to see that commercial operations commence soon after the inauguration, but the Airport Authority of India will be deciding on that.

11 international carriers and 6 domestic airlines have already confirmed their decision to fly into KIAL.

The first trial operations were undertaken successfully at the airport on 20th September and a repeat rehearsal the following day, after which the DGCA finally gave their approval.

Here are some key features of the new greenfield airport:

  • The Rs 1,892 crores airport is located at Mattanur, near Kannur. It is spread over 2,000 acres of land.
  • At present, the length of the runway is 3,050 meters and work to extend the length of the runway to 4,000 meters has already begun.
  • The swanky new airport has 24 check-in and 32 immigration counters.
  • The Central Industrial Security Force will be in charge of the airport’s security operations.
  • Kerala will be the only state in the country to have four international airports with the others at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, and Kozhikode.
  • It will also be the state’s largest international airport.
  • the airport will be able to handle 2,000 passengers at a time and it is anticipated that KIAL will serve more than 1.5 million international passengers annually.
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Face Recognition Technology To Soon Be a Reality At Indian Airports!

AirWhizzOct 05, 2018 No Comments

Face Recognition Technology To Soon Be a Reality At Indian Airports!

Aviation Insider

Indian flyers will soon be able to leave their identification cards and boarding passes at home!

By February 2019, airport authorities will roll out facial recognition-based access system at various Indian Airports to make air travel more streamlined and paperless.

Hyderabad and Bangalore airport will start with Biometric based facial entry by February end, while airports in Varanasi, Kolkata, Pune and Vijayawada will get this technology by April 2019.

According to Aviation Secretary, R.N. Choubey, these airports will be the first airports in India to have this system. If it’s a success they will look to implement this technology at other airports across India.

After these six, India’s biggest hubs of Delhi and Mumbai and then other Airports Authority of India (AAI) run Indian Airports will get the system under which paperless boarding of domestic flights will be a reality.

Passengers on domestic flights will be able to choose whether they want to use the biometric authentication system and go paperless. They will have to generate a unique Digi Yatra(DY) ID by registering at the aviation ministry portal and give the details required.

After this, DY ID will verify the identity using face recognition. Once confirmed, e-gates will open and allow domestic passengers access to various points such as terminal entry point, entry to security check and aircraft boarding.

Here are the benefits of this initiative:

  • Airports will know what was the last point cleared by a flyer in case the airline needs to search for a passenger.
  • It will accelerate the passenger’s airport journey
  • Will reduce costs and airfares as lesser manpower deployment will be required for verifying ID’s
  • The system has the capability of reducing long queues

India has witnessed a six-fold increase in passenger numbers over the past decade as citizens take advantage of better connectivity and cheaper fares thanks to a host of low-cost airlines.

Hopefully, with the implementation of this system, airports will be able to tackle the problem of congestion and long ques, especially during peak hours and make a passengers airport trip much smoother.

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Runway Repair To Cause Major Flight Disruptions At Delhi & Mumbai Airport!

AirWhizzOct 04, 2018 No Comments

Runway Repair To Cause Major Flight Disruptions At Delhi & Mumbai Airport!

Aviation Insider

Air passengers should brace for flight delays and disruption, as India’s 2 busiest airports, Mumbai and Delhi Airport, will close their runway for maintenance at different periods starting next month and stretching through the first quarter of 2019.

While one runway at Delhi airport will be closed for 13 days starting 15 November 2018, the airport in Mumbai will remain shut for 6 hours, thrice a week, between 7 February 2019 and end of March.

It is expected that more than 2000 flights will be cancelled or rescheduled during this period. According to the Delhi airport, 1300 flights will be affected. More than 700 flights will be affected in Mumbai according to airline executives.

Airport operators, Delhi International Airport Limited(DIAL) & Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) have said that the runways need repair and that they have planned the maintenance with proper coordination with all stakeholders, including airlines.

Delhi airport, with three runways, will close its Runway 27, the oldest runway at the airport that is used primarily by flights using Terminal 1D, starting November 15.

According to MIAL, this closure is to strengthen the intersection in the runway at Mumbai airport. Since the repair work is to be done at the intersection, they will have to close the runway completely.

The runway at the Mumbai airport will be closed from 11 am to 5 pm during a 52-day period starting February 7, 2018. It will also be closed for a few hours for runway maintenance on 23 October 2018 which is set to impact at least 32 flights.

According to Air India, around 200 domestic flight departures and arrivals are likely to be affected by the runway closure.

A spokesperson from Vistara has said that the airline has decided to cancel as well as re-schedule some flights during the runway closure period.

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Itanagar In Arunachal Pradesh All Set To Get Its 1st Airport!

AirWhizzOct 02, 2018 No Comments

Itanagar In Arunachal Pradesh All Set To Get Its 1st Airport!

Aviation Insider

Despite becoming a state 29 years ago, an airport for Arunachal Pradesh’s capital has remained a distant dream for residents of Itanagar.

However, all this is about to change!

Union Minister, Mr Jayant Sinha has announced that the foundation stone for the proposed greenfield airport at Hollongi, will be laid in December 2018 and its construction will start thereafter.

About Rs 1,200 crore will be spent on developing the airport, which will have a better layout and a larger runway, compared to most airports in India.

According to Mr. Sinha, the 2,200-metre runway at the greenfield airport will handle jet aircraft that can provide direct flights to metro cities. He also went on to say that international flight operations may also start when the airport is complete.

The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region will spend about Rs 350 crore for the initial phase of work in the Hollongi airport.

Arunachal Pradesh already has airports at Tezu and Pasighat. The first commercial flight to Arunachal Pradesh landed at Pasighat airport in East Siang district with 25 passengers on May 22 this year.

The plan to build an airport for Itanagar was conceived as early as 2007 but the differences between the Airports Authority of India and the state government resulted in the project getting delayed.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) eventually stepped in to put an end to the dispute in July 2012 and the Hollongi site was finalised.

The government plans to connect the entire state with helicopter, seaplanes and passenger drone services by connecting small and big towns in the next 10 years.

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Cochin International Airport Bags UN’s Environment Award!

AirWhizzSep 28, 2018 No Comments

Cochin International Airport Bags UN’s Environment Award!

Aviation Insider

Cochin International Airport has once again made India proud!

Indian airports have been bagging international awards for the past few years and the latest to join that list is Kerala’s Cochin International Airport.

The Airport has been awarded for Entrepreneurial Vision by United Nations (UN) at the “Champions Of Earth” award ceremony for its leadership in the use of sustainable energy.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Cochin International Airport is showing rest of the world that the ever-expanding network of global travel does not have to harm the environment. UNEP further stated that the first fully solar-powered airport of the world is proof that green business is good business.

UN environment Executive Director Erik Solheim along with his team had visited the international airport and seen the solar power plant and called it a leading example among global airports.

In 2015, CIAL became the first airport in the world to be completely powered by solar energy. They started with a 100 kilowatts pilot project in 2012. Today, the capacity of CIAL is 29.5 megawatts of solar energy, providing 120,000 units of power every day.

The airport is 100 % reliant on solar energy, from powering conveyor baggage belts to digital systems installed at the airport.

Kochi airport is the biggest and busiest airport of Kerala and the fourth busiest airport in India in terms of international traffic.

A lot of its international passengers come from the Gulf countries. Around 10 million people passed through Kochi airport last year. Of these, 5.5 million were international passengers.

The Champions of the Earth award is the highest environmental recognition of United Nations, celebrating exceptional figures from the public sectors as well as private sectors and also from civil society, whose actions have had a positive impact on the environment.

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Commercial Flight Operations To Start From Hindon Air Force Base!

AirWhizzSep 27, 2018 No Comments

Commercial Flight Operations To Start From Hindon Air Force Base!

Aviation Insider

There is some good news for air travellers in and around New Delhi!

Airports Authority Of India (AAI) has allowed commercial airplanes to operate at the Hindon Air Force Base in Ghaziabad from January 2019.

AAI has not only finalised plans for the Rs 45 crore civil terminal at the air force base but has also subsidised the regional flights that will operate from Hindon. They have put a cap of Rs 2500 per hour on the airfare.

All regional aircraft (seating capacity is less than 80) which operate from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport(IGIA) will be shifted to the new terminal in Hindon, to free up the slots for regular flights.

Flights under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) & small private jets will operate from Hindon until the expansion of IGIA which is supposed to be completed by September 2022.

Here are all details about the new airport terminal at Hindon Air Force base:

  • The terminal is spread across 3500 square meters.
  • It will have the capacity to handle 300 passengers and 150 arrivals /departure flights per hour.
  • The terminal will have all modern facilities like a huge check-in area, security-hold area, baggage handling system and commercial shops.

Altogether AAI will be 42,069 square meters of land will be taken on lease for the development of the airport.

As of now, major airlines such as IndiGo, SpiceJet, Jet and Air India operate RCS flights and will operate from Hindon as well.

It has not been easy for AAI to make this a success. There were a lot of issues with the farmer unions for acquiring the land to build the terminal facilities.

After many months of negotiations with the unions, AAI has finally come to an agreement on their terms and the project has started in full flow.

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Liquids Over 100ml Limit Might Soon Be Allowed In Hand Baggage!

AirWhizzSep 26, 2018 No Comments

Liquids Over 100ml Limit Might Soon Be Allowed In Hand Baggage!

Aviation Insider

Air travellers in India may soon be able to carry liquids, such as shampoo, in their hand Baggage on Indian flights.

Ministry of Civil Aviation might soon test liquid bomb detectors at Indian airports, which will allow passengers to carry liquids more than 100 ml, which is currently the limit.

However, the move is still in the initial stage and might be implemented 6 months from now. Recently the civil aviation ministry reviewed presentations by some European firms on the latest technologies that are being used in order to scan liquids at airports.

According to reports, the ministry will conduct the trial at major Indian airports once the technology provider has been shortlisted. After completing the trial, the ministry will issue a list of liquids that are allowed in the hand baggage. However, liquor will not be allowed in hand baggage.

Any air passenger carrying liquid will have to put the container in the detector and, within five seconds, the system will be able to detect the percentage of explosives in it. The detector gives 4-5 levels of threat scenario, and on the basis of that, liquids will be allowed to be carried in the hand baggage.

The concept of carrying liquids in hand baggage is not new as some airports in Europe and in the US have been testing bottled liquid scanners, even though they still restrict passengers on the quantity of liquid that can be carried.

Moreover, in order to save time, now some airports are also experimenting with scanners that can check liquids in bottles inside the carry-on baggage.

Once the ministry of civil aviation decides to use this technology, the Bureau for Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) will have to frame the guidelines.

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Quick Baggage Scanning Will Soon Be Implemented At Chennai Airport!

AirWhizzSep 25, 2018 No Comments

Quick Baggage Scanning Will Soon Be Implemented At Chennai Airport!

Aviation Insider

Passengers flying out of the domestic terminal at the Chennai Airport will soon be relieved of the tiring task of scanning their baggage through standalone machines.

From December 2018, a passenger entering the domestic terminal will have to just drop off their baggage at the airline check-in counters and the ‘Inline Baggage Scanner’ will examine them.

According to Airports Authority Of India (AAI), they will do away with the existing standalone machines in three months as the installation of four new inline scanners has begun.

For now, passengers at the domestic terminal have to stand in queues, carry their suitcase and put them in the standalone baggage scanners, after which they are allowed to go in the Check-in queue. However, with the new system in place they can directly go to the counter and drop of their bags.

The new inline scanners have a capacity to scan 1,200 bags an hour. Also, they are the latest ones, which are equipped with CT X-ray and CT Scan systems which can easily detect explosives. There will be various levels of scanning in these new machines, which will ensure better security.

There are 14 screeners certified by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) who will monitor the screening of baggage.

The four inline scanners in the international terminal will also be upgraded in the next three months, as per the latest requirements by the BCAS.

AAI officials expect the new system to ease operations at Chennai Airport’s domestic terminal that chokes with thousands of passengers, especially during peak hours.

Chennai Airport handles nearly 33,000 people and about 500 aircraft movements on a daily basis.

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