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Navi Mumbai Airport’s ‘Phase 1’ Construction Cost Escalates By 50%!

AirWhizzJul 14, 2018 No Comments

Navi Mumbai Airport’s ‘Phase 1’ Construction Cost Escalates By 50%!

Aviation Insider

Credit Rating Agency, CRISIL, has estimated that the cost of construction for Navi Mumbai Airport’s ‘Phase 1’ will be more than what the authorities had initially thought.

Here are all the details about it –

  • The construction cost is expected to go up to Rs 13,562 Crore which is almost 50% more than the earlier projected cost of Rs 9,600 crore.
  • GVK group, which is constructing the airport, has announced a partnership with Yes Bank to fund the project.
  • CRISIL has given an A+ stable rating for the project’s Rs 10300 Crore bank loan.

The planning process for Navi Mumbai Airport started back in early 2000’s, but pre-development work began in June 2017 as the project was stuck due to litigation and land acquisition issues.

The airport is being developed under a public-private partnership model. City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) is the project’s planning authority. In 2012, CIDCO had prepared a master plan for the airport to be developed in four phases, at a projected cost of Rs 16000 Crores.

In March 2018, GVK group had appointed Zaha Hadid Architects, a UK-based firm, to design the airport’s terminal building and air traffic control tower. The plans have been submitted to CIDCO.

According to the agreement between Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) and CIDCO, the deadline for the commercial launch of the Navi Mumbai airport was set in 2021. But, the Maharashtra government is keen to launch operations by December 2019.

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Surat Airport Puts In Request To Operate Round-The-Clock!

AirWhizzJul 12, 2018 No Comments

Surat Airport Puts In Request To Operate Round-The-Clock!

Aviation Insider

Authorities at the Surat Airport have put in a request with the Airports Authority Of India(AAI) to make the airport operational for 24 hours a day.

At present, flights operate in 2 separate shifts which fall between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Surat Airport was recently declared customs notified by the central government and has been authorised to install immigration check posts. This makes the airport eligible to operate international flights. This is why authorities want AAI to let Surat Airport to be functional for the whole day.

Surat Airport’s Director, Mr. Sanjay Kumar Panigrahi has said that they have made this request to accommodate international flights at night. He expects AAI to approve this request in the next two months.

He also said that this decision will help Surat airport smoothen out domestic flight operations during daytime.

Authorities want Surat Airport to be operational for 24 hours for one more reason. Air India Express had submitted an ‘Expression Of Interest’ to operate direct flights from Surat to Sharjah. Once, AAI approves this request, Air India Express will launch the Sharjah-Surat flight service between 12.30 a.m. and 5 a.m.

5 Airports in India, including Vadodara Airport, had previously handed in a similar request to AAI. Surat Airport has become the 6th airport to do so.

According to a study conducted by Surat Travel & Tourism Association, air passenger traffic at the airport has been continuously increasing by 20-25 percent for the past few years. In fact, more than 5 lakh people travelled from Surat and south Gujrat to international destinations in 2017-2018.

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Heavy Rains Continue To Affect Flight Operations At Mumbai Airport

AirWhizzJul 09, 2018 No Comments

Heavy Rains Continue To Affect Flight Operations At Mumbai Airport

Aviation Insider

The city of Mumbai sees its worst days when the monsoon season arrives and yesterday was no different for the financial capital of India.

More than 387 flights were delayed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, as Mumbai witnessed heavy showers from early hours of Sunday.

Here are all the details about the flight delays –

  • The rains began at 12:00 a.m. and within 3 hours almost 31 departing and 41 arrival flights were delayed.
  • Between 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. the number of delayed flights came down. Only 10 departure and 16 arrival flights were delayed during this time.
  • The intensity of the rains increased after some time and Mumbai airport announced a delay of 110 departure and 16 arrival flights between 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.
                Number of Flights Delayed At The Mumbai Airport On Sunday

                    Time                  Departure                      Arrival
12 a.m. – 3 a.m. 31 44
3 a.m. – 6 a.m. 10 16
6 a.m. – 9 a.m. 110 16
9a.m. – 12 p.m. 34 38
12p.m. – 3 p.m. 22 29
3 p.m. – 6 p.m. – –
6 p.m. – 9 p.m. 7 13
9p.m. – 12 a.m. 2 15

 

Airlines such as Jet Airways, Air India and IndiGo were severely affected by the rains and most of their flights were delayed.

Jet Airways and Vistara took to social media to inform passengers about the delays in flights and warn passengers about the possible traffic congestions on routes leading to the airport.

According to weather forecasters, Skymet, Mumbai rains have been unpredictable this season with some days experiencing heavy rainfall while others experiencing light showers. They have also found out that most of the heavy rains have happened on the weekend for the past few weeks.

The presence of a cyclonic circulation at 10000 feet around the south Gujrat and north Konkan region has been cited as the reason for the downpour in Mumbai.

Heavy rains are expected to continue for the next 48 hours. There might be waterlogging and traffic congestion in different pockets of Mumbai, but the good news is that there will be occasional breaks in between and rains will not be on a continuous basis.

If you want to know more about your flight status, simply download the AirWhizz App. You will get real-time flight and weather updates on the move to help you plan your trip better.

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Delhi Airport To Provide Automated Wheelchairs For Elderly & Differently Abled Passengers!

AirWhizzJul 05, 2018 No Comments

Delhi Airport To Provide Automated Wheelchairs For Elderly & Differently Abled Passengers!

Aviation Insider

In a bid to make air travel comfortable for ‘Passengers with Reduced Mobility’(PRM), Delhi Airport will soon introduce automated wheelchair services.

At present, there are 7 electric wheelchairs being provided at the airport on trial basis, however, authorities are planning to start this service permanently by ‘Mid-August’ this year.

Here are all the details about the new automated wheelchairs –

  • It can carry a load of up to 250 Kg.
  • It is designed to accommodate a passenger and their check-in bag.
  • The battery operated wheelchair is capable of functioning the whole day on a single charge.
  • Travellers who fall under the PMR category will also be provided an assistant by the service operators.

Based on the requirements of the airlines, an adequate number of wheelchairs will be introduced at all terminals of the Delhi Airport.

Delhi International Airport Limited(DIAL) has appointed “Aviaxpert Aviation Pvt. Ltd.” to operate this service at the airport. They are procuring these wheelchairs from Europe.

DIAL has said that the service providers will be able to track the whereabouts of the passengers within the airport, till they board the airplane, using a chip installed in the wheelchair.

At present, airlines have a dedicated staff to help elderly and disabled passengers. They use basic wheelchairs to ferry them from the entrance of the airport to the airplane.

DIAL will not scrap manually operated wheelchairs which are present at the airport, once the automated wheelchair service is established.

Airports around the world have started using automated wheelchairs to help such passengers. We hope that more airports in India take Delhi airport’s example and start this service in the near future.

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Construction Of New Terminal Building To Start At Chennai Airport!

AirWhizzJul 03, 2018 No Comments

Construction Of New Terminal Building To Start At Chennai Airport!

Aviation Insider

In a bid to expand the Chennai Airport, Airports Authority Of India(AAI) has announced that it will soon start the construction of a new terminal building.

Here are all the details about the expansion plan –

  • The construction work will start by end of July 2018.
  • The new terminal building is part of airport’s “Phase 2” of the expansion plan.
  • It is estimated that the terminal building will cost Rs 2000 crores.
  • The new building will be an integrated terminal, which will have the capacity to handle both domestic and international passengers.
  • Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has been given the contract to construct the new terminal.
  • The terminal building is expected to be ready in 4 years.
  • AAI is also planning to build a multi-level car parking on either side of the Chennai Airport metro station.

Demolition of the old “Kamaraj Domestic Terminal” began in March 2018, which is almost complete. Subsequently, the “Anna International Terminal” will also be pulled down.

Airport authorities are planning to invite Prime minister Narendra Modi for the foundation stone-laying ceremony. AAI officials have said that this is the next big step in the expansion of the Chennai Airport and it would be great if the PM can come and lay down the foundation stone.

The new terminal is expected to increase the peak-hour passenger capacity by 1000 and 4800 in the domestic and international wings, respectively. The international wing will be allotted more space as peak-hour footfall is expected to be at least 7,000.

As part of phase 2 of expansion, AAI is also building new taxiways to improve flight operations at the Chennai Airport, however, for this purpose, a few flights will get rescheduled and the main runway will be closed for a few hours every day, for about 9 months

Read more about “Rescheduled Flights At Chennai Airport For Taxiway Work”

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Flight Operations Resume At Bali International Airport!

AirWhizzJun 30, 2018 No Comments

Flight Operations Resume At Bali International Airport!

Aviation Insider

Flight operations at Bali’s international airport have resumed after the Indonesian government shut down the airport due to a volcanic eruption at Mount Agung.

Government authorities had announced that the Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali would be closed from 3 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday. However, a favourable change in the wind direction allowed the airport to resume flights by 2:30 p.m.

Shutting down of Bali Airport led to cancellation of almost 450 flights including 207 international ones. This affected 75000 air travellers globally.

Amongst these stranded travellers , there were a few Indians as well. The Consulate General Of India(CGI), Bali, had set up a help desk at the airport to assist Indian nationals.

According to a report, there was a group of 10 Indians holidaying in Indonesia and one of their relatives tweeted to CGI asking for help. CGI responded to the appeal and told him that the Bali airport had reopened at 2.30 p.m. and that his relatives should contact the airline to reschedule their flights.

Indonesian authorities have said that the airport was safe from the volcano since it’s about 60 -70 kms away. But, due to the ash clouds rising almost 16454 feet above sea level, they had to shut down flight operations.

Air Asia had cancelled almost 50 flights, while airlines such as Qantas Airways, Singapore Airlines and PT Garuda had to temporarily shut their operations down in Bali.

Last year in November, the airport was shut down for more than a day because of high volcanic activity in the region. This led to a loss of more than $1 billion for the country’s tourism industry.

The government has suspended all tourist activity near Mount Agung and everyone within a vicinity of 4 kms from the mountain has evacuated the area.

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Passengers Can Check-in For Flights From Hotels Near Mumbai Airport!

AirWhizzJun 28, 2018 No Comments

Passengers Can Check-in For Flights From Hotels Near Mumbai Airport!

Aviation Insider

Passengers travelling from Mumbai Airport will now be able to remotely check-in for their flights from hotels located near the airport.

Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) has installed self-check-in kiosks at 3 transit hotels within the airport and 6 hotels located outside the premises.

Here are all the details about it-

  • The self-check-in kiosks have been installed at the Sahara Star, Hyatt, Taj Santa Cruz, ITC Maratha, Hilton and The Lalit.
  • MIAL is in the process of installing these Kiosks at 5 other hotels located nearby.
  • Flyers will be able to check-in for their flight without any human interaction. This type of platform is known as Common Use Self Service(CUSS) Kiosk.
  • With the help of these CUSS kiosks, travellers will be able to print their boarding pass and baggage tags for their check-in luggage before leaving the hotel.
  • Passengers can move directly to the security queue once they reach the airport.
  • This system will make the entire check-in experience electronic.

The upgrade of IT infrastructure inside Terminal 1 of the Mumbai Airport has also made it fully self-check-in compliant.

Airlines such as IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir are now on the CUSS platform with baggage tag-enabled kiosks and self-bag drop facility. Passengers can generate their boarding pass and baggage tag from the kiosk and move to either the fast bag drop or self-bag drop counter.

The concept of “self-bag drop” has been implemented by many airports outside India for a while now. However, Mumbai airport implemented this system back in 2016 when it introduced self-check-in kiosks equipped to print out boarding passes and baggage tags inside the airport.

With the implementation of the CUSS platform, Terminal 1 at the Mumbai Airport becomes the first terminal in India to have a fully automated check-in system.

Airport officials have said that they are trying to bring more airlines on this platform for the convenience of passengers.

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Flights Will Be Rescheduled At The Chennai Airport For Taxiway Work

AirWhizzJun 26, 2018 No Comments

Flights Will Be Rescheduled At The Chennai Airport For Taxiway Work

Aviation Insider

In a bid to improve operations at the Chennai Airport, Airports Authority of India(AAI) has started the construction of new taxiways.

Airport authorities have announced that due to this construction, 2 international flights will be rescheduled and many domestic flights will have to use the second runway.

Here are all the details about it-

  • 4 exit taxiways have been under construction and the work to link them to the main runway will begin next month.
  • AAI is also making a parallel taxiway on the north side of the main runway.
  • For this purpose, the main runway will be closed for a few hours every day, for about 9 months.
  • The runway will be closed in 2 phases – from 12:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in July and August, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from September.
  • The departure of a Saudi Airlines flight has been rescheduled from 12:30 p.m. to 11:15 a.m. The airline will be given a different schedule during winters.
  • Air India flights and a Cathay Pacific flight will also be rescheduled however the timings have not been specified for now.

According to an AAI official, they have selected non-peak hours to do this construction work because wide-bodied aircrafts generally don’t operate during this time.

He also said that AAI has done all the assessments and discussions. All airlines have agreed to use the second runway and reschedule flights that fall within this closure period.

The rapid exit taxiways and the parallel taxiway are being constructed to reduce the time taken by the airplane to move out of the runway after landing. It will help airplanes to move out in less than 70 seconds after landing.

With new taxiways, Chennai Airport, which currently handles 450 flights daily, will be able to handle 500 airplanes per day.

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