Chennai Airport

Cochin International Airport Resumes Flight Operations After 2 Weeks!

AirWhizzAug 30, 2018 No Comments

Cochin International Airport Resumes Flight Operations After 2 Weeks!

Aviation Insider

Cochin International Airport, which is the 4th busiest airport in terms of international traffic in the country, has finally resumed flight operations after 14 days.

The airport was rendered dysfunctional since 15 August, after heavy rainfall and floods created havoc in the state of Kerala.

It has been reported that the airport has suffered an estimated loss of Rs 200-250 crores after it was shut down.

The airport has commenced full-scale operations, both international and domestic, with an Indigo flight from Ahmedabad making the first landing at around 2.05 p.m. on Wednesday. In total there were 33 landings and 34 departures of different flights till midnight.

The airport was earlier scheduled to commence operations on Sunday but had extended the date by three days after most stakeholders, including airlines and ground-handling agencies, expressed concern over returning back to work from the traumatic flood situation.

For the past three days, more than 1,000 people were engaged in putting the airport back in order, cleaning and repairing the systems which became non-functional after flood waters entered the complex.

The runway, taxi bay, duty-free shops and other areas of international and domestic terminals were submerged, damaging electrical equipment, including runway lights.

The airport was first closed on August 9, for a few hours, after which it was again shut on August 15. Cochin International Airport is the busiest of three airports in Kerala and handled 10 million passengers in 2017-18

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Carry-On Luggage Screening To Tighten At Indian Airports!

AirWhizzAug 29, 2018 No Comments

Carry-On Luggage Screening To Tighten At Indian Airports!

Aviation Insider

Passengers flying from major Indian airports will have to take out their wallets, mobile phones, chargers and other electronic items from carry-on bags for separate screening.

Till now, only laptops and tablets were required to be kept in separate trays for screening at security but that is no longer the case.

According to Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials, while scanning handbags, the screen shows a lot of clutter inside it. This causes a lot of difficulty to the security personnel since they are not sure what is inside the bags.

In fact, in the past few days, security personnel have had to check oddly sized pens after cases of knives inside them had been reported. Also, people with gun licenses often bring bullets with them which has to be checked and removed manually.

The security personnel has to request the passenger to remove all electronic items if the security screen is not clear and if there is too much doubt, bags have to be checked manually, which slows down the processing time, leading to long queues.

The decision to remove all electronic items and wallets has been taken to speed up the handbag screening process without affecting the quality of checks.

The CISF will go ‘back to basics’, where they are going to put up a board at Pre-Embarkation Security Check (PESC) points reminding passengers to remove anything not allowed in aircraft that they may have forgotten by mistake in their handbags like scissors or knives.

Congestion at PESC is a major concern as most Indian airports since they have not added adequate infrastructure to support the 20 % growth in air passenger traffic in the past 4 years.

Since expanding existing terminals and building new airports takes years, aviation authorities are trying to incorporate technology to help Indian airports manage the growing traffic.

Airports Authority Of India(AAI) is looking into getting 3D luggage scanners which are currently being tested at the New York JFK and London Heathrow Airport. They don’t require passengers to take out laptops and other electronic items from the bags.

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Kolkata Airport Get New Trolleys For The Upcoming Festive Season!

AirWhizzAug 27, 2018 No Comments

Kolkata Airport Get New Trolleys For The Upcoming Festive Season!

Aviation Insider

Kolkata airport handles about 50000 passengers a day. With flights scheduled between 6 AM and midnight, around 2,700 persons either arrive at or depart from the airport per hour. Luggage trolley is the first thing that a passenger looks for at the airport.

In a bid to provide better services to passengers during the upcoming festive season, Kolkata Airport has got a set of 600 new baggage trolleys at the airport.

The new baggage trolleys will help the airport manage the passenger rush at the airport during the Durga Puja and other upcoming festivals.

According to airport officials, the new consignment is part of a 4000 trolley-supply deal with a Mumbai based firms, Delite Systems Engineering Pvt Ltd.

Till now the company has supplied 3100 new trolleys, including the 600 which Kolkata Airport received on Saturday. The rest of the trolleys are expected to arrive by the end of 2018.

Here are a few salient features of the new trolleys –

  • It has a rear wheel cover to prevent apparel such as “Dupattas” or longs scarves getting tangled in them.
  • It is lighter than the previous trolleys
  • It has a lower luggage platform which will increase the load capacity and make it more spacious
  • Front wheels are designed in the shape of an aircraft’s nosewheel, making it agile and easy to move.
  • Overall, it has a better design as compared to the old trolleys

At Kolkata airport, finding a trolley has been a problem, especially during busy hours or late at night. On top of that, Passengers have had to deal with poor customer service at the airport because of which the airport rankings have gone down.

Hopefully, with such initiatives, the passenger experience will improve, and the ratings of the Kolkata airport will go up. This move will also help the airport management to streamline the trolley system making it easier and smoother for them to handle.

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Cochin International Airport Will Reopen From 29th August!

AirWhizzAug 23, 2018 No Comments

Cochin International Airport Will Reopen From 29th August!

Aviation Insider

There is some good news for travellers flying to/from the flood-hit city of Kochi!

Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) has announced that it will resume flight operations from 29th August 2018.

The airport has been shut since 15th August because of massive floods in the region, after various dams in Idukki district opened their gates in the wake of heavy rains.

Initially the airport was to start from 26th August, however, Officials said that the opening had been put off by three days as 90 percent of the staff had been affected by Kerala’s worst floods in a century.

After intense rescue operations, the Southern Naval command on Wednesday called off its 14-day long operation in flood-hit Kerala, saying there were no more requests for evacuation as waters were receding in affected areas.

It also said Naval personnel rescued a total of 16,005 people during ‘Operation Madad’, launched on August 9 for assisting the state administration and undertaking disaster relief operations.

Flights were diverted to Trivandrum Airport and Calicut Airport after Cochin International Airport was shut down. Trivandrum International Airport handled a total of 480 additional flights till yesterday. As many as 146 rescue and relief flights were also operated from the airport. The airport managed around 30,000 additional passengers during these days, including Haj pilgrims.

Things seem to be coming back to normal, however, Cochin International Airport has suffered a lot of damage due to the floods. It is reported that the airport has suffered an estimated loss of Rs 220 crores.

Large sections of the airport suffered damage after the Periyar River, which is located in close proximity to the compound, overflowed. The flood water completely submerged runways, taxi bays and the duty-free shops in both the domestic and international terminals.

Another aspect that suffered severe damage during the floods is the solar power system of the airport. The airport has garnered headlines in the past few years as the world’s first completely solar-powered airport.

CIAL has started work on rebuilding crucial infrastructure, including 2.5 km of walls that were damaged in the floods.

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Bangalore Airport Becomes The World’s 2nd Fastest Growing Airport!

AirWhizzAug 22, 2018 No Comments

Bangalore Airport Becomes The World’s 2nd Fastest Growing Airport!

Aviation Insider

Bangalore Airport has emerged as the second fastest growing airport in the world, In terms of passenger growth, among the top 20 major airports in the world.

The airport recorded a total of 1,58,50,352 passengers handled from the month of January to June this year, with an addition of 41,80,852 passengers over the corresponding period last year. It is next to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport which is the world’s fastest growing airport.

‘RoutesOnline’, a company focussing on the quality and standards of aviation globally, on Tuesday released a report on major airports in the world. Only airports which have crossed a figure of 2.5 million passengers in the first six months of 2018 have been considered for analysis.

According to the Managing Director & CEO of Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), Mr. Hari Marar, The number of passengers handled stands as a testament of the impressive growth of Bangalore as a new hub of economic activity in India, led largely by the knowledge economy.

According to aviation experts, there are a number of factors that have contributed to the growth of the Kempegowda International Airport which are given below –

  • Bangalore has been historically not very well connected via rail or roads. Plus, the city does not have a seaport, which also contributes to air traffic.
  • Industries such as IT, brick and mortar, electronics, precision engineering, food and floriculture have a huge presence in the city.

Business flyers from the tech industry & knowledge industry travel by air and traditionally people from the city travel in ‘Business Class’. They look at value for money and are money conscious. Also, Bangalore’s air traffic has been witnessing the fastest growth in the last 15 years.

New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport is placed 6th (with a growth of 32,76,183) while Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport(RGIA) is placed 17th in terms of actual growth of passengers (20,97,087 passengers).

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OLA/Uber Rides From Kolkata Airport May Become Costlier!

AirWhizzAug 21, 2018 No Comments

OLA/Uber Rides From Kolkata Airport May Become Costlier!

Aviation Insider

Your Ola/Uber ride from Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata may soon get costlier.

Agencies handling the parking and toll booths at the Kolkata Airport have decided to levy extra parking fee for ‘App’ based cabs.

Passengers may have to start paying Rs 100 extra as a fee for their cab parking at the airport. The two major app-based cab aggregators, Ola and Uber, are negotiating with authorities to reduce this fee.

Currently, passengers don’t have to pay extra as parking toll or fee, thanks to the arrangement between the cab aggregators and the Airports Authority of India (AAI). However, if this decision goes through, parking operators will start charging a hefty fee which will eventually be transferred to the passenger who has booked the ride.

According to parking agency officials, they have been loosing out on a lot of revenue as app-based cabs are allowed to park for free on the premises and on any given day around 400-500 cabs are parked in the parking lot.

Around a year ago, airport authorities entered into an agreement with Ola and Uber, allowing them to park their vehicles at a designated lot outside the old domestic airport terminal in exchange of a lump-sum annual payment.

Around Rs 35 was added to the fare of passengers booking cabs at the airport. But with the arrangement expiring earlier this month and the mandate to collect parking fee now with a new agency, AAI has asked the app based cab aggregators to negotiate the agreement with the latter.

According to the Cab officials, they will hold a meeting next week and discuss possible ways to reduce this amount or find a new way of paying the rent.

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Cochin Naval Base To Be Used For Commercial Flight Operations!

AirWhizzAug 20, 2018 No Comments

Cochin Naval Base To Be Used For Commercial Flight Operations!

Aviation Insider

In a bid to resume air travel for passengers in Kochi, the government has said that they will open the Cochin Naval Base for commercial flight operations from August 20th.

The main Cochin International Airport has been non-functional since August 14th due to flooding and will remain closed till August 26th. As a result, both domestic and international flights to Kochi are being diverted to other destinations such as Trivandrum and Calicut.

A joint team of experts from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation(DGCA), Central Industrial Security Force(CISF), Airports Authority Of India(AAI) and Indian Navy was sent yesterday to inspect the naval base.

The base will be used by carriers such as Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, to operate 70-seater ATR aircraft to places such as Bengaluru.

Civil Aviation Minister, Mr. Suresh Prabhu has said that flights from the naval base to other destinations such as Coimbatore, Madurai could also start operations. Other airlines are likely to join this effort too.

The Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing their willingness to fly the planes without payment, on a voluntary basis, to the cause of these operations.

Private carriers such as IndiGo and GoAir have said that they would be operating additional flights to and from Kozhikode, Coimbatore and Trivandrum from tomorrow till August 25 to different parts of the country.

Jet Airways has already started operating additional flights to Thiruvananthapuram from Mumbai, Bangalore, Dubai and Dammam. Vistara today said that it is operating all its Kochi-bound flights from Trivandrum.

According to a Cochin International Airport Limited(CIAL) personnel, it’s likely to take more time to resume operations since most part of the airport will most likely be submerged in water for several days.

Hopefully, with the government’s decision to start operations at the Cochin Naval Base, there will be a lot of relief for people in that region as they will be able to fly back to their homes, and the government will be able to send its aid to the people of Kerala with ease.

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Airlines Hike Flight Prices To Flood-Hit Regions Of Kerala!

AirWhizzAug 18, 2018 No Comments

Airlines Hike Flight Prices To Flood-Hit Regions Of Kerala!

Aviation Insider

As floods wreak havoc in Kerala, few airlines have hiked the ticket prices for flights travelling to rain-hit parts of the state!

Flights operations at the Cochin International  Airport have been suspended till 26th of August due to heavy downpour in the region. Due to this government has asked airlines to reschedule their cochin bound flights to the Thiruvananthapuram Airport and Calicut International Airport.

Usually a flight ticket from Bangalore to the above-mentioned airports costs around Rs 4000, however, the prices have increased to Rs 15000 for a single way ticket. In fact, flight tickets from Bangalore to Mangalore are as high as Rs 18000. It seems like airlines want to make the most of this situation.

The move has sparked criticism and people took to Twitter to complain about this. Union Minister Mr. DV Sadananda Gowda tweeted yesterday saying that private airlines are at money making Shame and has asked Civil Aviation Minister, Mr. Jayant Sinha, to introduce more flights to Kerala.

Several Twitter users expressed their frustration over the shameful act of the airlines and suggested that profiting during the times of natural disasters should be dealt with stringent laws. Some users even went on to say that these airlines had lost their humanity.

The Central government has asked domestic airlines to keep a check on airfares for flights operating to and from Kerala.

According to the Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Mr. Suresh Prabhu, a spike in airfares has been observed on different routes to Kerala. Concerned airlines have been advised to cap the airfare on these flights. According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, airfare on 18 domestic routes are being monitored.

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