cruising_heights_special_april_2011

AIRPORTS COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL April 2011 � ` 90CRUISING HEIGHTSCRUISING HEIGHTS

www.cruisingheights.in

Special Issue

UPDATEAIRPORTS

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The Company

Fraport AG is a leading player in the global airport industry. Following its initial public offering (IPO) Fraport has become the second largest listed airport company in the world, by revenues.

Fraport’s expertise is based on more than 80 years of aviation history at Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Frankfurt Airport (airport code = FRA) is located about 12 kilometers from downtown Frankfurt. A renowned pioneer for decades, FRA serves as Fraport’s home base and as a showcase for the com-pany’s know-how, technology, products, and services. With outstanding connectivity to all fi ve continents of the globe, FRA is a intermodal hub with one of the largest catchment areas in the world and direct access to the German high-speed railway network. FRA is strategi-cally situated in the heart of Germany and the European Union. Airlines can profi t from high utilization rates and traffi c yields.

Range of services

The company prides itself in being a lead-ing-edge provider of integrated airport services. Besides managing FRA, Fraport AG and its subsidiaries provide the full range of planning, design, operational,

commercial and management services for airports around the world. Fraport AG serves as a neutral partner to the world’s major airlines: offering a complete pack-age of aircraft, cargo, passenger and other ground handling services. Outside Ger-many, the company has ground services operations in Austria. Other areas of Fra-port expertise include cargo and ground handling, real estate development, airport retailing, IT services, consulting, inter-modal concepts, environmental manage-ment, hub management, training, etc.

Fraport worldwide

Through investments, joint ventures and management contracts, Fraport is now active on 4 continents. Fraport served some 73.7 million passengers in 2009 and handled 2.1 million metric tons of cargo (airfreight and airmail) at the Group’s airports.

Fraport, which bids for airport manage-ment projects worldwide, was awarded a 30-year concession for operating, manag-ing and developing Indira Gandhi Inter-national Airport (IGIA) in India. Together with state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) Fraport AG has formed “Delhi Inter-national Airport Private Limited (DIAL)”. Fraport is the nominated “Airport Opera-tor” and an Airport Operator Agreement

concluded with DIAL – under which it will be utilizing its extensive airport expertise developed over the past 80 years to assist with the operation, management and development of IGIA.

Fraport AGFrankfurt Airport Services Worldwide60547 Frankfurt am Main, GermanyE-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.fraport.com www.frankfurt-airport.com

Contact:

Ansgar SickertVijender SharmaFraport IndiaPaharpur Business CentreSuite 30221, Nehru PlaceNew Delhi – 110 019, IndiaPhone: +91 11 4120 7355 (AS) +91 11 4120 7334 (VS)Fax: +91 11 4120 7558 Mobile: +91 99 1038 2806E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

Fraport – Airport Operations from Austria to Xi’an.

4 I CRUISING HEIGHTS I April 2011

CONTENTS {ACI}AIRPORTS COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL

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40 Delhi: The best on showDelhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airporthas gone from strength to strength. DIALwants to make T3 like Changi or Dubai.

54 Ready for the worldHyderabad International Airport is readyto assume its position as an importanthub on the global aviation map.

64 Mumbai: On the topRunning Chhatrapati Shivaji InternationalAirport smoothly and efficiently is indeeda task.

74 Constantly evolving!Bengaluru International Airport has beenconstantly upgrading itself and oftenexceeding world standards.

Editor-in-ChiefK SRINIVASAN

Managing EditorTIRTHANKAR GHOSH

Group Consulting EditorR KRISHNAN

Consulting EditorNANDU MANJESHWAR

Deputy EditorPC SINGH

Special Correspondent (Mumbai)ROOHI AHMAD

Copy EditorASHOK KUMAR

Editorial CoordinatorLAKSHMI SINGH

Sub-editor-cum-reportersJASLEEN KAUR, PUNIT MISHRA

DesignRUCHI SINHA, MOHIT KANSAL, SHIV

Picture EditorPRADEEP CHANDRA

Photo EditorHC TIWARI

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Executive DirectorRENU MITTAL

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EEddiittoorriiaall && MMaarrkkeettiinngg ooffffiiccee::Newsline Publications Pvt. Ltd., D-11 Basement, Nizamuddin (East), New Delhi -110 013 Tel: +91-11-41033381-82All information in CRUISING HEIGHTS isderived from sources we consider reliable. It is passed on to our readers without anyresponsibility on our part. Opinions/viewsexpressed by third parties in abstract or ininterviews are not necessarily shared by us.Material appearing in the magazine cannot bereproduced in whole or in part(s) without priorpermission. The publisher assumes noresponsibility for material lost or damaged intransit. The publisher reserves the right torefuse, withdraw or otherwise deal with alladvertisements without explanation. Alladvertisements must comply with the IndianAdvertisements Code. The publisher will not be liable for any loss caused by any delay inpublication, error or failure of advertisementto appear. Owned and published by KSrinivasan 4C Pocket-IV, Mayur Vihar Phase- I,Delhi-91 and printed by him at NutechPhotolithographers, B-240, Okhla IndustrialArea, Phase- I, New Delhi-110020.

CRUISING HEIGHTS

12 Voice of the world’s airportsThe Sixth ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly, Conference & Exhibition that takes place inDelhi will provide an opportunity to showcase to the world how the best airports are run. Themeet will indeed be a meeting of minds.

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37 82 18 Chairman speaksV P Agrawal, Chairman, AAI, emphasisesthat AAI is bound to generate substantialnon-aeronautical revenues.

21 Inspiration from TagoreKolkata’s Netaji Subash Chandra BoseInternational Airport is undergoing withexpansion and modernisation.

27 Bigger and betterChennai Airport is going through a full-scale makeover and it will be the AirportsAuthority of India’s showcase airport.

37 India’s own GAGANAAI’s GAGAN system will providecorrections to the GPS signal to meet therequirements of Indian aviation.

82 GHP ready to rollThe Ground Handling Policy, which was anon-starter ever since it was announced,will be seen in operation from April 1.

15 AAI leaps aheadThe numbers are mind-boggling:125 Airports, which include 11International Airports, 8 CustomsAirports, 81 Domestic Airportsand 25 Civil Enclaves at DefenceAirfields. That sum up the totalnumber of airports that theAirports Authority of Indiamanages. It is a gigantic taskand AAI performs it with aplomb.To top it all, the AAI hasundertaken a massivemodernisation project to upgradea number of airports and provideworld-class services to airtravellers around the country.

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Indian Aviation looks forward

The Civil Aviation Ministry is launching the satellite accounting system to assess the actualcontribution of the sector to the country's economy. We also need for India-specific

measures to further strengthen the aviation sector in the country. The passengertraffic is expected to cross the 180-million mark by 2015 and 300 million by 2020.

It is high time that an overall regulatory framework be further strengthened... With regard to private sector investments in new airports, the Model PPPConcession Agreement is under consideration of the ministry. Further, 35airports are planned to develop through Public Private Partnership (PPP)framework by Airports Authority of India (AAI). This would provide much-

required connectivity to Tier-II and III cities in the country.

DR NASIM ZAIDI,Secretary, Ministry of Civil

Aviation, at the India Aviation Meet in March 2011

8 I CRUISING HEIGHTS I April 2011 ””

I would take this opportunity to brief thedistinguished delegates about India's aviation sector.India has an illustrious history of civil aviation. Theairline industry in India has grown by about 400 percent in the last seven years. With a domesticpassenger base of over 50 million, India now ranksfourth after USA, China and Japan. It is the fastest-growing and ninth-largest aviation market in theworld... Improvement of infrastructure and the needfor increased trained manpower have been identifiedas two of our main challenges. By the middle of nextyear all six of our largest metro cities would havebrand new airports with capacity to manage thisgrowth till at least the next decade. By this time wewould also totally modernise about 50 of our non-metro airports. We are also in process of setting upan independent Civil Aviation Authority. We areamongst the few countries, which have establishedAirport Economic Regulatory Authority, which isproviding a valuable service to the airport sector.

VAYALAR RAVI,Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs and Civil Aviation Minister, at the Regional AviationSecurity Conference (RAVSECC) in February 2011.

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ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly,Conference and Exhibition

“Aviation Business Strategies - Meeting of Minds”

DAY 1 TUESDAY APRIL 5, 20111300 - 1930 Registration.

1800 - 1830 Welcome ceremony and official opening of exhibition.

1830 - 2030 Welcome reception in the exhibition hall.

DAY 2 WEDNESDAY APRIL 6, 20110800 Registration.

0900 - 0945 Inaugural ceremony and welcome address.V P Agrawal, Chairman, Airports Authority of India.Kiran Kumar Grandhi, Chairman - Airports, GMR Group.Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majid, President, ACI Asia-Pacific and Managing Director,

Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad.Nasim Zaidi, Secretary of Civil Aviation, Government of India.

0945 - 1015 Keynote Speech: Vyalar Ravi, Honorable Minister of Civil Aviation, Government of India.

1015 - 1100 Coffee Break

1100 - 1230 Session 1: Airport Financing Models and privatisation.This session will look at models of financing airport expansion and upgrades, economic oversight and performance benchmarking.

Moderator: George Bellew, CEO, Oman Airports Management CompanyYashwant S Bhave, Chairperson, Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India.Satish C Chhatwal , Member (Finance), Airports Authority of India.Max Moore-Wilton, Chairman, Sydney Airport Corporation Ltd.Sidharath Kapur, CFO, Airports Sector, GMR Group.

1230 - 1400 Luncheon

1400 - 1530 Session 2: Business Environment of the Future - Changing Rules of GameThis session will define in what environment airports need to operate to remain competitive. Who are the customers of the future — low-cost, up market or both? What are the factors to consider? How will this impact the technology on airport design: airport IT, aircraft technology(point-to-point long haul versus hub-and-spoke). Should Asia-Pacific market liberalise? Asia-Pacific has become the largest aviation market in the world but it is also one of the most regulated. When will its market be liberalised and how will these affect airports?

Moderator: Catherine Mayer, Vice President, SITATan Sri Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majid, President, ACI Asia-Pacific & Managing Director,

Malaysia Airports Holdings, Berhad.P S Nair, CEO-Corporate, Airports Sector, GMR Group.Suzanne Amanda Carter, Vice President, Transportation, Unisys Asia Pacific.A K Sharan, Joint Director General, Director General of Civil Aviation, Government of India.Peter Budd, Director, Aviations, ARUP.Sudhir Raheja, Member (Planning), Airports Authority of India.

1530 - 1615 Coffee Break

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April 5-8, 2011 at Taj Palace, New Delhi

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{ACI}1615 - 1730 Sixth ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly Meeting and Committee Updates

Young Executive Award Presentation.

DAY 3 THURSDAY APRIL 7, 20110745 - 0915 ACI Asia-Pacific World Business Partner and executive breakfast meeting.

0915 - 1045 Session 3: Investing in human capitalThis session will look at what capabilities and skills are required for airport employees in the future. How can industry partners work together to ensure sufficient number of aviation professionals to meet the future airport business needs?

Moderator: Victor De Barrena, Director of Global Training and HR, Airports Council International

Kapil Kaul, CEO, South Asia, Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation.Xiaomei Li, Vice President, Beijing Capital International Airport Co, Ltd.Hervé Touron, Training Officer, Aviation Safety Training Section, ICAO.P M Kumar, Business Chairman, Group Corporate Development, GMR Group.

1045 - 1130 Coffee break

1130 - 1300 Session 4: Security and Facilitation: The Balancing ActWith some recent incidents revealing new threats to the secure transport of passengers and cargo, it is timely to address this issue. Today's passengers are increasingly demanding efficiency and quality customer service. What can the industry and governments do to ensure a secure operating environment and at the same time not compromise customerservice and impede the growth of international tourism and trade?Moderator: Craig Bradbrook, Director Security and Facilitation, Airports Council International

Martin Eran-Tasker, Technical Director, Association of Asia Pacific Airlines.Yeo Kia Thye, Director, Airport Operations, Changi Airport Group (Singapore) Pvt Ltd.Gyaneshwar Singh, GM and Head of Department for Directorate of Security, Airports

Authority of India.Michael Barrett, Executive Officer, Asia Pacific Travel Retail Association.

1300 - 1415 Luncheon

1415 - 1545 CEO and Leaders' Forum: Aviation chiefs meet to discuss current key issues.Moderator: George Bellew, CEO, Oman Airports Management Company

V P Agrawal , Chairman, Airports Authority of India.James Bennett, CEO, Abu Dhabi Airports Company.John D Clark III, Executive Director and CEO, Indianapolis Airport Authority.Angela Gittens, Director General, Airports Council International.Arvind Jadhav, Chairman and Managing Director, Air India Ltd.Yiannis Paraschis, CEO, Athens International Airport S. A.I Prabhakara Rao, CEO, Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd.

1545 - 1600 Closing Ceremony

1800 - 2300 Gala Dinner andASQ Awards Ceremony

DAY 4 FRIDAY APRIL 8, 20111000 - 1700 City / Historical Tour of New Delhi.1400 - 1700 Tour of Indira Gandhi International

Airport (Terminal 3)

DAY 5 SATURDAY APRIL 9, 20110500 - 2230 Tour to Taj Mahal, Agra City.

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Before the establishment of ACIin January 1991, the world’sairports were represented onthe international scene by the

Airport Associations CoordinatingCouncil (AACC), which had been creat-ed in 1970 by combining three existinginternational airport associations: theAirport Operators CouncilInternational (AOCI); theInternational Civil AirportsAssociation (ICAA); and theWestern European AirportsAssociation (WEAA). Priorto the formation of theAACC, the three associationshad collaborated on an infor-mal ad hoc basis and hadpresented the interests oftheir memberships to otherinternational organisationsseparately.

With the passage of time,however, the growing impor-tance of external factors onairport operation created theneed for a formal relation-ship with governments, air-lines, manufacturers andother parties concerned.This led to the establishmentof AACC, with a view to for-mulating unified airportindustry policies, furtheringcollaboration between itsconstituent associations, andrepresenting them collec-tively with worldwide avia-tion organisations and otherrelevant bodies.

When the WEAA wasdissolved in 1985, AACCbecame a bipartite body. Thedecision to create ACI, which

incorporated AOCI and ICAA and suc-ceeded AACC, was taken in 1989. TheConstitution of ACI was approved byAOCI and ICAA memberships in theautumn of 1990 and came into effect onJanuary 1, 1991.

Today, ACI consists of some 597member airports and airport authori-

ties, operating over 1679 airports in 177countries/territories. The "voice of theworld’s airports", ACI interacts withother world bodies, including the Inter-national Civil Aviation Organisation(ICAO), the International Air TransportAssociation (IATA), and the Interna-tional Federation of Air Line Pilots’

Associations (IFALPA). ACIhas observer status withICAO and consultative statuswith the United Nations’ Eco-nomic and Social Council(UN/ECOSOC).

ACI also works closelywith the International Feder-ation of Air Traffic Con-troller’s Associations (IFAC-TA), the International Coor-dinating Council of Aero-space Industries Associations(ICCAIA) and other world-wide organisations. ACI is amember of the InternationalIndustry Working Group(IIWG), which brings togeth-er the three principal seg-ments of the world’s aviationindustry — namely airports,airlines and manufacturers.This tripartite group (ACI,IATA and ICCAIA) is entrust-ed with tackling commonproblems related to thedesign, development andcompatibility of aircraft andairports.

ACI presents the collectivepositions of its membership,which are established throughcommittees, endorsed by theACI World Governing Boardand reflect the common inter-ests of the airport community.

ACI: The voice of theworld’s airports

THE SIXTH ACI ASIA-PACIFIC REGIONAL ASSEMBLY, CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION, WHICH TAKES PLACE IN DELHI,COMES AT A CRUCIAL JUNCTURE: 2011 IS NOT ONLY A MILESTONE YEAR FOR ACI AS IT MARCHES INTO ITS 20THANNIVERSARY BUT IS ALSO THE PERFECT TIME TO SHOWCASE TO THE WORLD HOW THE BEST AIRPORTS ARE RUN.THE AIRPORTS IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION HAVE RECORDED THE GREATEST TRAFFIC GROWTH AND MANY OF THE

BEST ASQ AWARD-WINNING AIRPORTS ARE LOCATED IN THE REGION. PRIVILEGED WITH TREMENDOUS GROWTHPOTENTIAL, THE AIRPORTS IN THE REGION ARE INDEED AMONG THE BEST IN THE WORLD IN TERMS OF

OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY AND SERVICE EXCELLENCE. A CLOSE LOOK AT THE AIRPORTS COUNCIL INTERNATIONALAND ITS FUNCTIONING.

ACI OBJECTIVES

Maximize the contributions of airports to main-taining and developing a safe, secure and viableaviation industry in a responsible and sustainablemanner.

Promote cooperation among all segments of theaviation industry and their stakeholders as well aswith governments, regional and internationalorganizations.

Influence international, regional and national leg-islation, rules, policies, standards and practices,based on established policies representing airports’ interests and priorities.

Advance the development of the aviation system byenhancing public awareness of the economic andsocial importance of air travel and airport develop-ment.

Provide leadership in airport operations and man-agement through the development of global tech-nical standards and/or recommended practices.

Maximize cooperation and mutual assistanceamong airports.

Provide members with industry knowledge, adviceand assistance, and foster professional excellencein airport management and operations.

Build ACI’s worldwide organizational capacity andresources to serve all members effectively and efficiently.

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ACI is made up of five geographical regions Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America/Caribbean, and North Ameri-ca. The ACI World Headquarters is located in Geneva,Switzerland, and the ACI ICAO Bureau in Montreal, Canada.

ACI has six World Standing Committees, which developairport policies in their specific areas of competence, name-ly: Economics, Environment, Facilitation & Services, Avia-tion Security, Safety & Technical and Airports InformationTechnology. Members from all ACI regions, including Asia-Pacific, are represented in these committees. Through theirrepresentatives, members in the region contribute to thedevelopment of policy positions in their areas of interest.

Within Asia-Pacific, ACI has the following regional committees and liaison groups:

ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Aviation Security CommitteeACI Asia-Pacific Regional Operational Safety CommitteeACI Asia-Pacific Regional Environment Liaison GroupACI Asia-Pacific Regional Airport Information Technology Group

These regional committees and liaison groups areresponsible for technical cooperation and policy positionformulation in their respective areas and liaison with thecorresponding ACI World Standing Committees.

President Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majid Managing Director & CEO Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad, Malaysia

First Vice President HH Prince Turki Faisal Al-Saud Vice President, International OrganisationAffairs General Authority of Civil AviationSaudi Arabia

Second Vice President Zhiyi Dong Chairman, Beijing Capital InternationalAirport Co. Ltd, China

Second Vice PresidentKosaburo Morinaka President & CEO, Narita InternationalAirport Corporation Japan

Secretary TreasurerDennis Chant Managing Director, Queensland AirportLimited, Australia

Immediate Past President Ghanem Al-Hajri, Director General, Department of CivilAviation and Sharjah Airport Authority, UAE

ACI’s supreme authority is the General Assembly, whichconsists of the official representatives of all ACI regularmembers.

The ACI Governing Board, which is made up of 29 mem-bers, meets at least twice every year and decides ACI policyand examines any matters not specifically referred to at theAssembly. Representatives to the Governing Board are air-port representatives from each of the five ACI regions. TheACI Executive Committee consists of seven members, onerepresentative of each region and the elected Chairman ofACI.

The Executive Committee supervises the work of ACIbetween Governing Board meetings. Both the ExecutiveCommittee and the Governing Board are headed by theelected Chairman of ACI. ACI has six World Standing Com-mittees, which develop airport policies in their respectiveareas of competence: economics, environment, facilitation &

services, aviation security, safety/technical and airportsinformation technology. Each region holds two seats on eachcommittee.

The Director General, ACI’s principal staff officer andspokesman, is responsible for implementing the policies ofthe General Assembly and the ACI Governing Board. Anumber of directors, covering aeropolitical, economic, envi-ronmental, facilitation, security, technical and regionalaffairs report to the Director General.

The Regional BoardACI Asia-Pacific Region currently holds eight seats on theACI Governing Board. In addition, a 25-member RegionalBoard is made up of senior airport executives from airportsthroughout the Asia-Pacific who oversee the activities of theRegional Office. The ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Board com-prises the following members:

THE STRUCTURE OF ACI

A file photo of delegates at the 5th ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly,Conference & Exhibition at Sanya, China

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CRUISING HEIGHTSCRUISING HEIGHTSSPECIAL SUPPLEMENT ON AIRPORTS AUTHORITY OF INDIAAPRIL 2011

AAI FOCUS

ENHANCING IINFRASTRUCTURE FFOR BBETTER CCONNECTIVITY AROUND TTHE CCOUNTRY

Improving presentfacilities to providebetter connectivity withthe rest of the country

SOUTHExtensive developmentfor the airports in theregion along with specialfocus on the North-East

EASTBoost to development in theregion to facilitatetourism and economy

NORTHAim for quick growthto ensure all-roundeconomic developmentof the region

WEST

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Agatti AirportBengaluru Int’l Airport (BIAL)*Bengaluru (CE)Calicut/Kozhikode*Chennai Int’l AirportCochin Int’l Airport*Coimbatore Airport**Hubli AirportHyderabad (Begumpet) AirportHyderabad / Shamshabad Int’lAirport*Madurai Airport

Mangalore Customs Airport**Pondicherry / Puducherry Airport*Rajahmundry AirportSalem AirportTrivandrum Int’l Airport*Thiruchirapalli Customs Airport**Tirupati AirportTuticorin AirportVijayawada AirportVishakapatnam Airport (CE)

Southern Region

Ahmedabad *AkolaAurangabadBhavnagarBhopalBhuj (CE)DiuGoa (CE)Gondia

IndoreJabalpurJamnagar (CE)KandlaKeshod/JunagarhKolhapurLatur Mumbai*(Santacruz)

Mumbai (Juhu)Nagpur* /SonegaonNanded PorbandarPune (CE)/LohegaonRajkotSholapur Surat/DumasVadodara/Baroda

Western Region

# Customs airportsare airports withinternational flightsusually operated bythe country’snational carrier.


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THE NUMBERS ARE MIND-BOGGLING: 125 AIRPORTS, WHICHINCLUDE 11 INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS, 8 CUSTOMS AIRPORTS#, 81

DOMESTIC AIRPORTS AND 25 CIVIL ENCLAVES AT DEFENCEAIRFIELDS. THAT SUMS UP THE TOTAL NUMBER OF AIRPORTS THAT

THE AIRPORTS AUTHORITY OF INDIA MANAGES. IT IS A GIGANTICTASK AND AAI PERFORMS IT WITH APLOMB. TO TOP IT ALL, THE AAI

HAS UNDERTAKEN A MASSIVE MODERNISATION PROJECT TOUPGRADE A NUMBER OF AIRPORTS AND PROVIDE WORLD-CLASS

SERVICES TO AIR TRAVELLERS AROUND THE COUNTRY.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is the largest airport operator and manages a total of 125airports, which include 11 Interna-

tional Airports, eight Customs Airports, 81Domestic Airports and 25 Civil Enclaves atDefence Airfields. AAI also provides AirTraffic Management Services (ATMS) overthe entire Indian air space and adjoiningoceanic areas with ground installations at allairports and 25 other locations to ensuresafety of aircraft operations.

As part of decision modernisation pro-gramme and to provide world-class stan-dards to travellers, AAI has entered into acollaboration with all major metro airports inthe country, including those in the PPP modeto upgrade the CNS ATM services at theseairports to provide them better connectivityand a smoother flow of air traffic 24 x 7. It isin keeping with AAI’s commitment to providecutting edge CNS ATM services to cope withthe increase traffic loads at these airports. Allthe major air-routes over Indian landmassare radar covered with distance measuringequipment. Most of the airports are also pro-vided with night landing facilities. Besides, 52runways are provided with ILS installations.

With AAI’s successful implementationof Automatic Dependence Surveillance Sys-tem (ADSS), using indigenous technologyat Kolkata and Chennai Air Traffic ControlCentres, India gets the distinction of beingthe first country to use this advanced tech-nology in the South-East Asian region thusenabling effective Air Traffic Control overoceanic areas using satellite mode of com-munication. Performance-Based Naviga-tion (PBN) procedures have already beenimplemented at major airports and are like-ly to be implemented at other airports in aphased manner.

AAI has also undertaken GAGAN proj-ect in technological collaboration with theIndian Space and Research Organisation(ISRO), where the satellite- based systemwill be used for navigation.

AAI has also planned to provideGround-Based Augmentation System(GBAS) at Delhi and Mumbai airports. ThisGBAS equipment will be capable of provid-ing Category-II (curved approach) landingsignals to aircraft thus replacing the exist-ing instrument landing system in the longrun, which is required at each end of therunway.

Amidst all the modernisation venturesundertaken, AAI has not forgotten to focus oncustomer satisfaction. For this, an independ-ent agency survey at 30 busy airports hasbeen implemented, which has evinced enthu-siastic response. AAI has also undertakeninitiatives to upgrade training facilities atCATC Allahabad and Hyderabad airports.


AAI leaps ahead

BUILDING, ENHANCING INFRASTRUCTURE ACROSS THE COUNTRY

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BhubaneswarCooch BeharGaya**Kolkata*Patna**Port Blair (CE)*RaipurRanchi

Eastern Region

AgartalaAizawl (Lengpui)Bagdogra, (CE) **Dibrugarh (Mohanbari)Dimapur/ (Manipur RD)Guwahati (Borjhar)*Imphal (Tulihal)Jorhat, (CE)North Lakhimpur (Lilabari)Shillong Silchar (Kumbhigram), (CE)Barapani/ UmaroiTezpur, (CE)

North-Eastern Region

Agra (CE)Allahabad (CE)Amritsar (International)Chandigarh (CE)DehradunDelhi-IGI (CNS/ATM BY AAI)Delhi (Safdarjung)Gorakhpur (CE)Gwalior (CE)Jaipur (International)Jaisalmer (CE)Jammu (CE)Jodhpur (CE)

Kanpur (Civil)Kanpur (Chakeri-CE)KhajurahoKullu (Bhuntar)Leh (CE)Lucknow (Customs)LudhianaPantnagarPathankot (CE)ShimlaSrinagar (International-CE)UdaipurVaranasi (Customs)

Northern Region

Agra (C.E)

Delhi-IGI* (CNS/ATM BY AAI)Delhi (Safdarjung)

Lucknow**Gorakhpur (C E)

Kanpur (Civil)

Kanpur (Chakeri-C.E)

Allahabad (C.E)

Leh (C.E)Srinagar

(International-C.E)

Pathankot (C.E)Jammu (C.E)

Gwalior (C.E)

Khajuraho

Jaisalmer (CE)

Varanasi**

Jaipur*

Amritsar*

Chandigarh (C.E) Dehradun

Pantnagar

Kullu (Bhuntar)

ShimlaLudhiana

Jodhpur (C.E)

Udaipur

Ranchi

Patna**

Porbandar

Jamnagar (CE)

RajkotGondia

Port Blair (CE)*

RaipurNagpur*/Sonegaon

Bhopal

Bagdogra, (CE) **

Dibrugarh (Mohanbari)North Lakhimpur (Lilabari)

Dimapur/ (Manipur RD)

Silchar (Kumbhigram), (CE)

Cooch BeharTezpur, (CE)

Jorhat, (CE)

Imphal (Tulihal)

Guwahati (Borjhar)*

Gaya**

IndoreKolkata Int’l Airport*

Agartala

Aizawl (Lengpui)

(Barapani/ Umaroi)

Shillong

Bhubaneswar

Vadodara/Baroda

Surat/Dumas

Jabalpur

Diu

Bhavnagar

LaturNanded

Bhuj (CE)

Keshod/Junagarh

Kandla

Goa (C.E)

Kolhapur

Calicut/Kozhikode*

SalemMangalore **

Cochin*

Bangalore CEBangalore Int’l Airport *

Coimbatore**Thiruchirapalli**

Madurai

Tuticorin

Hubli

Hyderabad (Begumpet) Airport Shamshabad Int’l Airport*

Vijayawada

Vishakapatnam(CE)

Tirupati

Rajahmundry

Pondicherry /Puducherry Airport*

Trivandrum*

Sholapur

Mumbai (Juhu)Mumbai Int’l Airport*Santacruz

Pune (CE)/Lohegaon

Aurangabad

Ahmedabad *

Map not to scale* International Airport** Customs Airport



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Agatti Airport

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“With ournewly-createdinfrastructure,we are bound

to generate substantial

non-aeronautical

revenues”V P AGRAWAL, CHAIRMAN,AIRPORTS AUTHORITY OF INDIA,ON FUTURE PLANS AND REVENUES.

It is now more than three yearssince private enterprise tookover management to operate fourmetro airports: Delhi, Mumbai,Hyderabad and Bengaluru.Frankly, how do you describe theexperience?Well, to answer your question, it maybe apt if I were to state that ‘Change isalways for better’. Having said that, itwould but be prudent if one was toview the move from the larger perspec-tive and not merely ‘hindsight’. As iswell established, our sector had wit-nessed unprecedented boom in the lastdecade and it is also a fact that ourinfrastructure at the airports wasbelow par and thus, we had no other


AAI interview.qxd 4/4/2011 4:15 PM Page 2



{ACI}option but to embark upon in a big wayto provide matching infrastructure. Thecosts involved in such a venture beingexorbitant, that it was beyond the reachof either AAI or the exchequer. There-fore, in my opinion, the decision to takethe PPP route was not only the need ofthe hour but timely too. The otheradded advantage that accrued was thatit offered an opportunity to AAI to focusits attention on the much-neglectedlarge number of non-metro airportsacross the length and breadth of ourvast country, many of which were serv-ing international routes too. This, youwould appreciate, was a humongoustask in itself.

The other very important facet ofairport modernisation, which invariablyis lost sight of, if I may put it, inadver-tently is airspace management, which isthe sole responsibility of AAI. As asequel to the growth, the density of airtraffic too was bound to increase byleaps and bounds, for which appropri-ate systems were required to be put inplace. Import of state-of-the-art tech-nology to ensure seamless transitionthrough Indian skies entails a hugeexpenditure which has to be borne byAAI. It may be of relevance to set therecord straight by mentioning that airtraffic — be it at metro or non-metroairports — is managed and regulated byAAI. As such opening the doors to pri-vate players was the only viable solu-tion to ensure creation of world-classairport infrastructure across the coun-try. It would be apt if I were to sum upthe answer by saying that the experi-ence has been fruitful and, as they say,‘rest is history’.

Though you do get revenue share,could it have been more had youcontinued to operate these airports? If yes, how? If not, why?Your question is ‘hypothetical’. There isno denying the fact that four of our air-ports, which have since been hived offwere profit-making airports and thus,they would have made a dent in our rev-enue earnings. Having said that, onehas to bear in mind that if one isdesirous of reaping the fruits, onewould have to initially invest hugeexpenditure, which was not possible inthe case. Again, I would go back to thelarger perspective and draw your atten-tion to the spin-offs, i.e. due to thegrowth of these airports, the traffic atour other non-metro airports hasenhanced and as such my earnings havemultiplied. Therefore, you would agree

it is a win-win situation.

The 9 per cent GDP growth hasalready seen air traffic growing by20 per cent annually. When doyou think it will begin to crowdthe non-metro airports?I suppose you would agree that theunprecedented growth that has sincebeen witnessed, surely did not originateor end up at the metro airports only andthere ought to have been substantialcontribution from the non-metros too.Non-metro airports also play a pivotalrole. It would be interesting to note thatthe traffic growth at non-metro airportsis at a much faster pace when comparedto the metro airports. As is well estab-lished, neither does mere presence ofinfrastructure at airport ensure air con-nectivity nor can absence of infrastruc-ture provide air connectivity. This, asyou are aware, is directly dependent onmarket forces/demand as revealed inthe survey carried out by the airlines fordrawing up their business plan. Thenon-availability of appropriate infra-structure at the non-metro airports atthat point of time did have a salutaryeffect on the airlines’ operational plan-ning for new route connectivity. More-over construction of infrastructure doesnot only entail a long gestation periodbut it is also essential for airlines toassure the airport operator of sustainedoperation and utilisation of the airportand other facilities.

The apprehension of crowding non-metro airports put forth by you was rele-vant in the pre-modification/modernisa-tion period, but as on date the situationis in favour of the non-metro airports as the capacity is much in excessthan the demand. It may be of relevanceto record that modernisation of terminalbuildings has been carried out on a‘modular’ concept, which has scope forfurther expansion if circumstances sodemand. As on date, infrastructure at

non-metros is underutilised. The air-lines’ were invariably planning for amorning flight to a non-metro and anevening return flight, with a large yawn-ing gap in between. The other dimensionis the avoidable strain on resources ofnot only the AAI but also, Met, securityand other agencies.

With the changing trend of the trav-elling populace vis-à-vis increased percapita income, non-metro airports havealready started attracting night halts ofthe aircraft which in turn assures earlymorning and late evening return flights,for example, Ahemdabad, Pune, Goa,etc. A humble beginning in this direc-tion has already been made. I suppose itwould only be fair to assume that thetime is not far when full utilisation ofthe infrastructure, coupled with the factthat the rate of induction of number ofaircraft on the anvil will dry up thenight parking slots at metro airports, leaving no choice for the oper-ator to re-work their plans. Non-metroairports are not only capable of han-dling traffic but they also do haveappropriate facilities in place.

Do you think the traffic handledby the Airports Authority airports— the two metros, Chennai andKolkata and 35 non-metros — willsoon overtake that of four non-AAI metro airports?It is not just the four non-AAI metroairports, viz., Delhi International Air-ports Ltd. (DIAL), Mumbai Interna-tional Airport Ltd. (MIAL), BengaluruInternational Airport Ltd. (BIAL) andRajiv Gandhi International AirportLtd., Hyderabad (HIAL), but addCochin and Nagpur airports to the listas these two airports are out of AAI’sambit.

However, in my opinion, you havetouched upon a very pertinent issue bycomparing the growth of air trafficacross the country in time to come andhave made a comparison between non-comparables. Notwithstanding thatmost of our prosperous airports havebeen hived off, we at AAI took on thechallenge upfront and embarked on thetask of developing the 2nd and 3rd tierairports, including those in the North-East region, remote and island areas,where you would agree no private play-er may ever dare to tread.

Traffic originating or terminating atthe metros includes a substantial por-tion of traffic from non-metros too.Notwithstanding the same, the densityof traffic between the metros being

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DUE TO THE GROWTHOF THESE AIRPORTS,THE TRAFFIC AT OUROTHER NON-METROAIRPORTS HASENHANCED AND ASSUCH MY EARNINGSHAVE MULTIPLIED.




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what it is; a stage may arise when yourapprehension will come true. Let therebe no doubt that in times to come thedensity of traffic originating/terminat-ing at non-metros is bound to grow. Isay this with confidence keeping in viewthe growth of air traffic in our countryvis-à-vis the changing mindset of thetravelling populace of our country cou-pled with the economic growth on theanvil. It stands to reason that the traffichandled at the AAI airports may not lagfar behind. However, to give you aninsight of the situation as it standstoday is that the aircraft movements atex-non-AAI airports are 52.4 per centand at AAI airports are 47.6 per cent,whereas, in regards the passenger den-sity ex-non-AAI airports is 59 per centand at AAI airports is 41 per cent.

What is needed to ensure that orhas it started happening?The AAI has already set the ball rolling inthis direction by modernising two metro,35 non-metro and 23 other airports. We have 60 upgraded airportsas on date. Commissioning another 30airports which as on date are in a state ofdisuse, are on the anvil. The day is not faroff when the concept of ‘hub and spoke’would see the daylight in Indian aviation.Due credence also ought to be given tothe fact that as an outcome of modernisa-tion we have spare capacity at these air-ports, with infrastructure compatible tohandle all types of loads, that in turn isbound to make a perceivable dent in thetraffic loads of metro airports.

Is it true that ANS of AAI will behived off as a separate businessunit?

Yes, it is true that Air Navigation Ser-vices will be hived off from AAI into aseparate company. Action has sincebeen initiated and as a step in thatdirection a Post of Member (ANS) onthe Board of AAI has since been creat-ed and an incumbent positioned too.Also, action with regard to other asso-ciated issues for its smooth transitioninto an independent entity is under-way. As and when the directorate’sfunctions get stabilised and are on asound footing to operate as a full-fledged directorate, appropriate actionwith regard to the modalities involvedin granting it separate entity status willbe initiated.

Will such a step not seriouslyimpact the revenue stream ofAAI?In my opinion, it will have an effect initially but not to an extent whichcould be a cause of worry. As you wouldbe aware, with our newly-created infra-structure, we are bound to generatesubstantial non-aeronautical revenues.We would be having 90-odd airports

operationalised, thereby enhancing ournon-aeronautical revenues manifold.

How much has AAI spent on themodernisation of 35 non-metrosand how much remains to bespent?AAI has incurred `3,238 crore (cumu-lative capital expenditure up to Janu-ary, 2011). Funds amounting toapproximately `1,250 crore are likelyto be spent in future on these projects.

What are the funding optionsbefore AAI in view of FinanceMinistry’s rejection of AAI’srequest for tax-free bonds?AAI is planning to raise funds mainlyout of internal resources. However, theshortfall is to be met out of the borrow-ing amount to `900 crore and`824 crore, respectively through debtfinancing during 2010-11 and 2011-12.This is by way of long-term and short-term borrowings programme. As regardsthe tax-free bonds, we at AAI have notgiven up hope.

What is the corporate vision ofAAI for 2020? Will land be a con-straining factor? How do youpropose to deal with it?The corporate vision of AAI is “to be aworld-class organisation providingleadership in Air Traffic Services andAirport Management and making amajor hub in Asia Pacific Region by2016”.

Land as a commodity is soonbecoming a rare commodity. Airportsbeing land-intensive can be perceivedby the common man as a lot of landbeing usurped by AAI especially withno visible construction on that. How-ever, air safety — which is paramountto aviation — dictates vacant gradedareas known as basic strips, RunwayEnd Safety Area (RESA), where no con-structional activity is permitted. Thestate governments are finding it diffi-cult to acquire land from the alreadybuilt-up areas of the public. The estab-lishment of Greenfield airports has aninbuilt constraint of site selection,which needs to be taken into account,with reference to not only land avail-ability but also to air space manage-ment issues of the already operationalairports nearby, including that ofdefence. With passage of time and traf-fic becoming denser, the need to getairports licensed, with the enforcementof norms, is not only becominginescapable but also, stricter.

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WE HAVE 60UPGRADED AIRPORTSAS ON DATE.COMMISSIONINGANOTHER 30AIRPORTS WHICH ONDATE ARE IN A STATEOF DISUSE, ARE ONTHE ANVIL.

The departure lounge of Ahmedabad airport




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Kolkata’s Netaji Subash Chan-dra Bose International Air-port that is being expandedand modernised at a cost of

`2325 cr will help increase the passen-ger handling capacity at the city airportfrom the present nine million passen-gers annually to 20 million passengersa year. The modernisation worklaunched in December 2008 is expect-

ed to be completed by January 2012. Aconsortium of ITD of Thailand and ITDCementation India Limited bagged thecontract for the civil construction andmodernisation of the airport.

Located at Dum Dum near the cityof Kolkata, it is the fifth busiest airportin India. The main international airport in eastern India, it is also itslargest. As the current infrastructurewas unable to handle the influx of pas-sengers, owing largely to the city’sdevelopment and air-traffic growth inrecent years, the Airports Authority ofIndia (AAI) took up large-scale airportdevelopment plans including a newstate-of-the-art integrated airport terminal. This modern, glass-steel

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Tagore inspireddesign for KolkataTHE FIFTH BUSIEST AIRPORTIN THE COUNTRY ANDPRESENTLY HANDLING MORETHAN NINE MILLIONPASSENGERS ANNUALLY,KOLKATA’S NETAJI SUBASHCHANDRA BOSEINTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ISTHE LARGEST IN EASTERNINDIA AND THE ONLYINTERNATIONAL AIRPORTOPERATING IN WEST BENGAL.ITS PROSPECT OF BECOMINGAN AVIATION HUB OF THEREGION HAS PROMPTEDAIRPORTS AUTHORITY OFINDIA TO UNDERTAKE ANEXPANSION ANDMODERNISATIONPROGRAMME.

Netaji Subash Chandra Bose International Airport

Kolkata.qxd 4/4/2011 4:16 PM Page 3



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structure is being constructed usinggreen building concepts, environment-friendly technology and world-classpassenger facilities.

Airports Authority of India appoint-ed an international architectural designconsultant to design the new airport terminal with an emphasis on derivingoperational synergy and optimum utili-sation of available resources by devel-oping an integrated terminal building.New York-based project managementconsultant, Parsons Brinkerhoff hasbeen appointed to supervise and moni-tor the construction of the state-of-the-art terminal building.

The new integrated terminal will bea wide v-shaped structure with two-tieroperations for arrivals and departures.The integrated passenger terminal willhave an apron for parking aircraft onits northern and north-eastern sides:18 aircraft are proposed to be parkedthere in an in-contact configuration.These in turn will be supplemented byanother 53 aircraft parking bays. Pas-sengers will be able to embark/disem-bark from any aircraft stand and pro-ceed to either domestic or internationalstations.

A landscaped courtyard in the heartof the building will provide a symbolicand physical separation between the airside and landside. It will be furtherdivided by an island of accommodationthat projects forward between the check-in area and the baggage-reclaim area.These two large spaces will sit side-by-

side in the landside section of the build-ing. To unify these two spaces, a spectac-ular roof will pass above them, retainingit as a whole.

The landscape concept will be one ofthe biggest pieces of land art inspired bythe works of Rabindranath Tagore. Itwill offer two disparate spatial experi-ences — the vastness of the grand centralgarden and the intimacy of the internalcourtyards. The grand central gardenwill be a canvas inspired by paintingsand poems by Tagore, and will have twolevels separated by a sweeping curve—directly inspired from one of Tagore’sfamous paintings. Compared to the sim-plicity of the lower level, the upper levelof the garden will be richly textured andpatterned with letters and words extract-ed from one of the poems from Gitanjali.

AAI is on the job to upgrade the CNSand ATM systems in the airport whichwill have a state-of-the- art ATC towerand an adjacent technical building.There will also be provision for metro

rail connectivity from the city centre tothe airport with city check-in facilities.

The first phase of modernisationwill enable the airport to accommodatea peak flow of 1800 passengers anhour. The airport will also have aninline baggage system which will makeit redundant for passengers to go forpre-check through X-Ray machines.The approach road from the city will beuni-directional four-lane approachroad merging with the existing roadnetwork without disrupting vehiculartraffic flow from various other airportfacilities. The proposed five-level ter-minal will be served by an elevatedroadway leading to the departure facil-ities. The city side will be linked to theupcoming metro rail from the maincity.

AAI is also doubling the area meantfor commercial use from the earlier 45acres to 90 acres. Till the end ofDecember 2010, AAI was able to com-plete 62 per cent work of the new inte-grated terminal building and the workshould be complete by December 2011.Extension and refurbishment of therunway were completed in December2010. Besides the new integrated ter-minal building, which is being con-structed now, Kolkata airport alreadyhad three terminals — a domestic,international and cargo terminals,respectively. The number of aerobridges will be increased from the pres-ent four to 20 by the time the airport isopened in 2012.

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THE FIRST PHASEOF MODERNISATIONWILL ENABLE THEAIRPORT TOACCOMMODATE APEAK FLOW OF1800 PASSENGERSAN HOUR.

The new terminal with wide v-shaped structure with two-tier operations for arrivals and departures.

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ANDAMAN AND NICOBARISLANDThere is only one airport in this group ofislands: Port Blair international airport.The official name is Veer Savarkar Interna-tional Airport. Airport’s runway can handleoperation of aircraft up to A310 or B757.Apron is big enough to park eight aircraft atone time and terminal building has goodspace for 270 passengers. New terminalcomplex and a cargo complex are underplanning stage.

BIHARThere are two functional airports in thestate of Bihar. The status is as follows:

Patna: Official name of this customairport is Loknayak Jaya Prakash NarayanAirport. The airport’s runway is wideenough to support aircraft up to A320s. Theapron can park five aircraft at one time. The

terminal building is big enough to house200 passengers during peak hours. In addi-tion, the integrated international side isalso capable of handling 100 fliers. Resur-facing of the apron and the adjacent pave-ment will be starting soon. Modificationand expansion of the terminal building arein the planning stage.

Gaya: This airport can support opera-tion of aircraft up to A321. Apron can park

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THE AIRPORTS AUTHORITYOF INDIA HAS DRAWN UPEXTENSIVE DEVELOPMENTPLANS FOR THE AIRPORTSIN THE EASTERN REGIONOF THE COUNTRY. A BRIEFOUTLINE OF THEVENTURES AT THEAIRPORTS.

EASTERNR E G I O N

Andaman & Nicobar islandBihar ChhattisgarhJharkhand OrissaWest Bengal

Bihar

Jharkhand

Chhattisgarh

Orissa

Andaman & Nicobar island

West Bengal

Port Blair airport

Gaya airport

AAI inthe EAST

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two aircraft at one time. The terminal build-ing is divided into domestic side and inter-national side which can accommodate up to100 and 400 passengers during peak hours.Acquisition of land for extension of runwayis being planned by the authority.

CHHATTISGARHThis state also has only one airport in itscapital Raipur. Raipur Airport’s runway canhandle operation of aircraft up to A321.Apron can park three aircraft at one timeand terminal building has good space for400 passengers. New international termi-nal, which will have big space toaccommodate 800 passengers, is in the last

phase of construction. Authority has beenplanning to acquire more land for expan-sion of runway and construction of newcontrol tower and fire station.

JHARKHANDAgain, Jharkhand is also a state with onlyone airport in its capital: Ranchi. Its run-way can handle operation of aircraft up toA321. Apron can park two aircraft at onetime and terminal building has space for130 passengers. Resurfacing of the apronand the adjacent pavement is in its last

stage. Also, strengthening and expansion ofapron is almost complete.

ORISSABiju Patnaik Airport is at the capital city,Bhubaneswar. Huge construction work isin progress at this airport. A new integrat-ed terminal is being constructed which

will increase its capacity to handle morethan 1,300 passengers from present 350.The runways are capable in operation ofaircraft up to AB767-300. The new apron,which is under construction, would beable to park six aircraft at one time; oldapron has space for two parking. Also,new air traffic control tower (ATC)-cum-technical block has been proposed, andfurther expansion of the apron hasalready been approved.

WEST BENGALThe state of West Bengal has two func-tional airports in AAI’s list. Their status isas follows:

Kolkata International Airport:Officially known as Netaji Shubash Chan-dra Bose International Airport, it is suit-able for operation of wide-bodied aircraftlike A340s and B747. It has a huge apron,which is capable of parking 35 aircraft at

one time. The peak hour capacity of theterminal building is 1864, 1240 in thedomestic side and 640 in the internation-al side. It has a big car parking areawhich can accommodate 2500 cars. Thetraffic is very high with 692 domestic and100 international flights a week. Inte-grated terminal building with a passen-ger handling capacity of 7,200 is about tocomplete. The work on the secondaryrunway is ready for operation as the work

has been complete. (Please see thedetailed story on modernisation ofKolkata airport on pages 21 and 22)

Cooch Behar: Aircraft up to ATR42scan be operated at this airport. Apron canaccommodate two aircraft at one time andterminal building is suitable for at least 100passengers.

Raipur in its last phase of construction

Ranchi airport

Bhubaneswar airport

Kolkata airport — departure

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ASSAMThe largest state in the north-easternregion of the country, Assam has six air-ports operating at capital Guwahati, Dibru-garh, Jorhat, North Lakhimpur, Silchar andTezpur.

Guwahati: Guwahati internationalairport is the busiest and largest airport inthis region. It is suitable for wide-bodiedaircraft like A330 or B747. This is the onlyairport in this region which has permissionto operate in the night. The apron is wideenough to accommodate five A320s at onetime, and the terminal building is huge witha capacity to handle 790 passengers duringpeak hours. One international flight of AirIndia leaves for Bangkok every week fromhere.

Dibrugarh: Aircraft up to A320s canbe operated from Dibrugarh airport. Nightoperation is not allowed at this airport, and28 weekly flights leave for Guwahati andKolkata. Apron can handle five aircraft at a

time and terminal is capable of managing600 passengers during peak hours. A newcontrol tower-cum-technical block is beingplanned.

Jorhat: Jorhat airport supports aircraftup to A320s. Eight weekly flights leave fromhere to Guwahati and Kolkata. The aproncan accommodate two A320s at one time,

and the terminal building has a capacity tohandle 120 passengers during peak hours.

North Lakhimpur (Lilabari): Onlytwo weekly flights leave from here to Guwa-hati and Dibrugarh. Lilabari airport is suit-able for operation of aircraft up to A320s butAlliance Air, the only operator at this air-port, just operates ATR42 flights from here.Apron can park two aircraft at a time andterminal building can accommodate 300passengers during peak hours.

Silchar: This airport is also suitable foroperation of A320s; however, only ATR72aircraft are operated by different airlines atSilchar. Thirty-two weekly flights leave fromhere for different destinations: Guwahati,Imphal, Agartala and Kolkata. Apron canpark four aircraft and terminal building can



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N-ER E G I O N

Arunachal Pradesh ManipurMeghalaya MizoramNagaland TripuraSikkim Assam

Arunachal Pradesh

Assam

Meghalaya

Sikkim

Manipur

Nagaland

TripuraMizoram

AS PART OF ITS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME,AIRPORTS AUTHORITY OF INDIA HASFOCUSSED ON CONNECTIVITY IN THE NORTH-EAST. A BRIEF LOOK AT THE CURRENT STATUSOF THE AIRPORTS IN THE REGION.

Dibrugarh airport

Jorhat airport

AAI in the North-East: The sereneland of eight sisters

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accommodate 300 passengers during peakhours.

Tezpur: This civil enclave airport canhandle operation of aircraft up to A320 orB738. Alliance Air operates just three weeklyaircraft from here for the destinations:Kolkata and Silchar. Apron can accommo-date three aircraft at one time, and terminalbuilding can handle 315 passengers duringpeak hours.

MANIPURTulihal airport is theonly airport in thecapital city of thestate: Imphal. A320scan be operated fromthis airport. Nightlanding facility isavailable, but opera-tion in night is notpermitted. Four air-craft can be accom-modated in the apron

at one time and terminal building is capableof handling 400 passengers during peakhours. Expansion of apron to park two moreaircraft is under process.

MEGHALAYAEven in Meghalaya,there is only one oper-ating airport in thestate capital: Shillong.This airport is suitablefor operation ofATR72, and the onlyoperating airline,Alliance Air operatesonly two weekly flightsfor Kolkata. Apron hasa parking capacity of

two aircraft and terminal building has roomfor 200 passengers during peak hours. Anew terminal building and space for carparking is almost complete but hasn't startedoperating so far. Construction of new controltower cum technical block is planned. Exten-sion of runway to 2, 286 metre in south-westdirection is also in the pipeline.

MIZORAMLengpui airport is at 40-km distance from

the state capital, Aizwal. Again, this smallstate has only one airport and it can supportoperation of aircraft up to A320s. About 29domestic weekly flights are operated by dif-ferent airlines for Imphal, Guwahati andKolkata. Apron has parking space for threeaircraft, and terminal building is goodenough to handle 140 passengers duringpeak time. Installation of a new ILS (instru-ment landing system) is already complete,but it has not started its operation yet. Con-struction of cargo complex and isolation bayis being planned.

NAGALANDAgain a state with only one operating air-port. Dimapur airport is situated at a dis-tance of 70 km from the state capital: Kohi-ma. Alliance Air and Indian Airlines operate15 flights in a week for Imphal, Guwahatiand Kolkata. Suitable for aircraft up toA320s, the airport has an apron with park-ing capacity of two aircraft. The terminalbuilding has a capacity to accommodate404 passengers during peak hours.

TRIPURAAgartala airport, in the capital of the state,is the second-busiest airport in thisregion. The airport is suitable for opera-tion of aircraft up to A320s and has 12daily flights on an average. The apron issuitable for parking seven flights at onetime and the terminal building is bigenough to handle 600 passengers duringpeak hours. The work under process ismodification of fire station and construc-

tion of new control tower. Acquisition ofland for widening and development ofrunway strip from present 75 metre to 150metre is in the planning stage.

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Silchar airport

Shillong airport

Imphal airport

Agartala airport

Lengpui airport

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CHENNAI AIRPORT IS GOINGTHROUGH A FULL-SCALE

MAKEOVER AND ONCECOMPLETED WILL BE THEAIRPORTS AUTHORITY OF

INDIA’S SHOWCASE AIRPORT.BRAVING CHALLENGES,

EXPANSION ANDMODERNISATION WORK AT THE

AIRPORT IS IN FULL SWING.

Chennai:Coming,a bigger

and better

airport

The modernisation and expan-sion of Chennai airport is in fullswing. In all probability the newfacilities at the revamped Chen-

nai airport is likely to be thrown open tothe travelling public by the last quarter of2011 as work is going on great speed. Theairport expansion is being executed byChennai-based Consolidated Construc-tion Consortium Limited in partnershipwith Jerve Powerlean International, aCanadian infrastructure company. Theproject cost has been revised to `2015crore and will include a new domesticterminal spread over an area of 76,000 sqmt and an international terminal in68,000 sq mt even as the existing termi-nals will continue to be used for passen-ger traffic.

The plan to revamp Chennai, accord-ing to V P Agrawal, Chairman, AAI, wastaken “since Chennai airport is the pre-mier international gateway and air hubfor South India and also due to a rapidincrease in tourist traffic including for-eign visitors”.

The expansion of the airport comesunder the category of Brownfield airportsince the proposed integrated terminalbuilding that is being constructed is acontinuation of the existing terminalbuildings and other facilities, keeping inmind that no existing operation and safe-ty are compromised. “Hence,” empha-sised V P Agrawal, “the challenge is much

more compared to a Brownfield airport.” The mega project comprising domes-

tic and international terminal buildings,elevated corridor and allied worksincluding consultancy, extension of run-way and construction of a bridge on theAdyar river would be costing `2015 cr.

After modernisation, the airport willbe able to handle 40 aircraft movementsan hour from the current 30 aircraftwhile the number of parking bays will beincreased to 84 from the existing 70. Asper the traffic projection for Chennai air-port, while it handled 10.5 million pas-sengers in 2009-10, this will go up to 11million in 2010-11 and further to 11.9million by 2011-12. By 2012-end, thenumbers will rise to 13 million.

The modernisation work, which beganin October 2008, was supposed to havebeen completed by January 2011. But dueto unforeseen circumstances, the AAIcould not access availability of contiguousland which is under the Ministry ofDefence. The land, which is holding up thework, includes those near the entrance aswell as in the adjacent area which could beused for hangars, etc. By the year 2020,the airport in Chennai will be able to han-dle 27.6 million passengers.

Although the modernisation work hasbeen causing difficulties to domestic pas-sengers, it is expected to ease substantial-ly by September 2011 because by thattime the flyover connecting the domestic

Chennai airport

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28 CRUISING HEIGHTS I April 2011

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and international terminals should beready. A multilevel car parking is alsobeing constructed, which can house acouple of thousand cars.

Once the domestic terminal is com-pleted it will be capable of handling 10million passengers. The internationalterminal will be expanded to cater tonearly 14 million passengers.

Chennai airport’s only main run-way capacity, however, will reach thepoint of saturation by 2017. As for theterminals, the domestic terminal willreach its maximum handling capacityor saturation by 2019 and the interna-tional terminal by 2015. That is reasonenough for a second new Greenfieldairport at Chennai and any decision inthis regard will be taken once a newstate government assumes office afterthe state assembly polls in April 2011.However, to optimally utilise the air-port, a portion of the second runway isbeing opened as it remained closed formore than a year because of construc-tion work. A stretch of 2085 metres,which formed the entire stretch of theinitial runway, will be opened forsmaller aircraft. In fact, the bridgeacross the Adayar river will extend therunway by 1400 metres. Opening

a portion of therunway will helptransfer movementof smaller aircraftlike the ATRs forshort-haul flights.The secondary run-way was closed inDecember 2009 toalign the runway

level with the portion of proposedextension across the river.

The new extended and refurbishedmain runway length has been stretchedto 3685 metres which will allow opera-tion of widebody aircraft such as Boe-ing 747s and A 380s. In fact, AAI hasinitiated training for air traffic controlofficers to handle additional trafficfrom the two runways simultaneously.

Chennai airport currently handlesmore than 400 flight movements a day,which will increase to 800 when thesecondary runway is commissioned. Atpresent, the airport handles only 27aircraft movements an hour. While

AAI has been struggling to cope withrising traffic using only its primaryrunway, by using the cross-runwayoperations using the reopened runwaywill reduce traffic on the main runway,according to AAI. Even as modernisa-tion work continues, the issue of com-pensation has held back constructionin certain areas.

To improve passenger safety, AAIhas been upgrading the category ofChennai airport fire safety standards.The new facilities being installed willbe able to handle aircraft like the A380, etc and the airport will be upgrad-ed from the current Category 9 to Cat-egory 10 safety standards. The newfacilities at a cost of `12 crore willenable Chennai airport to have morefire tenders, more chemicals to gener-ate foam, better water storage, morepersonnel to handle emergenciesinvolving larger aircraft, etc.

To ease any ground congestion inthe space between the runway andtaxiway, the 80-year-old Madras Fly-ing Club has been given notice by AAIto vacate the land. This has becomenecessary to straighten Bravo taxitrack used by aircraft to reach theGuindy end of the main runway fortakeoff.

There is also a proposal to have aMetro rail station inside the airportpremises, with a total area of 20,000sq metres with a four-level terminalwith a concourse, platform, parkingspace for Metro users and car park forairport users. The AAI India hasagreed to execute the work of Metrostation within the airport premises.

CHENNAI AIRPORTCURRENTLY HANDLESMORE THAN 400FLIGHT MOVEMENTS ADAY, WHICH WILLINCREASE TO 800WHEN THESECONDARY RUNWAYIS COMMISSIONED.


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ANDHRA PRADESH

The state has six functional airports.Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad, Rajah-mundry Airport, Tirupati Airport andVijayawada Airport are managed by Air-port Authority of India. VishakhapatnamAirport is managed by Indian Navy andHyderabad International Airport is man-aged by GMR Hyderabad InternationalAirport Limited (GHIAL). Following is thecurrent status:

Hyderabad (Begumpet) Airport:This airport is suitable for operation ofaircraft up to B747. Apron has enoughspace to park 13 aircraft at one time. It hascar parking space for 400 cars. Hyderabadhas got a new airport managed by GHIAL,and this is the older one. This airport hasbeen made available for government, gen-eral aviation and flying club activities.

Rajahmundry Airport: This airportcan support operation of aircraft up toATR72. Kingfisher and Jet Airways oper-

ate 14 flights for Hyderabad every week.Apron has space for parking two ATR72 atone time. With the functioning of the newterminal building at the airport, the peakhour capacity will increase to 336 fromcurrent capacity of 120. The recent devel-opment is construction of an air trafficcontrol tower and a fire station.

Tirupati: Kingfisher, Jet Airwaysand Indian Airlines operate 27 flights toHyderabad every week. The runways canhandle operation of aircraft up to A321s.Apron can park two A321s and one ATR72at one time. The current terminal buildingis suitable for 250 passengers at one time,the new integrated one, which is underconstruction, would have a peak hourcapacity of 700 passengers. A new instru-ment landing system is being installed. Anair traffic control tower and a fire stationare also in the planning stage.

Vijayawada: Kingfisher operates 14weekly flights for the destinations: Hyder-abad and Bengaluru. Vijayawada airportcan support operation of aircraft up toB737. The old apron can park two A320sat one time and the new apron can accom-modate five A321s. Peak hour capacity ofthe terminal building is 75 passengers. Anair traffic control tower and a fire stationare in the planning stage. A new instru-ment landing system is being installed.

Vishakhapatnam: Indian Navyoperates and maintains this civil enclaveairport. The runways are apt for operationof aircraft up to A330s. The existing apron

THE SOUTH HAS SOME OF THE HOTTEST DESTINATIONS IN THE COUNTRY ANDAFTER MODERNISATION, THE AIRPORTS HAVE BECOME THE MOST SOUGHT-AFTERONES. A LOOK AT THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN THE REGION.

Andhra Pradesh

Karnataka

Tamil NaduLakshadweepKerala

AAI intheSouth

An inside view of ATC control tower at Tirupati Airport

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can park three B737s, and the new apron,which is not functional so far, has eightstands for parking the aircraft. The peakhour capacity is 125 passengers in the oldterminal building, but the new integratedterminal will increase the total passengerhandling capacity to close to one thousandpassengers. A new instrument landingsystem is being installed. An air trafficcontrol tower and a fire station are also inthe planning stage.

TAMIL NADUThere are six airports in this state. Thestatus is as follows:

Chennai: Flights leave for 21 inter-national and 24 domestic destinationsfrom International Airport at Chennai. Ithas runway suitable for operation of air-craft up to B747. Apron has total parkingspace of 66 aircraft on domestic side and10 on international side. Peak hourcapacity to handle customers is 96 inKamaraj Domestic Terminal, up to 2300in Anna International Terminal and 3300in integrated new domestic terminal. Atotal of 500 cars can be parked in theparking spaces available. A new integratedcargo complex is in the last phase of con-struction. (Please see the detailed storyon modernisation of Chennai airport onpages 27 and 28)

Coimbatore: This is a customs air-port* and is suitable for operation of aircraft up to A321. International flightsleave for two destinations from this air-port: Sharjah and Singapore. Apron canpark three aircraft on domestic and international side each. Peak hour capaci-ty at the existing domestic terminal is 240passengers. International terminal is

under construction and will have a capac-ity of 385 passengers once completed.

Madurai: The construction of a newterminal building for international opera-tion, which can accommodate 700 passen-gers during peak hours, has just beencompleted. Construction of a new ATCbuilding and fire station has beenplanned. The runway at this airport iscapable of operation of aircraft up toA321s. Seventy-three weekly flights arebeing operated by different serviceproviders for the destination: Bengaluru,Chennai and Mumbai. The old apron canpark five aircraft at one time and the newone can park two A321s. The present ter-minal building can house 108 passengersduring peak hours.

Salem: In the major developmentworks, extension of runway and alliedfacilities has been planned. The presentrunway can handle operation of aircraftup to ATR72s. Kingfisher is the only air-line providing services at this airport forthe only destination: Chennai. The apron

at this airport can park two ATR72s at onetime and the terminal building can house83 passengers at most.

Tiruchirapalli: This is a custom air-port. Several airlines operate 24 domestic

flights for the destination: Chennai andTrivandrum. At this airport, 47 internation-al flights are also being operated for thedestinations: Colombo, Dubai, KualaLumpur, Singapore and Abu Dhabi. Run-ways at this airport can support operationof aircraft up to A321-200s or B767-200s.The terminal building can house 471 pas-sengers during peak hours. Domestic aproncan park three A321s at one time and the

Chennai airport

Salem airport

Trichy airport

Coimbatore airport

* Customs airports areairports with internationalflights usually operated bythe country's national carrier.Coimbatore has since gotinternational flights by othercarriers but continues to bea customs airport untilnotified as 'internationalairport' by the government.


April 2011 I CRUISING HEIGHTS 31


{ACI}international one has space for four aircraft.

Tuticorin: Kingfisher operates sevenweekly flights from this airport to Chen-nai. The airport is suitable for operationof aircraft up to ATR72-500s. Apron canpark two aircraft at one time and terminalbuilding has a maximum capability ofaccommodating 83 passengers.

Puducherry (Union Territory):This airport is suitable for operation ofaircraft up to ATR-72-500s. The new ter-minal building has just been completed,which can accommodate 150 passengersduring peak hours. The parking space issufficient to house three ATR-72-500s atone time. New air traffic control tower isbeing constructed. It also has a small carparking space for 20 cars.

KarnatakaThere are four airports in the state of Kar-nataka: Bengaluru International Airport,Bengaluru CE, Hubli Airport and Manga-lore Customs Airport. Out of these four,Bengaluru International Airport is man-aged by BIAL (Bengaluru InternationalAirport Authority Limited), Bengaluru CEAirport is under HAL (Hindustan Aero-nautics Limited) administration, and air-ports at Hubli and Mangalore are run byAirports Authority of India. The Bengalu-ru International Airport is the first air-port in India constructed through a pub-lic-private partnership.

Hubli: Runways at this airport canhandle operation of aircraft up to ATR42s.

Kingfisher operates 14 flights every weekfrom here for Bengaluru and Mumbai. Theapron has capacity to park five aircraft atone time. The terminal building can han-dle traffic of 60 passengers during peakhours. Installation of ILS (instrumentlanding system) is being planned.

Mangalore: This is a customs air-port. The runway can handle operation ofaircraft up to A321. There is parkingspace for four aircraft in the old apronand six in the new one. The old terminalbuilding can handle 300 passengers dur-ing peak hours, and the new integratedterminal has a capacity to handle 750passengers during peak hours.

KeralaThis state is a paradise for nature lovers.The flora and fauna of this state lures thou-sands of tourists every month. There arethree airports in this state; two of them aremanaged by AAI and one by CIAL (CochinInternational Airport Limited).

Kozhikode: Calicut InternationalAirport is suitable for operation of air-craft up to B747. Apron has stand for

parking nine aircraft at one time. The ter-minal building is big enough to accom-modate 1600 passengers during peakhours. It has a big car parking spacewhich can easily accommodate 200 carsat one time.

Trivandrum: International Airportat Trivandrum has gone under majortransformation in recent past. AAI hasequipped this airport with a new interna-tional terminal building complex, eightparking stands for the aircraft (totalparking stands on apron increased to 20with old 12 stands), car parking on both

sides and parallel taxiway on ChakaiCanal side. The runway of the airport canhandle operation of aircraft up to B747.Terminal building at this airport can han-dle 685 passengers in the domestic sideand 1600 in the international side.

LAKSHADWEEP ISLANDSThis group of islands has one airportnamely Agatti Airport. It has directflights from Ernakulam (Cochin). Therunway at this airport is suitable for oper-ation of ATR42 aircraft. Parking of onlyone ATR42 aircraft is possible on theapron. The terminal building can handle25 passengers during peak hours.

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Modified terminal building at Hubli airport

Calicut International airport

Trivandrum International airport




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JAMMU AND KASHMIRThe state has three airports that operates atfull strength in tough conditions round theyear. These are Srinagar, Leh and Jammu.Keeping in mind, the sensitive nature of thestate, security is paramount and passengersmoving through these airports undergo acomprehensive and full-proof securityinspection.

Srinagar (CE): Srinagar InternationalAirport is suitable for A320, B767 and B777

operations. The apron can accom-modate four aircraft at a time whilethe terminal can handle up to 930passengers during peak hours: 450international and 480 passengersin domestic. Srinagar airport hasundergone recent modifications:the runway has been improved anda new departure and arrival termi-nal has been constructed. Substan-tial improvement has been made inoperational facilities as well, such

as increase in the number of ILS (Instru-ment Landing System).

Jammu (CE): This is a A320 compliantairport. The apron can accommodate four air-craft at one time. The terminal can handle upto 364 passengers during peak time. Theexpansion of the apron is underway to ensurehandling of more number of aircraft simulta-neously. In addition, the size of the terminalbuilding will also be expanded soon.

Leh (CE): This airport is suitable foroperation of aircraft up to A320s. The ter-minal can handle up to 140 passengers dur-ing peak time. The apron can accommodatetwo aircraft at one time. A terminal build-ing complex is being constructed with a

capacity to accommodate 600 passengers.

HIMACHAL PRADESHThere are three airports operating in thisbeautiful state of India. Tourists who arefond of the lush countryside and the tower-ing Himalayan peaks frequently visit thisstate. There is a large Tibetan community inDharamshala district of Himachal Pradesh.

Shimla: Operation of ATR42 aircraftis possible to this airport. Apron can handleonly one aircraft at one time and terminal issuitable for maximum 72 passengers duringpeak hours. Kingfisher is the only serviceprovider with seven weekly flights to Delhi.Extension of runway is in the pipeline.

Kullu: This airport is suitable for opera-

tion of ATR42 aircraft. Apron can handletwo aircraft at one time and terminal is suit-able for maximum 167 passengers duringpeak hours. Kingfisher and Air India operateten weekly flights to Delhi. Extension of run-way and construction of Air Traffic Control(ATC) tower-cum-Tech Block is on.

Gaggal (Dharamshala): Suitable forATR-72 operations. Terminal is suitable for100 passengers. The completed workincludes extension and strengthening of

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AAI inthe

NorthKEEPING THE SENSITIVE

NATURE OF THE REGION INMIND, SECURITY HAS BEEN

OF PARAMOUNTIMPORTANCE IN JAMMU

AND KASHMIR. IN THEOTHER STATES TOO, AAI

HAS BEEN CONCENTRATINGON BOOSTING

DEVELOPMENT. A BRIEFLOOK AT THE REGION.

Jammu & Kashmir

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Punjab Uttarakhand

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Jammu & KashmirHimachal PradeshPunjabRajasthan Uttar PradeshUttarakhand

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{ACI}runways, construction of aprons and newterminal building along with new fire sta-tion, and, provision of new ground han-dling facilities. Works in progress includeconstruction of a new technical block cumcontrol tower. In addition, AAI has signed aMoU with Himachal Pradesh Governmentto execute the development works at Gaggal airport.

PUNJABThere are three active airports in the stateincluding one with international operations.

Sri Guru Ram Das Jee Internation-al Airport (Amritsar): It is the second-largest international airport in northernregion and is apt for operation of wide-bod-ied aircraft such as A340s or B777s. Its largeapron can accommodate 14 aircraft at onetime. To meet the growing demand, develop-ment works were taken up in phased man-ner during five years from 2005 to 2009.Post this development works , terminal canhandle up to 1600 passengers.

Ludhiana: Ludhiana airport can oper-ate ATR42 aircraft. Apron can handle onlyone aircraft at a time and terminal is suitablefor maximum 50 passengers during peakhours. Kingfisher is the only service providerwith 14 weekly flights to Delhi.

Pathankot: B737 aircraft can land onand take off from this airport. Apron canhandle three aircraft at one time and termi-nal is suitable for maximum 220 passengersduring peak hours.

RAJASTHANThere are four airports in the state of palacesand forts and the magnificent Thar desert.The state is a key part of the golden triangleof Indian tourism, which is represented byDelhi-Jaipur and Agra.

Jaipur: Jaipur international airport canoperate aircraft up to A310s. It is equippedwith large apron that can accommodate upto ten aircraft at one time. There are two ter-minals, which can handle 1120 passengersduring peak hours: 900 in international and224 in domestic. The new international ter-minal building, which started its operationin the year 2009, is a three-level terminalwith curvilinear profile along the city sideentrance. Acquisition of 32 acres of land isbeing planned.

Jaisalmer: Jaisalmer airport is suitablefor operation of aircraft up to A320s. A newterminal building with passenger capacity of390 during peak hours is being constructed.It would also have a parking facility for 150cars. A new apron is also being constructed.

Jodhpur: Operation of aircraft up toA320s can be handled by Jodhpur airport.The terminal can handle up to 215 passengersduring peak time. The apron can accommo-

date three aircraft at one time. It has a fre-quency of 35 flights per week with dailyflights leaving for Delhi, Mumbai andUdaipur.

Udaipur: Udaipur airport can handleoperation of aircraft up to A321s. Terminal issuitable for maximum 676 passengers dur-ing peak hours. After recent expansion,apron can handle seven aircraft at one time.It has daily flights for Delhi, Mumbai, Jodh-pur and Jaipur, and its frequency is 66flights per week.

UTTAR PRADESHThere are seven airports in the state of UttarPradesh.

Agra: Agra airport is apt for operationof aircraft up to A320s. The terminal canhandle up to 270 passengers during peaktime. The apron can accommodate three air-craft at one time.

Allahabad: Operation of aircraft up toA320s can be performed at Allahabad. Theterminal can handle up to 42 passengersduring peak time. The apron can accommo-date two aircraft at one time.

Gorakhpur: Gorakhpur airport is com-petent to handle the operation of aircraft upto A320s. The terminal can handle up to 200passengers. The apron can accommodateonly one aircraft at atime.

Kanpur (Civil): Kanpur civil airportcan handle the operation of aircraft up to C90s. The terminal can manage up to 26 pas-sengers during peak time. The apron canaccommodate only three aircraft at one time.

Lucknow: Aircraft up to A310s can behandled by Lucknow airport. It is equippedwith large apron that can accommodate 26aircraft at one time; new terminal, which isnot operational so far, has an apron of 13 air-craft parking capacity. As soon as the newterminal starts operating, the passengerhandling capacity will increase to 2,385 fromthe 826 passengers.

Varanasi: Aircraft up to A321s can bemanaged at Varanasi airport. Terminal issuitable for maximum 1100 passengers dur-ing peak hours, after recent expansion.Apron can handle 12 aircraft at one time.Several elevators are being created for pas-sengers' convenience.

UTTARAKHANDThere are two airports in the state of Uttarak-hand: Dehradun and Pantnagar. Dehradun: This airport can handle air-craft up to A320s but presently operatingwith ATR-72. The terminal can handle up to233 passengers during peak time. The aproncan accommodate two aircraft at one time. Pantnagar: This airport is suitable for oper-ation of ATR42 aircraft. Apron can handleonly one aircraft .

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DiuThis airport can handle operation of aircraftup to ATR-72-500s. Jet Airways is the onlyairline which operates six weekly flights fromthis airport for the Mumbai via Porbandar.Terminal building at the airport has capacityto accommodate 30 passengers during peakhours. The apron can park two ATR-72-500sat one time.

Goa Runways at Goa International Airport aresuitable for wide-bodied aircraft like A340-600s. Several airlines operate 18 interna-tional flights and 224 domestic flights at thisairport. Apron has big parking space for

accommodating 11 aircraft at one time. Thepresent terminal building has capacity tohouse 778 passengers during peak hours.Construction of new building is going on; itwill be able to accommodate 2000 passen-gers in the domestic side and 480 passengersin the international. The new terminal build-ing also has modern basement parking spacefor 570 cars.

Gujarat There are nine operational airports in thestate of Gujarat.

Ahmedabad: Ahmedabad Internation-al Airport is officially known as Sardar Val-labh Bhai Patel International Airport. Run-

THE WESTERN REGION HAS SEEN SOME OF THE FASTEST FOOTPRINTS AMONGAIRPORTS. A BRIEF ON THE AIRPORTS AUTHORITY'S PLANS FOR THE REGION.

AAI in the West

Madhya Pradesh

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ways at this airport are suitable for wide-bodied aircraft like A340-600s or B747-400s. Two hundred fifty domestic and 48international flights are operated at this air-port by different service providers. The exist-ing apron can park six aircraft at one time;the new under-construction airport, in frontof the under-construction international ter-minal building, will be able to park six moreaircraft. The existing terminal building canaccommodate 1200 passengers in thedomestic side and 700 in the internationalside.

Bhavnagar: Bhavnagar airport canhandle operation of aircraft up to A320s. JetAirways and Kingfisher operate 14 flights forMumbai every week from here. The aproncan park two aircraft at one time, and theterminal building can house 110 passengersduring peak hours.

Bhuj: This is a civil enclave airport. Theoperation of aircraft up to A320s is possibleat this airport. Jet Airways and Kingfisheroperate 14 flights for Mumbai every weekfrom here. The apron can park two B737-800 aircraft at one time, and the terminalbuilding can house 350 passengers duringpeak hours.

Jamnagar: This is also a civil enclaveairport. The operation of aircraft up toA320s is possible at this airport. Air Indiaoperates seven flights for Mumbai everyweek from here. The apron can park twoB737-700 aircraft at one time, and the termi-nal building can house 150 passengers dur-ing peak hours. It has a car parking space for60 cars. Extension of apron and expansion ofterminal building are being planned.

Kandla: This airport can handle opera-tion of aircraft up to ATR-72s. Kingfisheroperates seven flights for Mumbai everyweek from here. The apron can park twoATR-72 aircraft at one time, and the termi-nal building can house 81 passengers duringpeak hours. Extension of runway for opera-tion of A320 aircraft and construction of new

terminal building complex are in the plan-ning stage.

Porbandar: The runways can handleoperation of aircraft up to ATR72-500s. JetAirways operates six flights for Mumbaievery week from here. Apron can park twoATR72-500 aircraft at one time. The termi-nal building is suitable for 318 passengersduring peak hours. The tender for new airtraffic control tower-cum-technical block hasbeen released.

Rajkot: This airport is suitable for oper-ation of aircraft up to A320s. Jet Airwaysand Air India operate 20 flights for Mumbaievery week from here. The apron can parkone B737-400 and one ATR72 at one time.The terminal building can accommodate 140passengers during peak hours. Planning fora new terminal complex, to house 400 pas-sengers during peak hours, is going on.

Surat: Even called Dumas Airport, it issuitable for operation of aircraft up toA320s. Alliance Air operates six flights everyweek from here for the destination: Delhi.The apron can park one B737-400 and oneATR72 at one time. The terminal buildingcan accommodate 140 passengers duringpeak hours. Planning for a new terminalcomplex, to house 400 passengers duringpeak hours, is going on.

Vadodara: This airport is suitable foroperation of aircraft up to A320s. Severalairlines operate 49 flights for Mumbai andDelhi every week from here. The apron canpark six A320s and one ATR72 at one time.The terminal building can accommodate 330passengers in old side and 720 passengers inthe integrated side, which has just started itsoperation. Parking space for 200 cars isavailable here.

MADHYA PRADESH There are five airports in the state of MadhyaPradesh.

Bhopal: It is officially known as RajaBhoj Airport. The runway of this airport is

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{ACI}suitable for operation ofaircraft up to A321s. The frequency of this air-port is 36 flights a week.The old apron can parkthree B737-800s and oneATR72 at one time. The recently constructedapron can park 10 B737-800s or A321s. The newterminal building can

accommodate 700 passengers duringpeak hours.

Indore: Official name of this airport isDevi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport. The runway

of this airport is suitablefor operation of aircraft upto A321s. The frequency ofthis airport is 161depar-tures a week. The oldapron can park threeB738s and one ATR72-500at one time. The recentlyconstructed apron canpark four A321s and fourATR72-500s. The old ter-minal building can accom-

modate 340 passengers and new integratedbuilding can house 750 passengers duringpeak hours. It has a parking space for 260cars and six buses.

Jabalpur: This airport is suitable foroperation of aircraft up to A320s. There are11 weekly departures operated from here forthe destinations: Delhi and Gwalior. Theparking space is sufficient to house twoATR-72-500s at one time. The terminalbuilding can accommodate 175 passengersduring peak hours. Expansion of apron isgoing on at the cost of `five crore.

Khajuraho: Suitable for operation ofA320 aircraft. Terminal suitable for 150 pas-

sengers. Aprons suitablefor two B737 aircraft. Thecompleted works are:strengthening and expan-sion of runway and con-struction of aprons. Worksunderway includes: con-struction of new terminalbuilding complex, includ-ing car parking, isolationbay and DVOR building.

Works planned: Installation of Cat 1approach lighting system on runway 19 side.

Gwalior: Suitable for A320 operations.Terminal can handle 200 passengers at atime. The apron is suitable for parking twoB737 at a time. Navigational aids includenon-directional beacon, Doppler VOR(DVOR), instrument landing system anddistance measuring equipment. The com-pleted works are: refurbishing of terminalbuilding. Works planned: shifting of DVOR.

MAHARASHTRAThere are eleven airports in the state ofMaharashtra.

Akola: This airport is suitable foroperation of aircraft up to ATR-42-320s.The apron has parking space for three air-craft: two ATR72 and one C90. Terminalbuilding can house 25 passengers duringpeak hours. The ongoing work is modifi-cation of existing terminal building. Con-struction of new terminal building, con-trol tower cum technical block, fire stationand workshop, and extension of runwayare in planning stage.

Aurangabad: Forty-two weeklydepartures are operated by different serv-ice providers from Aurangabad Airport todifferent destinations: Delhi and Mumbai.The runways can handle operation of air-craft up to ATR42-320s. The new terminalbuilding is capable of housing 800 pas-

sengers and old one has the peak hourcapacity of 200 passengers. Apron hasparking space for seven aircraft at a time.

Gondia: This airport has no sched-uled operations. Runways at this airportare suitable for operation of aircraft up toA320s. Apron has space for parking sevenaircraft at one time.

The other airports in Maharash-tra are as follows:Mumbai International Airportunder PPP mode with MumbaiInternational Airport Ltd (see page64 to 73), Kolhapur (leased for 15years by State Government[SG] toAAI), Latur (leased by SG toReliance Airport Developers),Mumbai Juhu - Historic old airportof the city under improvement andexpansion with AAI, Nagpur - theAAI airport under agreement withMIPL, Nanded - SG to Reliance Air-port Developers, Sholapur - leasedfor 15 years by AAI from SG andPune - Pune’s Lohegaon airport isan IAF airport with Civil Enclaveoperated by AAI.

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Bhopal airport

Indore airport

Artistic impression ofKhajuraho airport

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The implementation of the GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Naviga-tion (GAGAN) project by theAirports Authority of India

(AAI) and Indian Space ResearchOrganisation (ISRO) for seamless nav-igation over Indian airspace is on.Once completed, India will be thefourth country in the world to have asatellite-based navigation system.

GAGAN’s ground elements arebeing deployed and integrated to haveit certified by the Directorate Generalof Civil Aviation, for its operation overIndian Flight Information Region(FIR). The system has in-built expan-sion capabilities to operate over neigh-bouring FIRs. The GAGAN system willprovide corrections to the GPS signalto meet the accuracy, integrity, avail-ability and continuity requirementsprescribed for aviation.

GAGAN will provide a civil aero-nautical navigation signal consistentwith International Civil AviationOrganisation (ICAO) Standards andRecommended Practices (SARPs) asestablished by the Global NavigationSatellite System Panel (GNSSP). Inaddition, GAGAN has established thecapability of meeting ICAO-SARPSrequirements through its TechnologyDemonstration System (TDS) Phase.India has embarked on a four-year pro-gramme called Final OperationalPhase (FOP) ending June 2013 to pro-vide GAGAN SBAS services over Indi-an airspace.

Benefits of GAGANAAI is on the threshold of redefiningnavigation from the present "land-based" to the "satellite-based" system.The facility will provide tangible benefitsto the civil aviation and the non-civil avi-ation sectors. For the aviation sector, it will usher in:

Improved efficiency/economyDirect routesIncreased fuel savingApproach with vertical guidance toall runways not equipped earlierReduced workload of flight crew andAir Traffic ControllersImproved capacity through reducedaircraft separationHigher accuracy, global coverageImproved safetyReduce the risk of controlled flightinto terrain [CFIT]Enhanced air-to-air surveillanceAvailability of MSAW facility (Mini-mum Safe Altitude Warning)Reduced noise pollution footprintEase of search and rescue operations

Even the non-civil aviation sectors willbe benefited:

Passenger and freight managementin railwaysMaritime applicationsImproved surveying and cartographyScientific researchGeo dynamicsNatural resource and land manage-mentBusiness solutions



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GAGANto helpAAI leapaheadWORK ON THE GPS-AIDEDGEO AUGMENTEDNAVIGATION (GAGAN)PROJECT IS ON AND BYTHE MIDDLE OF 2013WHEN THE GEO SATELLITEIS LAUNCHED BY ISRO, ITWOULD PROVIDE THEAVAILABILITY OF GAGANSIGNALS IN SPACE. SIMPLYPUT, THESE SIGNALSWOULD PROVIDE ACERTIFIED NEAR-PRECISION APPROACHSERVICE AT ALL AIRPORTS.

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Agricultural aerial spraying Vehicle trackingSearch and rescue

Configuration of the GAGANsystemThe GAGAN system archi-tecture (see chart) involvesthe establishment of:

Ground-based ele-ments: Comprising IndianReference Station (INRES)with 15 of them spread overthe entire Indian subconti-nent to collect measurementdata and broadcast mes-sages from all GPS and GEOsatellites in view and for-ward to Indian Master Con-trol Centre (INMCC).

Indian MasterControl Centre (INMCC):Installed and operating at Bengaluruconsists of computer systems to imple-ment algorithms for computing correc-tions and integrity information for visi-ble GPS satellites, ionospheric correc-tions and integrity information at identi-fied grid points. The software is certifiedfor safety of life applications.

Indian Navigation LandUplink Station (INLUS): There are threeof them which receive messages from theIndian Master Control Centre, formatthose messages for GPS compatibilityand transmits them to the GEO satellitesfor broadcast to user platforms.

Space-based segment: Comprisingnavigation payload on board IndianSatellites GSAT- 8 and GSAT-10 that usethe bend pipe transponder with uplink

in C- Band, downlinks in L1 frequencies.

Current status of GAGANThe technology demonstration phase ofthe project, aimed to underline the con-cept of SBAS over Indian airspace was

successfully completed in August 2007. As a part of final operation

phase (FOP), the installation and siteacceptance test (SAT) of 15 INRES siteshave been completed at Delhi, Ahmed-abad, Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram,Kolkata, Guwahati, Port Blair, Jammu, Jaisalmer, Nagpur, Dibrugarh,Bhubaneswar, Porbandar, Goa and Gaya.

The SAT of two INMCCs and twoINLUS sites have also been completed atBengaluru. A total of 14 INRES have beenlinked through Optical Fiber Cable (OFC)to INMCC and one station (Port Blair) hasbeen linked through DSCN to INMCCBengaluru. Data received from all the sta-tions are being recorded at INMCC, Ben-galuru. Infrastructure for providingstandby connectivity through AAI V-sat

/ DSCN from all INRES to INMCC is inprogress, which was completed by theend of February 2010. Presently, fiveINRES are connected through DSCNcircuits while five stations have beenalready connected through AAI DSCNcircuits.ISRO/AAI has developed aregion-specific ionosphere model calledISRO GIVE Model - Multi Layer DataFusion (IGM-MLDF) for GAGAN sincea single shell ionosphere model fallsapart when the ionosphere exhibits sud-den changes in electron content as is thecase over the equatorial region. IGM-MLDF models are associated withuncertainties to protect a GAGAN userfrom ionosphere abnormalities. Anoth-er important feature of this algorithm isthat it does not require any changes inthe user-message structure, resulting inease of GAGAN message usage by all .

PSATGAGAN system’s PSAT (PreliminarySystem Acceptance Test) was conductedsuccessfully on December 9 and 10,2010. Extensive tests were carried out .The PSAT Task Team comprised offi-cials from Raytheon and from

AAI/ISRO.

Post-PSAT activitiesA system regression testusing the PSAT procedurewill be conducted after avail-ability of the following:

Second communication cir-cuits’ establishment Delhi INLUS installation

and SAT completion INRES site which was not

included in PSAT DCSS expansion cabinets

installation and SAT com-pletion

Second SMSS integrated in bothcircuits

Delivery of WAAS 8/9.2 build andfurther software builds

TDS spares and maintenance

GAGAN certification activityCertification process by DGCA hascommenced simultaneously .

Task aheadThe GEO’s launching by ISRO wouldherald the availability of GAGAN signalsin space followed by extensive HMIanalysis and Flight Test to establish andprovide a certified s approach service atall airports and RNP 0.1 service for theentire Indian airspace. The target datefor completion is June 29, 2013.

AA

ISP

EC

IA

L FE

AT

UR

E

GAGAN PSAT Task Team with Raytheon Team

GAGAN System Architecture

INRE S-15

INMCC # 1(BG)

INMCC # 2(DD)

INLUS # S(DD)

INLUS # 2INLUS # 1127(BG)

INRE S-2 INRE S-2

SIS withPRN 123

GSAT-3

GPS 1 to 24

SIS withPNR 127 Orbital

Spara

DATA COMMIUNICATION NETWORK @2 Mbps / 128 Kbps

DATA COMMIUNICATION NETWORK @ 128 Kbps (OFC &V Sat Dual Link)

GSAT -#

GSAT -10

Gagan.qxd 4/4/2011 4:13 PM Page 4



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It’s a brilliant view and Kiran KumarGrandhi often gazes wistfully fromhis corner office on the third floor ofNew Udaan Bhawan at the magnifi-

cent T3, that’s just been completed, a fewhundred metres across the road. Just ashe is about to say some-thing, he goes back to hischaracteristic, unstatedlow profile. But you cansense the excitement inhis voice as he breaks intostaccato Telegu on hisBlackberry, English onthe intercom and tellsyou that it’s been a longday.

Actually, three longeventful years. He tookover as Chairman of thegargantuan GMR group’sairport business just around the time theconstruction of the T3 was beginning andsince then it’s been like a yo-yo: Hyder-abad-Delhi-Hyderabad-Bengaluru(where the group is headquartered)-Del-hi. And, eventful in more ways than one.His second son was born during this time,Turkey’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport (thatGMR runs in partnership with that coun-

try’s Limak group) was commissioned ina record 18 months and now as T3 is ded-icated to the nation comes the news thatMale airport is in the bag.

Many believe they are rushing toosoon and too fast. But insiders believe

that patriarch 61-year-oldGrandhi Mallikarjun Raois making up for lost time.What began almost 30years ago as a single jutemill in the village of Rajamis now an infrastructuregiant with interests in pow-er, roads highways and air-ports. Along the way, theydabbled in banks, insur-ance and breweries, butthat’s all behind them withthe brewery being the lastto go to Vijay Mallya and

UB, whose airline, Kingfisher, is one ofthe big birds in the Indian aviation sky.“Our journey to today’s GMR happenedjust accidentally. Whatever opportunitycame up, we took it,” Rao does not tire ofsaying time and again, but he concedesthat the Delhi airport project is in themake-or-break mould. It will catapultthem into a different orbit and he is

IN THE NINE MONTHS SINCE WE DID THIS COVER STORY ON DELHI’S ICONICT3 TERMINAL AT DELHI’S INDIRA GANDHI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, IT HASGONE FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH. THE A380 HAS BEEN AT THE AIRPORT,AIR INDIA HAS NOW MADE THE TERMINAL ITS PRIMARY HUB AND THEPROMOTERS, GMR-DIAL, WANT TO MAKE T3 CHANGI OR DUBAI. WE ARERECAPITULATING THE STORY AS IT WAS PLAYED AT ITS INAUGURATION ANDTHE DEVELOPMENTS SINCE THEN HAVE BEEN ENCAPSULATED IN BOXES ASYOU GO ALONG THIS ENGROSSING STORY.

The vision creators

AESTHETICALLY DESIGNED: Well laid-out murals and artwork at T3 catches the passengers’attention instantly.




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conscious of the weight of expectations.“We have set high benchmarks and Iknow big things are expected of GMR-DIAL (Delhi International Airport Ltd —the consortium that will operate the Indi-ra Gandhi International Airport).”

It’s a dream that the close lieutenantand CEO (Airport Development), DIAL,Indana Prabhakara Rao has diligentlyexecuted these past three-and-a-halfyears.

A GMR veteran who has spent a life-time executing big ticket power projects,Rao, who was an Executive Assistant tothe Chairman some ten years back, wassecond for the group’s biggest projectbecause of his fearsome reputation forgetting things done on time. No wonderthe terminal has been completed in 37months (Singapore’s Changi Airport’s T3took 76 months and Heathrow’s new Ter-minal 5 took 60 months). He laughs whenyou ask him if his core team used to meetdaily to map strategy: “We had daily sun-rise meetings and sunset meetings of allkey personnel to take stock of the

NO WONDER T3 HASBEEN COMPLETED IN37 MONTHS(SINGAPORE’SCHANGI AIRPORT’S T3TOOK 76 MONTHSAND HEATHROW’SNEW TERMINAL 5TOOK 60 MONTHS).

RETAIL SUCCESSA total of 40,000-square-metres ofcommercial space includes 4,000-square-metres of a walkthrough dutyfree area, 800-square-metres of luxu-ry retail, 6,300-square-metres of spe-ciality retail, 5,500-square-metres ofmass and premium F&B, a gameszone, a spa and a transit hotel.

The vision is to explore the futureof retail excitement and retail devel-opment in travel retail. In T3, youhave a very interesting combination.You have a completely different targetaudience, which you don’t see at otherairports. If you look at international,you have the business traveller andyou have the international worker(blue collar). At the same time, youhave the domestic traveller with thekind of spending power that is growingvery fast-but with an Indian mentalitywhere value for money is still the mostimportant thing. This is a real differ-ent type of passenger because in travelretail, everything is about impulse andimpulse is not always value for money.And in India you have to target anaudience with impulse in combinationwith the value for money.

The retail space at T3 will finallystock some 20,000 kinds of productsand nearly 1,000 brands. It will havestores by fashion and jewellery com-panies such as Versace Group, Marksand Spencer Group Plc, WH Smith Plcand Swarovski Group. The airportoperator expects sales at T3 to bearound ̀ 1,000 crore in the first year ofoperations and to treble over the nextthree years. A passenger currentlyspends less than $3 (`138) on an aver-age while shopping at Indian airports,according to retail industry estimates.The global average is $15.

In the last nine months of opera-tions, it has been observed that liquor,perfume and cosmetics, and choco-lates are the highest selling items atthe departure and arrival duty freeshops. Traditionally, too, these aremostly the highest selling items in aduty-free environment, though theratio of sales within these varies fromcountry to country. Several airportsacross the world also have electronicsas a major category. The latest trendin duty-free retailing is the inclusionof the fashion and luxury retail catego-ry.The Delhi Duty Free has plenty ofthat, but is expanding on this frontas well.

QUALITY SERVICE:The check-in counters at Delhi Airport provides hassle-free service to the passengers.




{ACI}progress. That was the only way forward.”There is a childlike enthusiasm in themanner in which Rao outlines the projectand how they went about executing it:“We had nearly 200 contractors and sub-contractors to deal with. We had to teachthem best practices and if they had aproblem we intervened to help resolve it.With over 30,000 workers, it was like amini Bharat and we had to look afterthem.” There is a 12-bed hospital on thesite and the group organised a weeklymela for the workers to get their shoppingdone. “The only thing we didn’t have wasa school since there were no families onthe site.”

It’s an enthusiasm that’s shared by MP Naidu, Larsen and Toubro (L&T)’s manon the spot. This is the single-biggest con-tract in the L&T portfolio with a value ofclose to `8,000 crore. They are the oldGMR hands having also done the Green-field Hyderabad project. That apart, theyare involved with Mumbai airport’s reno-vation and own a piece of the action atBengaluru. But Naidu believes, the Delhiproject takes the cake for the ‘uniquemanner’ in which it has been structured.“Both the design and the constructionwent on side-by-side. Usually it takesclose to two years for the design to befrozen. But in this case once the basic con-cept was frozen, the construction and thedesign happened simultaneously.”

To help iron out issues, they had anexecutive committee meeting that includ-ed G M Rao, Kiran Grandhi, S M Naik aswell as Naidu and Prabhakara Rao. “Ifthere were differences in perception, thiscommittee usually gave a direction oneway or the other to proceed ahead. It

helped smooth things greatly,” saidNaidu who was categorical that the 37-month deadline could never have beenmet but for the almost complete syncbetween the two teams in their objective.L&T had over 250 design engineers onthe site for most times of the project andover 30 expats were closely involved dur-ing the brick-and-mortar stage till theproject was ready for the interiors.

While the expats arrived in droves toset up base at Udaan Bhawan, GMR andDIAL had their best and brightest travelthe world and come back with a perspec-tive and how it could be tweaked it tomake it the best. So, there was plenty tolearn from Incheon, Suvarnabhumi,Heathrow, Madrid, Frankfurt, Dubai andHong Kong. They wanted the elegance ofChangi, the smoothness of Incheon, thebuzz of Hong Kong and the business-likeprofessionalism of Barcelona.

To achieve this incredible mix, DIALhired global consultants across the board.Designed by Mott MacDonald (their aviation division provided the master-plan, concept and preliminary designs aswell as environmental impact manage-

ment, traffic forecasting and tender assistance) and HOK architects and con-sultants (this terminal will more thandouble the airport’s passenger capacity).

The team also designed 1.3 millionsquare feet (120,000 square metres) ofrenovation projects to refurbish andextend existing terminals) and is beingconstructed by Larsen and Toubro (L&T),Meinhardt Engineering and Airbiz ofAustralia (an independent international

DIAL HAD THEIR BESTAND BRIGHTESTTRAVEL THE WORLDAND COME BACKWITH A PERSPECTIVEAND HOW IT COULDBE TWEAKED TOMAKE IT THE BEST.

Delhi Metro’s AirportExpress Corridor, whichtakes passengers fromConnaught Place to theInternational Airport in18 minutes, is slowlybecoming popular amongDelhiites .The 23 kmhigh-speed link whichwas opened to the publicin February end helpsPassengers travel to IGIAirport from New Delhiat a cost of Rs 80 in 18minutes with one stop in betweeninitially. Currently, the corridorhas a 16-hour run from 6 AM to10 PM, which is likely to go up to20 hours soon.

Trials of the baggage check-infacility on the Airport MetroExpress Line are in the process ofstarting in view of the launch ofthe facility on May 1. Representa-

tives of Reliance Infra-structure and DelhiInternational AirportLimited (DIAL) willcarry out the mockcheck-in process, dur-ing which boardingpasses will be issuedand baggage checkedin at the Metro sta-tions of New Delhi andShivaji Stadium. Pas-sengers who getboarding passes and

check in their baggage at threeCity Airport Terminals - New Del-hi, Shivaji Stadium and DhaulaKuan - will not have to pay any-thing extra for the facility.

BEIJING APPRECIATIONWith just nine months left for thecompletion of the new terminal,Delhi International Airport Limit-ed (DIAL) invited delegates of Beijing Capital International Air-port (BCIA) to inspect ongoingconstruction at the Delhi airport.‘’After our two-day inspection, weare happy with the progress DIALhas made,” said Chen Guoxing,commander of BCIA, who led theteam for construction of the Bei-jing airport for the 2008 Olympics.“The challenge DIAL faces is similar to the problems we facedbefore the Olympics, which is ofmassive construction in a shorttime. However, after inspection ofthe designs of baggage handlingand IT systems, we do not findanything lacking. The systemacquired by DIAL is passengerfriendly. Moreover, we find thetechniques they have used to bemore scientific than the one weused,” Guoxing said.

AIRPORT EXPRESS A HIT



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specialist aviation consultancy) with project management by Parsons Brinck-erhoff International Inc (which providesstrategic consulting, planning, engineer-ing, and programme and constructionmanagement services).

DIAL has engaged Munich AirportInternational (MUC), the experts in Oper-ational Readiness and Airport Transfer(ORAT). If anyone visits the T3 thesedays, one can see the ORAT in full swing:bags being dispatched, check-ins arebeing effected, passengers being movedthrough security. A complete dry run, dayin and day out for over three months!

Or, take Wipro, which is responsiblefor complete IT management in T3 andwill deliver seamless and highly availableairport IT operations. The scope includesairport-specific applications, data centre,networks, security and surveillance sys-tems and end-user systems. Additionally,Wipro will be responsible for managing ahost of intelligent systems, includingbuilding management systems, access

control, public address and telephony.For passengers, this engagement willdeliver superior customer experience; forairlines, it will deliver fast efficient sys-tems which enable quicker turnaroundtimes.

But it’s not been an easy haul. Theoriginal project cost was around `8,975crore. But estimates say that the projectwill now cost around `12,700 crore, up 41per cent over the earlier estimated cost.DIAL expected that it would be able to

WIPRO, WHICH ISRESPONSIBLE FORCOMPLETE ITMANAGEMENT IN T3AND WILL DELIVERSEAMLESS ANDHIGHLY AVAILABLEAIRPORT ITOPERATIONS.

DubaiInternational Airport

Terminal 3

1,500,000 m²

THE TOP 10 >>

BeijingCapital International

Terminal 3

986,000 m²

Hong KongInternational Airport

Terminal 3

570,000 m²

BangkokSuvarnabhumi Airport

563,000 m²

MexicoCity International Airport

Terminal 1

548,000 m²

TOP AWARDThe Indira Gandhi InternationalAirport Terminal 3 bagged theBritish Construction IndustryAward (BCIA) for the Best Interna-tional Project at a gala award cere-mony held at the Grosvenor HouseHotel in London on October 14,2010. The competition was toughwith 180 international projects com-peting for the coveted and the mostrigorously judged awards but thechoice was unanimous. The eventwas witnessed by over 900 atten-dees. Speaking on the occasion afterreceiving the award, I PrabhakaraRao, Chief Executive Officer- Air-port Development of Delhi Interna-tional Airport Limited (DIAL), said,“The award validates the diligentand transparent approach adoptedby DIAL. It’s a proud moment for allof us at GMR and DIAL. Our T3project has now become well-knownamong the British industry.”

A good airport wouldsignal a new India,committed to join theranks of modernindustrialised nations.The UPA governmenthad launched a

modernisation and capacity expansionprogramme for major airports some yearsago, Delhi’s new airport proves thesuccess of public-private partnershipmodel in execution of large infrastructureprojects. This airport terminal establishesnew global benchmarks. It alsoexemplifies our country’s resolve tobridge and bridge fast enough theinfrastructure deficit in our country

MANMOHAN SINGH,Prime Minister

Quality is notsomething to bereserved forprestigious projectsbut should becomepart and parcel of ourdesign process for all

our public projects including housing,schools, hospitals and other services.Providing rural and urban infrastructureefficiently and at the same timeachieving high standards must remainour goal. I am happy that the newterminal is not only based on greenprinciples but was also easilyaccessible to the aged and physicallychallenged persons.

SONIA GANDHI,UPA Chairperson

The GMR groupis committed toplay a leadingrole in thedevelopment ofworld classinfrastructure in

the country. The new Terminal 3 ofthe IGI airport at Delhi symbolizesthe aspirations of a new andvibrant India. It demonstrates theabilities of our planners,designers, engineers andcontractors. And as an engine forgrowth, it opens immensepossibilities for the economicdevelopment of this region.

GM RAO,Chairman, GMR Group





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raise over `2,500 crore as refundablesecurity deposits from real estate andhotel companies that bid for the project inthe hospitality sector of the airport. Butthere was a huge controversy surroundingthe effort to raise the deposits and by thetime the issue was resolved, the red-hotsector had gone into a deep slump.Instead of `2,500 crore, DIAL managedto raise `900 crore. Add to that an overallnationwide fall of around five per cent indomestic traffic and DIAL’s revenueswere affected. Projects like additionaltaxiways and so on had also escalated theproject costs.

AAI projections had visualised a 20million traffic flow by 2012, but who hadreckoned with a 20 per cent year-on-yeargrowth for a straight three years? Theestimate was later revised by Mott

BarcelonaAirport

Terminal 1

544,066 m²

DubaiInternational Airport

Terminal 1

515,000 m²

DelhiIGI AirportTerminal 3

502,000 m²

SeoulIncheon International

Airport

496,000 m²

MadridBarajas Airport

Terminal 4 main building

470,000 m²

CONSERVING WATERTo help conserve water and alsomeet the requirements at T3 DIALhas taken a deeper plunge into waterharvesting. The count of water har-vesting structures at the Delhi Air-port has been increased from 50 in2008 to a total of 300 at present. Toharvest more rainwater and developwater sustainability at IGI Airport,DIAL has installed more than 300rainwater harvesting wells. Thishelps improve water resources at theairport as well as the neighbour-hood, and reduces the level of watersalinity and pumping energy.

The harvesting wells are regular-ly cleaned and maintained toimprove the water percolation rate.The basic premise of this design is torecharge groundwater by allowingthe run-off water from both thepaved and unpaved areas torecharge aquifers through rainwaterharvesting structures.

CONSTRUCTION TIME AIRPORT CAPACITY TIMEChangi Airport - Singapore (T3) 22 Million 76 months Heathrow T5 - London, UK 25 Million 60 months Beijing Airport terminal T3 45 Million 60 months IGI Airport - T3, New Delhi, India 34 Million 37 months

The inauguration of T3in Delhi is a verysatisfying moment forall of us at DIAL. A greatairport not only hasmodern equipment and

facilities, but also a high level ofservice quality. With the combinedteamwork of all our partners and thesupport of the State and CentralGovernment, we have been able todeliver a world class Terminal for thecitizens of India. DIAL is taking everystep to ensure that the passengers’experience at T3 and IGIA as a wholeis a smooth one and for that we areimparting extensive training to our staff.

KIRAN GRANDHI,Managing Director - DIAL and Chairman -GMR Airports

INNOVATIVE APPLICATION: Modern technology has been put to use for check-in process and baggage retrieval at T3.




{ACI}MacDonald to close to 38 million. Whatthat meant was some more time at thedrawing board and a terminal that wouldnow be close to double the originalplanned 2,50,000 sq metres.

At present, DIAL has a revenue break-up of roughly 60:40 from aeronauticaland non-aeronautical sources. Globally,the non-aero revenue is generally 45-60per cent of any airport’s revenue — thisretail and commercial revenue is used tosubsidise the airside operations thatinclude landing and parking fees from air-lines. Perhaps, DIAL’s greatest advantageis the huge land bank at Delhi airport. Thegeneral assessment is that this is the cashcow that will really steamroll the project

5.4million sq ft area where theterminal is spread

34million passengers per annumcapacity

9level terminal building and 2 piers1.2km long each

78passenger boarding bridges

97automatic walkways alongwith 63elevators and 34 escalators

118metre longest walkway inside T3

6,400metre of conveyor belt capacitatedto handle 12,800 bags per hour

5level In-line Baggage HandlingSystem

6.7million sq ft of apron area

300metre-long “meet-and-greet” areaat the entrance

168check-in counters

95immigration counters forinternational passengers

20common use passenger processingsystem (CUPPS) counters

60room transit hotel for passengers

20,000sq m of retail area offering duty-free stores

8lane approach road to terminal

4,300cars can be parked at multi-levelcar parking

800Flight Information Display Systems

3,000security cameras monitoring everycorner of the airport premises

28screens to display informationinputs through live camera feeds

T3 FACTS

BUSTLING HOSPITALITY SECTORA vast empty stretch of land off theNH-8 flyover, about a kilometreaway from T3 is bustling with dou-ble-shift construction activity.Amidst the concrete and rubble,labourers sweat to give shape towhat is dubbed as one of thebiggest hospitality districts inIndia.

The 45-acre land (of the total90 acre land) allotted by the DelhiInternational Airport (DIAL)through competitive bids in April2010 - for “strictly aviation-relatedcommercial businesses” — is beingdeveloped by GMR. Bharti Realtyhas grabbed three plum plots fordevelopment of commercial (retail)space. The upcoming district willalso be home to eight hospitalitymajors — Accor, Marriott (withAsian West Hotels), Dusit Thani(with the Bird group), S P JainHotels, Lemon Tree Hotels, Inter-continental Hotels, MGM andHyatt. They will bring in 11 newhotel properties over the next fiveyears, bringing about 4,500 roomsto the National Capital Region(NCR), say industry estimates.

What does 4,500 additionalrooms mean for the hotel businessin the NCR? The cheery part is thatthere is massive under-supply ofrooms and we are in dire need ofvalue accommodation. The supplyof a few thousand rooms will putpressure on both occupancy androom-rentals. That means reducedrates and a smile on the customer’sface.




{ACI}in the years ahead with non-aeronauticalturnover as high as 70 per cent of all rev-enue. Of this, 46 per cent (gross) has to goto AAI which is a stakeholder with a 26per cent shareholding in DIAL.

They have now applied for an exten-sion of airport development fee (ADF) by12 months. It was allowed to collect anestimated `1,827 crore for around 36months.

Observers have in the last three yearsviewed GMR’s ability to tweak the systemto do its bidding as one of its greatestassets. But insiders say that is unfair andthat they have literally worked their solesoff in lobbying with the government and“convincing them about every issue thatwe have raised over the years”. It was achore that was handled by Subbah Rao inthe early days (he has now moved to thepower and urban infrastructure divisionheaded by Srinivas Bomidilla) and it isnow Narayan Rao who handles that job.As Director (External Relations), Rao isliterally the group’s minister for externalaffairs in the capital!

On any afternoon, you can spot him inthe corridors of the Ministry of Civil Avia-tion at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan or at the AAIor at the Delhi State Secretariat or in thelabyrinthine corridors of North or SouthBlock. “Perhaps, more secretaries knowhim than they know anyone else in the

group,” said one insider. His crowningmoment of glory came last month whenover 40 secretaries visited the airportalong with the Cabinet Secretary for afinal meeting of the NFC (National Facili-tation Committee) — and gave a thumbs-up to the airport.

But the setting-up of the NFC itselfwas reflective of the drive and zeal thatthe then Civil Aviation Minister PrafulPatel exhibited in the first five years of histenure. He literally talked the Prime Min-ister into creating this committee of super

What has been the responseabout T3 in the nine monthssince it was opened to the pub-lic?The responses have been overwhelming; passengers areappreciating the world-class experi-ence and services at T3. The samereflects in our ACI-ASQ ranking.Delhi Airport stands fourth in thecategory of 25 - 40 mn with an ASQscore of 4.49 amongst the globally-renowned airports.

One or two principal issues thatthe travelling public have beencomplaining about in this ter-minal are the long distancesthat they have to walk. How areyou resolving that issue?For the convenience of the passengerthere are 92 Walkalators in Termi-

nal3. Also for persons with reducedmobility, senior citizens and moth-ers with young children there areoptions of using the buggy services.

The retail and duty free at Del-hi airport have been a huge suc-cess although there has beensome feedback that the priceswere high. Could you elaboratethe reasons?Retail and duty free at IGIA offersome of the best global brands intheir respective categories like Boggi, Da Milano, Bijou Blanc,Marks & Spencer, Mango, Versace,Remy Martin, Lancome, Parcos,Chivas, etc. Prices of all our offer-ings are benchmarked with all otherworld class airports. We have theproduct offerings catering to all levels of income groups. IGIA is

OBSERVERS HAVEIN THE LAST THREEYEARS VIEWEDGMR’S ABILITY TOTWEAK THESYSTEM TO DO ITSBIDDING AS ONEOF ITS GREATESTASSETS.

“Passengers are appreciating T3”I PRABHAKAR RAO, CEO, DIAL, ON THE NEW TERMINAL AND FUTURE PLANS

SHOPPING SPREE: Duty free shops at DIAL has been shoppers’ delight attributing to large pres-ence of international brands.


secretaries to streamline the constructionof the airport at a fast clip and clear thebottlenecks along the way. One majorachievement was to get the village of Nan-gal Dewat cleared. At another level, it tooksome persuasion to get several templesmoved to one omnibus site that is visibleas one moves on the Gurgaon highwaywith Runway 28 in the horizon. NarayanRao is sanguine: “We want to give aworld-class product to Delhi. We had todo it in three years. Without the supportof the government, this would have been

THE PARENTCOMPANY,GMRINFRA IS SETTINGUP A 420MWPOWER PLANT OFITS OWN TO MEETTHE ENERGYNEEDS OFTERMINAL 3.



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amongst the most competitive air-ports on this account. We are con-stantly benchmarking our Duty Freeprices with the best airports andensure great price offerings to con-sumers. Additionally, there is always5-15 different product promotionrunning on various product cate-gories.

The Government’s ground han-dling policy has now beencleared by the High Court. Youalready have a JV with Celebiand what are your plans for T3?As per new policy, ground handlingservices can be provided by fourplayers only. DIAL has already iden-tified four ground handlers who willprovide the services once the policyis implemented.

You have set up one of the mostsophisticated and complexAOCC in the country at Delhiairport. How useful has thisbeen with respect to opera-tions?

The Airport Operation Control Cen-tre (AOCC) is the nerve centre ofIndira Gandhi International Airport,responsible for monitoring, coordi-nating and managing day-to-dayoperations of the airport. AOCC atIGIA is a state-of-the- art establish-ment with automated real timeinformation on all aircraft and ter-minal facilities. It is the one-stopcentre for stakeholders who requireassistance to report and resolveissues encountered in day to dayoperations at the airport. AOCC’sprimary task is to facilitate and sup-port On Time Performance (OTP) offlights. One of the key functions ofAOCC is also to provide initialresponse during any emergency orunusual situation.

Now that Delhi airport is at thetop of the list of all the airportsin the country, are there plansfor the airport to become a car-go hub for Asia? Others arestealing a march over us.DIAL has recognised the need for an

Indian cargo hub and has alreadyinitiated its efforts to establish DelhiAirport as the cargo gateway ofIndia. A cargo hub is primarily dis-tinguished by the infrastructure,connectivity and efficient opera-tional processes. Delhi Airport,already in the process of developingworld class infrastructure will nowhave the first layer of cargo termi-nals, on-airport cargo village withsecond and third layers of for-warders and logistics facilities. Delhiairport is also working on other ini-tiatives like setting up community-based IT systems with integrated ITplatform providing single windowclearance, paperless transactionsand reduction in errors and process-ing time, simplification of opera-tional processes for better customerexperience, increasing airside capac-ity, etc. at par with internationalstandards and practices. Efforts arealso on to anchor more airlines, con-tributing towards cargo growth. Cur-rently, approximately 70 per cent ofour freight moves as belly cargo.

STRONG FOUNDATION: G M Rao, GMR Head (looking at the camera) with Delhi C M Sheila Dikshit(in white sari), the then Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Sonia Gandhi, UPA Chairperson at thefoundation stone laying ceremony of new integrated terminal and runway in 2007.

POWERING T3The parent company,GMR Infra issetting up a 420MW power plant ofits own to meet the energy needs ofTerminal3.The group intends tofeed the surplus power from thecaptive plant into the northerngrid, which would boost availabilityin Delhi and other states in theregion.The gas-fired plant would bebuilt at Jhajjar in Haryana. TataConsultancy Services has preparedthe project report and the genera-tion unit would be constructed intwo phases of 210MW each. Theairport now consumes around80MW of power from the mainsupply grid. The demand is projectto rise to 140MW in the mediumterm and 250MW in the long term,in step with the expansion in pas-senger and flight capacity. Withsuch a big planned capacity, it isimportant for DIAL to have its ownpower supply for uninterruptedfunctioning of the airport complex.The additional power to the gridwould also benefit Delhi or otherstates in the region.



{ACI}AIRPORTS COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL

2006Jan - GMR led consortium wasawarded the mandate to mod-ernise the Delhi Airport after acompetitive bidding process.April - Operation, Managementand Development Agreement(OMDA) signed.May - Airport handed over to JointVenture Company (DIAL).Aug - Transition phase completed.Sep - DIAL submits master planfor modernisation and restructur-ing of Delhi Airport.Oct - DIAL appoints ParsonsBrinckerhoff as Project Manage-ment Consultants for the moderni-

sation of Delhi Airport.Nov - Upgradation works of Ter-minal 2 (International Terminal)commenced.Dec - DIAL unveils master plan forDelhi Airport.

2007Feb - Sonia Gandhi lays foundationstone of Terminal3 at IGI Airport.May - DIAL completes its first yearof operations and Airbus A380made its maiden landing in Indiaat Delhi Airport.Oct - DIAL has been awarded theprestigious ISO 9001:2000 qualitycertificate for Indira Gandhi Inter-

national Airport.Dec-DIAL signs financial documents with its project lenders.

2008Apr - Airport Operations & Com-mand Centre (AOCC) goes live atthe airport.May - DIAL completes its two yearsof operations.Jun - Modernisation works of theinternational terminal of IGI Air-port completed.Aug - Inaugural flight lands at thenew runway at IGI Airport.Sep - The airport’s third runwayopens for commercial operation.

On July 14, 2010, when Air Indiaannounced to the world that it hadsigned a deal with DIAL to designate T3as the Maharaja’s major hub, it was amajor shot in the arm for the airportoperator. A spokesperson for Air Indiahad commented: "The airline aims atre-positioning as a fundamentally dif-ferent carrier, with an increased focuson providing a seamless passengerexperience, while also connecting max-imum passengers through non-stopand one-stop routes to destinations onits network."

The AI hub at Delhi is still growing

to its full potential. AI had planned tointroduce non-stop services betweenDelhi and Melbourne, which would bethe only non-stop link between Indiaand Australia. Also part of the plan wasto introduce non-stop services fromDelhi to Toronto and Chicago in addi-tion to the existing non-stop services toNew York. AI would be serving a total22 international destinations from Del-hi — New York, Chicago, Toronto, Lon-don, Frankfurt, Paris, Tokyo, Mel-bourne, Hong Kong, Osaka, Seoul,Shanghai, Singapore, Bangkok, Dubai,Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Jeddah, Riyadh,

Dammam, Kathmandu and Kabul."With the planned increases, AI wouldbe operating 143 international servicesper week offering about 33,000 seatsper week in each direction on servicesout of Delhi... representing an increaseof nearly 50 per cent," the Air Indiaofficial had said.

On its part, DIAL too wouldincrease revenues by 9-12 per cent in ayear. The profitability of one is deter-mined by the number of flights thattakeoff and land at the airport and thevolume of passengers. That is whyevery airport wants a strong hub carri-er, covering the major peak slots. Alarge number of travellers, who have tofly onward, spend a few hours at an air-port using the facilities and shopping,which are key to the viability of a hub."Both the airport and the airline arededicated to creating what is seen asIndia’s first hub," PS Nair, the thenchief executive of DIAL had toldreporters.

Air India also realigned its winterschedule so that a large number of itsdomestic flights would link with inter-national flights, creating a true hub. AirIndia got 16-18 aerobridges and morethan 50 check-in counters in T3. Inci-dentally, T3 will also be the base for itsfleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft,which require additional space. Pre-ferred gates and parking bays will helpcut transfer time from one flight toanother by at least one-and-a-halfhours, increasing the appeal of the air-line.

T3 IS THE MAHARAJA’S KINGDOM

WELCOME: Air India’s non-stop from New York — AI-102 — receives a watery welcome as it tax-ies on the bay to dock at T3.


impossible. If the system had notencouraged and responded, how couldwe have done it in 37 months?”

If Rao was sorting out the externalatmospherics, the internal businesswas tended by AAI veteran, P S Nair.

A member of the AAI Board beforehe left the public sector some yearsback to join GMR, initially, there wasmuch rancour in AAI at his “hitching

up with the enemy” so to speak. In fact,so angry was the then leadership atAAI that they moved heaven and earthto deny Nair permission to work inGMR. It was in a sense a silver lining.He moved to Hyderabad, kept a lowprofile and later took charge as CEO ofthe Greenfield Rajiv Gandhi Interna-tional Airport. Close to a year back, hemoved to Delhi to head all operations.“T3 is much, much bigger, but we areready. We have done it successfully atHyderabad as well as T1D,” said Nair ina matter-of-fact tone. His own remark-able ascendancy is a reflection of thecapacity of public sector managerscaught in the crossfire of red tape, vigi-lance and CBI inquiries when they setabout executing projects.

Believe it or not a `12,000-pluscrore project-6, 00,000 cubic mt ofconcrete, 1, 00,000 tonnes of steel,100,000 sq mt of glass walls- has beendone without it getting under the scan-ner. That’s probably why it’s come upin 37 months. As G M Rao says: “Wehad a vision and everyone helpedimplement it.” Jai ho!



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DIAL HAS A REVENUEBREAK-UP OFROUGHLY 60:40 FROMAERONAUTICAL ANDNON-AERONAUTICALSOURCES. GLOBALLY,THE NON-AEROREVENUE ISGENERALLY 45-60 PERCENT OF THEIRREVENUE.

GIVING BACK TO SOCIETYWhen GM Rao, chairman of GMRInfrastructure, pledged his entirepersonal stake of `1,540 crore(`15.4 billion) in the company forphilanthropy, it did not surprisemany. GMR Group officials say itis the culmination of years ofeffort from Rao who has beenquite active in philanthropic activ-ities for quite some time throughGMR Varalakshmi Foundation. Ithas been setting up schools, hos-pitals and working towards socialupliftment across locations whereGMR Infrastructure has projects.

Rao has been working on thisfoundation for a long time and thedecision to pledge his entire 12.5per cent stake to the foundation isset to give a boost to the founda-tion. With the resources, itsefforts can take a quantum leap.

Oct - Upgradation of facilities at HajTerminal.

2009Feb - New domestic departureterminal 1D inaugurated.Apr - Commercial operations com-menced at new domestic terminal.

2010Feb - IGI Airport rated as ‘BestImproved Airport’ at ACI Awards.Jul - New integrated passenger ter-minal (T3) inaugurated at the air-port. In addition, seamless transi-tion of international operationsto T3.

ON THE GROWTH TRAJECTORY: Delhi C M Sheila Dikshit lights the lamp at the inauguration ofT1D as Praful Patel, G M Rao (extreme left) and then then Secretary Madhavan Nambiar(extreme right) look on.

PLEASANT EXPERIENCE: (L-R)The then Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel; G M Rao, Head, GMR group; P M Manmohan Singh and, UPAChairperson Sonia Gandhi taking a stroll at T3 after the inauguration and the first of the passengers experience the travelator at the T3.




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HYDERABAD’S RAJIV GANDHI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IS READY TOASSUME ITS POSITION AS AN IMPORTANT HUB ON THE GLOBAL AVIATIONMAP. IN ADDITION TO TWO IMPORTANT FACTORS GOING FOR IT — THERAPIDLY EXPANDING INDIAN AVIATION SECTOR AND HYDERABAD’SSTRATEGIC LOCATION — THE AIRPORT HAS CHALKED OUT A THREE-PRONGED STRATEGY TO ACHIEVE ITS GOALS.

Hyderabad ready towelcome the world

Hydrabad GMR.qxd 4/5/2011 10:28 AM



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When in April last year, GMR Hyder-abad Internationalairport won the

Routes Airport Marketing Awardin the Indian Sub-Continent cat-egory in the Routes Asia 2010conference in Adelaide, the air-port’s operators took the honourin their stride. Winning awardscomes naturally to the GMR-ledRajiv Gandhi International Air-port (RGIA). And as for theRoutes award, the 2010 one wasthe second one for the airport: ithad won the same award in2009.

RGIA was also rated the best inthe world by Airports CouncilInternational (ACI) in the 5-15million passengers category for itsAirport Service Quality for 2009.The Airport has also beenadjudged as the 5th best across allcategories, both in the world aswell as the Asia Pacific Region.Under the terms of the concessionagreement, GMR RGIA was man-dated to achieve a score of 3.5 on a5 point scale within three years ofoperation. Against this, for thefirst time in Indian aviation histo-ry, the airport bagged the title ofthe best airport in the world

RGIA WAS ALSORATED THE BEST INTHE WORLD BYAIRPORTS COUNCILINTERNATIONAL(ACI) IN THE 5-15 MILLIONPASSENGERSCATEGORY FOR ITSAIRPORT SERVICEQUALITY FOR2009.




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averaging a rating of 4.44 against themandated 3.5.

These honours were strong affirma-tions for the kind of service provided byRGIA. Capitalising on its strategic loca-tion on the map of India, the airport iswithin two hours flying time of mostmetro cities in the country. Internation-ally too, Hyderabad makes an idealtransit point for flights from west toeast and vice versa. Located around 25kms from the city and built to the capac-ity of 40 million passengers per annum,the RGIA is designed to handle newlarge aircraft (NLA), including theAirbus A380.

The airport which was commis-sioned in a record time of 31months in March 2008, has an ini-tial capacity of 12 million passen-gers per annum (MPPA) and100,000 tons of cargo handlingcapacity per annum. The airportprovides world-class facilities andinfrastructure, in accordance withICAO standards and practices tohandle large aircraft and interna-tional traffic. In fact, the RGIA isthe first Indian airport to have theAirport Operations Control Centrewhich acts as the nerve centre forall coordination within the airport.

Other salient features of the air-port include an integrated terminalthat offers an international experi-ence with a local flavour, an airportvillage with shopping arcade, 305-room business hotel located justthree kilometers away from the air-port, conference facilities for the

business traveller and integrated mod-ern IT systems. The airport has 13lounges including the airline loungesbeing operated by Air India and King-fisher. Plaza Premium operates thecountry’s first airline independentlounges at both domestic and interna-tional departure concourses, offeringservices like business centre, baggagehold with pick-up and delivery, 28 bedNap and Shower besides spa services aswell.

RGIA is the first airport in the worldto be awarded the LeadershipEnergy and Environment Design(LEED) silver rating for its eco-friendly design. It has also won the‘Outstanding Concrete Structure ofAndhra Pradesh’ award from theIndian Concrete Institute.

Awards apart, RGIA is in inno-vation mode at all times. Accordingto Vikram Jaisinghani, CEO, RGIA,the thrust is now on a revamp of thedeparture area. “We will be under-taking a revamp of the departureretail area, and enhancing the shop-ping experience of passengers. Wepropose to double the area of bothrecreation and shopping for the pas-sengers by creating new and innova-tive concepts. The major thrustwould be to make goods and servic-es available to the passengers at cityprices. The entire terminal modifi-cation project would be carried outkeeping the passengers’ conveniencein mind. The idea is to give a uniqueexperience to the passengers by

(Continued on Page 58)

SERVICE QUALITY: The lounge at RGIA.

ROCK SOLID: The ATC Tower at the airport.

THE AIRPORT WHICHWAS COMMISSIONEDIN A RECORD TIMEOF 31 MONTHS INMARCH 2008, HASAN INITIAL CAPACITYOF 12 MILLIONPASSENGERS PERANNUM.




TOURISTS LOVE RGIAGMR Hyderabad International Airport(GHIAL) was recently awarded theprestigious National Tourism Award2009-10, under the best airport catego-ry. The airport has been adjudged asthe best airport in India for activelypromoting tourism, not only at AndhraPradesh but also at a pan-India level.The Ministry of Tourism, Governmentof India, presents the National TourismAwards to various segments of the trav-el and tourism industry every year, thatincludes, states/union territories,hotels, travel agents, tour operators,airports, etc., to recognise their per-formance with an aim to promotetourism. The award was accepted by PS Nair, Chief Executive Officer-Corpo-rate, Airport Sector and Raveen Pinto,Head Aero Commercials and RouteDevelopment, GHIAL at the award cer-emony in New Delhi.

The National Tourism Awards2009-10 under the best airport catego-ry was open for all the Indian airports,providing the best facilities to passen-gers and guests. The criteria for selec-tion included:

Creation of tourist friendly atmos-phere, infrastructure and initiativesto support tourism by the airport;Facilities provided to visitors suchas seating facilities, toilets, eatingoutlets, etc at the airports;Maintenance and upkeep of the a irport;Adaptation of eco-friendlypractices;Availability of transport facilityfrom airport to nearest city centre;Display of proper signages atimportant locations;

Facilities for the physically

challenged persons, particularly atthe point of boarding; and,Other relevant facilities at theairport.

Hyderabad Airport has shown excel-lence as per the prescribed criteria. Theairport has the best infrastructure andfacilities, with an emphasis on eco-friendly practices. Facilities andservices provided are passenger-friend-ly with special attention towards con-venience and comfort. Hyderabad Air-port is also actively working with theGovernment of Andhra Pradesh, air-lines, travel agents and other relatedbodies to promote Andhra PradeshTourism on the global platform. Theairport participates jointly with AndhraPradesh Tourism Development Corpo-ration (APTDC) in various events topromote destination-Hyderabad inter-nationally. Under tourism promotion,APTDC has a 24x7 counter at the air-port to provide information abouttourism packages. Other joint effortsinclude promotion of ‘DestinationHyderabad’ to all passengers, fromuntapped destinations to sumptuouscuisine; promotion of business pack-ages for Tirupati, a key temple tourist

spot; promotion of medical, filmtourism, etc. The airport also makesmaximum utilisation of the advertisingspace for promoting various passengerinformative advertisements, like thoseon India’s tourism destinations and airconnectivity advertisements. Hyder-abad Airport has a complete focus ondeveloping and promoting tourism byproviding world-class infrastructure,passenger-friendly facilities, and itsinnovative ways to boost tourism andtraffic out of Hyderabad.

Andhra Pradesh has been assuredfull cooperation in tapping tourismpotential by the central government. Infact, the then Union Minister forTourism and Housing Kumari Seljatold media persons that she hoped thatthe 24x7 information-cum-reservationcentre she had inaugurated at the RajivGandhi International Airport atShamshabad sometime last year, wouldgive a boost to tourism in the state.

Tourists had been availing informa-tion from the 24x7 centre since the air-port began functioning in 2008, but thefacility to make reservations at APTourism hotels or resorts from the cen-tre was inaugurated recently.

In addition to existing facilities fortravellers can experience the luxuriousspas located near Gate 25 and Gate 22of domestic departures, inside thesecurity hold area. These spas are operated by the nationwide airport spachain O2 Spa. These spas offer servicescustomised to passengers on-the-go.Services include Foot Reflexology,Body Massages, Neck and Back Massages, Facials, Pedicures and Manicures. All the services are compet-itively priced and are a perfect blend ofThai concepts with Indian elements.

GHIAL WASRECENTLYAWARDED THEPRESTIGIOUSNATIONAL TOURISMAWARD 2009-10,UNDER THE BESTAIRPORTCATEGORY.




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(Continued from Page 56)creating concepts which would be firstof its kind in the airport sector.”

Upgrading facilities for passengersis only one part of the RGIA story. Theairport has plans to develop an aero-tropolis on 1,000 acres, which will pro-mote education, healthcare, entertain-ment, hospitality, commercial andlogistics ports around the airport. Tobegin with, the airport authoritiessigned an agreement with the ApolloGroup to set up a hospital. In addition,the airport has got in touch with interna-tional corporates to form joint venture partnerships on the proposed1,000 acres. An aviation special economic zone spread over 250 acres isalso scheduled to be set up.

The airport has also started somejoint venture projects. In February 2010,a 50-50 joint venture was signed withMalaysian Airlines for a maintenance,repair and overhaul (MRO) facility that isall set to begin its first phase of operationsthis year. This is in addition to NationalAviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL)setting up its airframe MRO facility onfive acres of the airport land. In addition,the world’s top aircraft engine makerCFM International has inaugurated itsengine maintenance training centre at theHyderabad Airport Aerospace Park.

While facilities for passengers will beupgraded, the airport is looking to posi-tion itself as a global hub. First on the listis the enhancement of regional connectiv-ity. As CEO Jaisinghani explained, thebasic requirement for an airport tobecome a global hub is to create an efficient hub-and spoke system. For that,it is essential to have a substantial num-ber of frequencies and destinations. Theonly way that can be possible is byencouraging regional connectivity. Once

RGIA achieves that, the airport willbecome a gateway to southern andcentral India.

The CEO believes that the regionalroutes out of Hyderabad were unservedand underserved. In fact, the percentagecapacity deployed on non-metro routes is

only 35 per cent (see interview). However, according to reports and sur-veys, the scope for the development ofregional connectivity was immense.

It is towards the enhancement ofregional connectivity that the airport iskeen to attract freighter airlines, growcargo tonnage and possibly positionHyderabad first as a cargo hub of thecountry. The airport management hascrafted out a three-pronged strategy. Thefirst is the establishment of a logisticshub. The airport has made substantialprogress in discussions with major carriers for a strategic tie-up at Hyder-abad. This initiative will help transformRGIA into a logistics hub for India andthe sub-continent.

The second part of the strategyincludes the formation of a Free TradeZone (FTZ). The airport has developed 20acres of FTZ area within the 270 acre Avi-ation SEZ at the airport in order to facili-tate the fast growing logistics trade. Thefact that the FTZ is inside the airportmakes it unique and the first of its kind inIndia. It will bring down transportationcosts and turnaround times for movementof goods and services for the FTZ usersand will benefit the end-customers in turn.The airport has started discussions withsome large global logistics operators andwould possibly tie up FTZ contracts withat least two such global operators withinthe next few weeks. The FTZ will allow itsusers to warehouse, distribute, trade andvalue-add goods and services for their customers.

The third link in the strategy isimproving surface connectivity. In itsefforts to connect Hyderabad with othermajor cities in India through a surfacenetwork, the airport operators aredesigning a scheduled Road Feeder Ser-vice (RFS).

WORLD CLASS: The airport village at RGIA.

BUSINESS SCHOOL INAN AIRPORTThe country’s first fully-fledged international businessschool campus will be built atthe Rajiv Gandhi InternationalAirport and will become anintegral part of its aerotropo-lis vision. In a partnershipbetween airport operatorGMR and the Toronto-basedSchulich School of Business atYork University, Schulich willdevelop the facilities, curricu-lum, staff and learning pro-grammes for 120 students,while GMR will provide theland and the physical campus.

The campus developmentis pending final approvals bythe boards of York Universityand the GMR Group, admis-sions are expected to com-mence no later than 2013.According to V Raghunathan,CEO, GMR Varalakshmi Foun-dation,”GMR will bring itsworld-class infrastructuredevelopment skills to thetable, while the SchulichSchool of Business will bringits expertise as one of theworld’s top-rated MBA pro-grammes and Executive Edu-cation providers.”




What are your priorities?First, we would like to enhance regionalconnectivity at Hyderabad airport. Foran airport to transform itself into aglobal hub, the fundamental require-ment is to evolve a hub and spoke strat-egy efficiently. The hub and spoke mod-el envisages creation of a dense networkof frequencies and destinations.Regional connectivity is the first step inthis direction.

Considering this fact, we want toenhance regional connectivity, therebyestablishing Hyderabad Airport as agateway to South and Central India anda hub of choice. Currently, the regionalroutes are largely unserved and under-served out of Hyderabad. At Hyder-abad, percentage capacity deployed onnon-metro routes is only 35 per cent,but based on various reports, there is ahuge demand for regional services. TheNational Council of Applied EconomicResearch (NCAER) reports have shownthat several Tier II/III cities have aver-age household incomes that are as high,or higher, than the metro cities and aregrowing faster. There are 19 cities whichhave been identified by Hyderabad Air-port for enhancing regional connectivi-ty. The benefits of enhanced regionalconnectivity will be: 1) strong feedertraffic to domestic trunk routes; 2)strong feeder traffic to internationalroutes; 3) increased transfer traffic;and, 4) improved route network, creat-ing additional travel options.

What will be your key areas offocus?Apart from enhancing regional connec-tivity, revamp of departure retail area,enhancing the passenger shoppingexperience and attracting cargo traf-fic, we will be going all out to retainour world No 1 position in the ACIASQ ranking as well as improve uponour score. The best way to do this willbe by delighting customers with pleas-urable experiences at RGIA. We alsoneed to work together with variousstakeholders at the airport so that all

of us provide a better, faster responseas a team without any divides andmake flying a great experience for allpassengers. We have in place a busi-ness excellence framework which willgo a long way towards helping us toachieve these goals.

The airport performed admirablylast year. How have you achievedthis success?Through relentless focus on improvingservice standards, regular training ofemployees of GHIAL as well as serviceproviders, including Government agen-cies and by listening to our customers (passengers, airlines, freight for-warders) through proactive feedback.Communication, continuous trainingand concentration on continuousimprovements are the key strategies ofservice quality at RGIA. Well-estab-lished systems and processes integratedwith all stakeholders systems haveenabled us to achieve our common goal:passenger delight. We have alsoenhanced service quality continually byunderstanding the customer satisfac-tion levels and expectations from all

possible sources, analysed and focusedon actions with the help of all stakehold-ers. We have been helped by the com-mitment shown by all the regulatoryauthorities and our business partnerswho worked shoulder to shoulder withour team in the airport making it possible.

Are there any expansion plans onthe cards?The airport is built to take a passengerload of 12 mppa in the first phase. Theexpansion will be effected as and whenwe reach the traffic triggers defined inthe master plan. In its final form, RGIAwill be a twin runway airport catering toover 40 mppa.

You want your airport to be thehub of the region. How do youplan to go about that? a. By enhancing regional connectivity

to facilitate more domestic andinternational connectivity;

b. By improving our transfer process-es; and,

c. By working together with airlines tomake Hyderabad the preferredchoice of passengers.

A responsive government couldgive HIAL the push it requires toget into the big leagues. Whatmore do you expect from the government? We have an excellent working relation-ship with the Governments of AndhraPradesh and India. We get all the coop-eration we require for the smooth run-ning of the airport from all agencies.However, the Government could takesome positive steps leading to benefitsfor the airport. The government could: (i) Classify airports as an industry ;(ii) Provide better connectivity by

joining the existing metro terminalsat Falaknuma and Shilparamamthrough RGIA; and

(iii) Provide improved basic infrastruc-ture at feeder airports like Rajahmundry, Vijayawada, etc.

“Regional connectivity is thefirst step toward a global hub”

VIKRAM JAISINGHANI, CEO, RGIA, ON THE AIRPORT’S KEY AREAS OF FOCUS IN THE COMING DAYS




INNOVATIVE MOVESBY THE HYDERABAD

INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTIN THE CARGO SECTOR

LIKE THE ESTABLISHMENTOF THE COUNTRY’S FIRSTPHARMA ZONE, WILL GO

A LONG WAY TOPOSITION THE AIRPORTAS AN INTERNATIONAL

CARGO HUB.

RGIAtakessolid

steps forcargo

India does not have an internationalcargo hub and at almost every aircargo/airport conference, thedemand for the establishment of aninternational cargo hub is raised —

only to be brushed aside or forgotten. Thecountry’s new growth phase can beachieved by transforming ourselves into amajor regional hub. The country is ideallypositioned to stake its claim to this posi-tion because of its unique geographicallocation and ideal position between Asiaand Europe.

Also, the country’s economy is drivenby domestic consumption. Unlike mostother hubs, the country has the power toconsume and not just transship commodi-ties through our airports. In addition, theFree Trade Agreement with SAARC (SouthAsian Association for Regional Coopera-tion) provides India an opportunity toconsolidate movement into and out of theSAARC region.

RGIA has chalked out plans to trans-form itself into a cargo hub. The airporthas a capacity of handling 100,000 tonnes.Spanning a total area of 14,330 sq m ofwhich the international section is around6,610 sq mt and the domestic is 4,346 sqmt, GMR has plans to enhance the areaand the facilities by setting up a bigger coldchain storage as well as a perishable ware-house in the cargo area so that by the endof 2011-12, the airport will be able to carryan additional capacity of 40,000 tonnesfrom the 60,000 tonnes it does today.

The Greenfield airport has seen cargovolumes rising constantly over the years —from 46,411 tonnes in 2006-07 (April

2006 - March 2007) to 66,482 tonnes in2009-10 (April 2009 - March 2010) —leading the operators to launch the ambi-tious plan to turn the airport into a cargohub.

Hyped as the country’s first airport-based dedicated pharmaceutical cargostorage and handling facility, the PharmaZone is a joint venture between Hyder-abad Menzies Air Cargo Private Ltd.(HMACPL), a unit of UK’s Menzies Avia-tion and the operator of the Rajiv GandhiInternational Airport, GMR HyderabadInternational Airport Ltd. (GHIAL). WhileGMR holds 51 per cent of the stake, Men-zies has 49 per cent.

Inaugurated by Kiran Kumar Grandhi,Business Chairman, Airports, GMRGroup, the Zone has the capacity to handle3,600 tonnes annually and will be ablemeet the projected requirement of 7,000tonnes next year and 30,000 tonnes by2015-16.

According to HMACPL CEO PaulSmith, around 70 per cent of the exportcargo from Hyderabad comprised pharmaproducts. The state-of-the-art tempera-ture-controlled facility had been sodesigned that pharma products like bulkdrugs, raw material, formulations, medi-cines and vaccines could be handled safely.The first airport-based dedicated tempera-ture-controlled pharmaceutical handlingfacility in the country, there are chamberswith temperature ranges from 2-8 degreesC to 15-25 degrees C — both in sterile andnon-sterile zones. Additionally, some ofthe Zone’s features include temperature-tracking and monitoring with SMS, e-mail

MODERN: The cargo terminal building at RGIA.




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and audible alarm system and office facilities for customs and drug controllerfor rapid clearance.

After the inauguration of the PharmaZone, Lufthansa Cargo and GHIAL signeda memorandum of understanding to joint-ly develop the airport into a major Asiancargo hub for the shipment of tempera-ture-sensitive pharmaceutical products.Lufthansa operates two weekly flightsfrom the airport and is the only interna-tional carrier to do so.

According to the Memorandum ofUnderstanding, a modern infrastructurewill be established at the airport to meetthe complex requirements of reliable, tem-perature-controlled transport solutions.Under the terms of the partnership,Lufthansa Cargo will provide the capacityfor the transport of temperature-sensitivecargo.

In fact, looking at the demand forpharma products, Lufthansa has plannedto station for the first time outside Ger-many, its Opticoolers at Hyderabad air-port that it showcased in August 2010.Martin Schlingensiepen, Vice PresidentProduct Management at Lufthansa Cargo,speaking at the signing of the Memoran-dum of Understanding said, “India is theworld’s largest market for generics. Thedemand for temperature-controlled trans-port will continue to grow substantially inthe coming years. A strong partnershipwith GMR Hyderabad International Air-port will enable us to offer our local cus-tomers, a tailor-made product for the fastand reliable transport of pharmaceuti-cals.”

The airport is also wooing MalaysiaAirlines Cargo Sdn Bhd (MASkargo), thecargo division of Malaysia Airline SystemBhd to start using the Pharma Zone.Malaysia, incidentally, has also beenramping up its biotech industry.

Now that Hyderabad has been han-dling around 1.5 lakh tonnes of cargo

annually, GMR has plans to develop theairport into a cargo hub for the country.According to the plans, a Free TradeWarehouse Zone (FTWZ), was beingdeveloped on 19.8 acres close to the Aero-space SEZ near the airport. The FTWZ willaid logistic companies to store cargo forboth short and long terms without attract-ing import duty.

Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi Interna-tional Airport has made astoundingprogress in the last two-and-a-half years.Commissioned on March 23, 2008, theairport’s cargo complex is now regarded asthe foremost in India. It has implementedthe concept of an Integrated Cargo Facilityhousing both domestic and internationalfacilities under one roof. The Air CargoComplex has a built-in area of 14,330 sqmeters with a capacity to handle cargothroughput of 100,000 MT annually. Theair cargo section has dedicated cargoapron facilities both for handling regularand freighter operations.

The airport is building up on thestate’s pharma-manufacturing potential toemerge to emerge as a global pharma hub.According to ORS Rao, Director, CygnusBusiness Consulting & Research, AndhraPradesh has become the preferred desti-nation for investments in pharmaceuticals

for Indian as well as multinational com-panies. Speaking to Express Pharmamagazine sometime ago, Rao had saidthat the state held a dominant position inthe pharma industry with 33 percentshare of bulk drugs produced in the coun-try. In value terms, the industry wasworth $1.6 billion. Andhra Pradeshexports $500 million of pharma productsfrom its more than 2,500 pharma compa-nies.

Transshipment Facilities: In linewith the airport’s objective of offeringintegrated cargo solutions, RGIAapproached Customs to allow transship-ments from the common user cargo ter-

minal. RGIA was granted approval to setup a separate transshipment area withinthe integrated cargo terminal which is ful-ly operational. Cargo operators afterobtaining necessary approvals from Cus-toms can now transship both import andexport cargo from the dedicated trans-shipment area. The integrated cargo ter-minal concept results in the efficienthanding/taking over, handling and move-ments process for transshipment cargo.

Security Partnership Pro-gramme : DHL and Hyderabad MenziesAir Cargo Pvt Ltd (HMACPL), Hyderabadrecently signed a security partnership forits freight forwarding division, DHL Glob-al Forwarding. Through this partnership,both the organisations would work togeth-er and agree on standard operating proce-dures (SOP) for high value and high riskair cargo, to share best practices and infor-mation on crime trends to further improveproduct delivery to customers.

Cargo Satellite Building : RGIA isthe only airport in India to provide a dedi-cated Cargo Satellite Building (CSB) at ashort distance from the integrated cargoterminal. The CSB provides facilities fortrade such as warehouse and office spacefor logistics operators. The building is amulti-floor structure with the ground floordedicated for warehousing operations andoffices on first and second floor covering atotal of approximately 11,000 sq m.

Customs ICES Version 1.5 Imple-mentation: In July 2010, RGIA was theairport site chosen by Indian Customs formigration and implementation of ICES’sVersion 1.5. Customs chose RGIA for thego-live over other airports because of itssuperior infrastructure and facilitiesoffered. Indian Customs started automat-ing the process of cargo clearance a fewyears ago and upgraded to Version 1.5in 2010 with an objective to helpindustries become more competitiveand bring in efficiencies by way ofautomation through EDI.

LOOKING AT THEDEMAND FORPHARMA PRODUCTS,LUFTHANSA HASPLANNED TO STATIONFOR THE FIRST TIMEOUTSIDE GERMANY,ITS OPTICOOLERS ATHYDERABADAIRPORT.

STORAGE AT ITS BEST: Inside the Pharma Zone at RGIA.




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RUNNING CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT SMOOTHLY AND EFFICIENTLY WHEN LESS THAN HALFOF THE AIRPORT SPACE IS AVAILABLE FOR AIRPORT ACTIVITIES IS INDEED A TASK. SMART THINKING, DEFTPLANNING AND A RELENTLESS FOCUS ON IMPLEMENTATION HAS BROUGHT GVK RICH REWARDS.

Mumbai: To the top — quietly

How do you run a smooth andefficient airport operationwhen less than half of theairport space is available for

airport activities as much of its landhad been illegally occupied by slumsand other institutions that have been onthe land for years. It requires somesmart thinking, deft planning and arelentless focus on implementation.

That’s what the GVK-operated

Mumbai International Airport Ltd(MIAL, is a Public-Private Partnershipjoint venture between GVK, BSDM,ACSA Global and Airports Authority ofIndia). MIAL was awarded the mandatefor operating and modernising theChhatrapati Shivaji International Air-port (CSIA) and has been focusing onthat these last few years. Since takingover airport operations in 2006, MIALhas brought about a number of changes

2 march GVK Mumbai airport NEW.qxd 4/5/2011 10:54 AM

at CSIA with an ongoing focus on pas-senger convenience and comfort in thelong term.

MIAL is currently implementing amaster plan, which includes building anew integrated passenger terminal atSahar with state-of-the-art infrastruc-ture and facilities to cater to passengertraffic of 40 million per annum. In thelast four years, MIAL has received anumber of national and internationalaccolades for its modernisation efforts.It isn’t easy when there are myriadissues that come up while operatingIndia’s busiest and most-congested air-port as you ramp up to provide globalscale services to 45 million passengersthree years from now.

(Continued on page 73)



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2GVK Airport Holdings Private Limited (GAHPL), a step-down subsidiary of GVK Power & Infra-structure Limited, has signed ashare purchase agreement with BidServices Division (Mauritius) Limit-ed (BSDM) to buy a 13.5 per centstake in Mumbai International Airport Private Ltd (MIAL).

As a result, the equity share-holding of the GVK in MIAL willincrease to 50.5 per cent from theexisting 37 per cent. This agreementis subject to regulatory and otherapprovals.

Speaking on the occasion, Chair-man G V Krishna Reddy said: “TheChhatrapati Shivaji InternationalAirport, Mumbai, is GVK’s first andflagship airport project in India. Aspart of our overall stated objectiveof consolidating our presence in theairports sector in India, we havetaken this significant step ofincreasing our shareholding inMIAL. This signifies our commit-ment to the airports sector and fur-ther reinforces our vision of trans-forming CSIA into a world class air-port.”

PASSENGER IS PRIORITY: Mumbai airport has witnessed number of changes with an ongoing focus on passenger convenience.

GVK INCREASES SHAREHOLDING IN MIAL




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Does the revenue share promisedby GVK to the Government ofIndia for taking over Mumbai air-port under the PPP frameworkstill leaves enough money for theprivate operator to carry on itsoperation in a no-financial strainmanner?Currently, yes. Going forward, tariffswill be determined by AERA taking intoconsideration our concession agree-ment with AAI and as per the modelprescribed in the State Support Govern-ment with Government of India. Ifthere is no deviation by AERA in deter-mination of our tariffs from model pre-scribed in State Support Government,hopefully strain on financials will beminimal.

Can you spell the details of therevenue share and how have therevenue streams been?Traditionally for CSIA, the revenuestreams have primarily been three:aeronautical, non-aeronautical and car-go operations. Indian airports includingCSIA have primarily been dependent onthe aeronautical stream to drive rev-enues. With the process of airport mod-ernisation now firmly underway, Indianairports are now geared up to fullyexploit commercial opportunities. Atthe same time, the aviation sector hasturned the corner last year after a diffi-cult 2009 and passenger traffic is backon track.

Traditionally, for any airport, therehas always been a need to balance itsaeronautical and non- aeronautical rev-enues. Airports globally have striven tomaximize their revenues through non-aeronautical sources and key airportsworldwide account for as much as 70per cent of their revenues from non-aero sources. In fact, for an airportoperator, a financially healthier option

has always been to depend more onnon-aero revenues,which is consideredto be a steady stream as compared tothe fickle aero one, which is more affect-ed by external factors.

In the last close to five years sinceMIAL took over operations at CSIA, ithas been our concerted effort to developthe non-aeronautical opportunities aspart of an overall thrust. In 2007,CSIA’s revenue from non-aeronauticalsources was 50 per cent and aero wasclose to 50 per cent. In 2008, non-aerojumped to 57 per cent, while aeroremained at 43 per cent. For the year2009, CSIA clocked a even higher per-centage of revenue from non-aerosources like car parking, shoppingrentals and advertisements as com-pared to aero ones like aircraft landing,parking charges and check in counterrentals. The ratio of aero to non-aeronow is 40:60.

With an increased focus on com-mercial, a significant increase in non-aero revenue is anticipated in thefuture. This will be the result of an

added impetus on commercial revenuesthat will accrue from non-aeronauticalsources to generate profitability. In2011, MIAL will further fine tune itsofferings in areas such as Duty Free,Food and Beverage and brand retail toachieve this.

In view of the encroachment onMumbai airport land, has therebeen any delay in your rolloutprogramme in terms of servicesyou had desired to provide whenyou took over the airport ? If yes,can you please provide details?One of the most complex and uniqueinfrastructure projects ever undertakenin India, the modernisation of CSIA hasseen its own set of challenges andopportunities in the close to five yearssince MIAL took over operations. Thisproject is unlike any of the other inter-national airports anywhere in the world.To begin with, CSIA finds itself in aunique position in that it is a highly con-strained and landlocked airport withunder 2000 acres of land, of whicharound 300 acres is occupied by slums.This is in sharp contrast to airports inIndia and overseas where space is defi-nitely not a constraint. In fact, majorairports around the world which handlelesser traffic, have between 5000 and10,000 acres of land available forexpansion.

Though a part of the airport landhas been encroached, we at MIAL tookthis up as a challenge in 2006 and havecontinued through the last five yearswith our modernisation plans. As aresult there has been no perceptibledelay in terms of services or infrastruc-ture enhancements or passenger con-venience offerings. Additionally, despiteCSIA being landlocked, MIAL under-took the modernisation process whilethe airport was still operational. MIAL

MUMBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LIMITED MANAGING DIRECTOR G V SANJAY REDDY SPEAKS ABOUT THEONGOING MODERNISATION PROGRAMME OF MUMBAI AIRPORT, LAND ENCROACHMENT AND MORE…

“Runway upgradation is aimed at an efficient airside infrastructure”




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also initiated several steps to unlock theland which was needed for increasingairport capacity.

In 2007, within just a year of takingover operations at CSIA, MIAL openeda new domestic arrival terminal at 1B asa result of which 65 per cent of thedomestic arrivals shifted from Terminal1A to 1B. In fact, Terminal 1B, interna-tional Terminals 2 B and 2 C and Ter-minal 1A have been refurbished consid-erably over a period of time in the lastfew years resulting in expansion ofcapacity to meet the increase in traffic.A brand new domestic Terminal 1C con-necting 1A and 1B was unveiled in April2010. Additionally, in the last nearlyfive years there have been a number ofchanges at CSIA such as additionalcheck-in counters, faster immigration,free wi-fi, new retail options for duty-free shopping, better housekeeping,improved signages, fast food kiosks,better kerbside management, andsmoother traffic flow, with a clear focuson passenger convenience and comfortin the long term.

CSIA is also equipped with a CrossRunway system, designated as 09/27(Primary Runway) and 14/32 (Sec-ondary Runway), with both intersectingeach other at a common point. In thenearly five years of operations, it hasbeen the constant focus on the part ofMIAL to make optimal use of the exist-ing cross-runway operations to aug-ment capacity, enhance efficiency ofoperations and handle the growingincrease in passenger traffic at CSIA.Meanwhile, currently as a part of theoverall modernisation process of CSIA,MIAL has undertaken a completereconstruction of both the runways.This upgradation is aimed at creating anefficient airside infrastructure, which isthe core of an airport.

At MIAL, our priority has been andwill continue to remain offering world-class facilities and services to passen-gers with no delays. The new integratedterminal T2 is in line with MIAL’s visionto transform CSIA into one of theworld’s best airports that consistentlydelights customers and be the pride ofMumbai. T2 will be equipped with astate-of-the-art design and will be com-pleted by 2013.

It was reported recently that GVKproposed to buy out 13.5 stake inMIAL held by Bidvest group basedin Mauritius? How do you propose

to pay the sum of US$ 287 millionfor the stake purchase withoutdiluting the equity?We are buying 13.5 per cent stake fromour South African partners Bidvest. Wehave entered into a share purchaseagreement for a consideration of US$287 mn. We are required to pay this atthe end of three years from the date thetransaction becomes effective and wehave 90 days to ensure all the condi-tions are satisfied for the transaction tobe effective. Since we have three yearsto pay this money we will evaluate theoptions of funding in due course.

When GVK began modernisingthe Mumbai airport, it had taken alon- term debt of `4200 cr from aconsortium of banks led by IDBI.Has all of it been paid back and isthere any new borrowing for thenew terminal that is being built?Long-term debt of `4200 crore wassanctioned for overall airport develop-ment including the new terminal. So farwe have availed only about `2500 croreand the balance would be availed innext two-three years as the project

development progresses. Repayment ofthis loan starts from financial year 2015.Therefore, nothing has been repaid sofar. There are no additional borrowingswhich are considered as of now.

Should the Navi Mumbai airportcome up as scheduled in threeyears’ time from now and opensits first phase, will it impact MIALbusiness ?It is a well-known and well-documentedfact that the city of Mumbai is in urgentneed of another airport considering thepotential growth in passenger traffic inthe future. CSIA is currently witnessinga rate of growth of around 15 per cent interms of passenger traffic and is likely toclock over 29 million passengers at theend of the financial year 2010-11. In linewith the projected overall economicgrowth, this trend is likely to continueover the next few years. The new inte-grated terminal T2 that will be complet-ed by 2013, is being designed to accom-modate 40 million passengers per year.Moreover, going forward, Mumbai willalways continue to have increased pas-senger traffic over the years consideringit is India’s financial centre. The aboveonly reinforces the need for the NaviMumbai airport to come up as per theproposed schedule.

As regards having an impact onMIAL’s business, globally there hasbeen a trend of two or more internation-al airports co-existing in major cities(especially those with a high incidenceof passenger traffic) without each affect-ing the performance or directly impact-ing the business of the other. Therefore,as and when the Navi Mumbai airportwere to begin operations, we do not seeit impacting MIAL’s business.

AT MIAL, OURPRIORITY HAS BEENAND WILL CONTINUETO REMAINOFFERING WORLD-CLASS FACILITIESAND SERVICES TOPASSENGERS WITHNO DELAYS.

TO ENJOY IT ALL: Passengers can avail world-class facilities at Mumbai airport.


The ambitious project to ramp upthe numbers comes in the wake ofMIAL’s decision last year to get

UK’s air traffic service provider NATS tostudy how the capacity of the airportcan be increased. NATS has alreadymade a presentation to the Civil Avia-tion Ministry and it is now officially awork in progress.

So what inspires MIAL to recruitNATS? Simple, it is being inspired byLondon’s legendary ‘other’ airport,Gatwick that has achieved global emi-nence for doing 60 movements per hourusing a single runway. MIAL’s proposalfor 48 flight movements an hour —approved by the DGCA — would takeanother year to implement.

NATS will utilise a number of soft-ware simulations and modelling toolsfor the purpose of runway and airportcapacity determination, identify thebottlenecks that limited airport capaci-ty, enhancement of capacity achievedthrough improvement in air traffic pro-cedures besides making changes tophysical infrastructure, better ATCequipment, improved ground handling

system, ATM tools, etc. Mumbai has a cross runway 14-32

and simultaneous runway operationsoccur during the peak hours in themorning and evening. Currently, theairport does around 34 movements anhour on an average, but airport officialsare categorical that on a day-to-daybasis, the number is much higher.

To achieve higher movements on aconsistent basis, pilots will have to beeducated on clearing the runway in theshortest possible time and air trafficcontrollers will have to undergo addi-tional training. MIAL will also have tobuild more rapid exit taxiways.

Lack of new slot availability at CSIAis one reason why airlines have found itdifficult to introduce new flights in andout of Mumbai despite the growing pas-senger traffic. Over the past two years,the Civil Aviation Ministry rejected pro-posals from at least 15 international air-lines that were keen to start operationsto Mumbai. Analysts said this mismatchin demand and supply is one of the rea-sons why airfares out of Mumbai shootup during the peak travelling season.

From 34 to 48!



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MUMBAI AIRPORT IS AIMING HIGH: IT

HOPES TO DO 48FLIGHTS PER HOUR

FROM SOMETIME NEXTYEAR. THE IDEA IS TOADD MORE CAPACITY

TO THE ALREADYSATURATED AIRPORT.

IF APPROVED, ITWOULD MEAN A FEW

ADDITIONAL FLIGHTS ADAY FOR PASSENGERS

TRAVELLING IN ANDOUT OF MUMBAI.


Poor runway infrastructure is anotherreason why flights end up hovering overMumbai airport for 20-40 minutes,waiting to land.

Airport officials said 48 movementsan hour is not an unreasonable targetand, in fact, the airport has seen highmovements despite the secondary run-way being in use from 9 am to 5 pm. Inreal terms this seems like a marginalincrease considering MIAL has alreadyapproved 44 flight movements per hourfor Mumbai, including 36 commercialflights per hour and an additional eight

general aviation aircraft movements.This should really not be difficult espe-cially when the main runway will be inuse again.

Currently, the main runway is underrenovation. As a result, the secondaryrunway is in use from 9 am to 5 pm,which has lesser capacity to handleflights per hour. On a good day, whenweather conditions are perfect, runway09-27 can do 44 flight movements anhour, according to the ATC. The second-ary runway 14-32 can do up to 36 flightmovements an hour. When weatherconditions are not ideal, flights spillover to the next hour, adding to thecumulative delays.

MIAL first took up the job of re-carpeting the shorter cross-runway

and completed the job in March2010. Once it had this stripwith it, it then planned to

undertake the re-carpeting andwidening of the principal runway. Thejob on this started in November 2010and will be finished by June 2011. Forthis purpose, the airport has closedthis runway.

In fact, a senior official of Jet Airwaysstated that in the coming summer sched-ule, beginning April 2011 (with the pri-mary runway in CSIA remaining closedfor eight hours a day between Mondayand Friday till June 2011), the carrier wasplanning to operate widebody Airbus A330s to and from Delhi, Mumbai andChennai. According to Jet Airways offi-cial P K Sinha, the airline was thinking oftaking on lease two A 330s with 230-seatcapacity, in two class configuration. Jetwas planning to operate 20 flights a daywith this widebody aircraft. With domes-tic air travel growing by nearly 20 percent, all airlines both domestic and for-eign, wanted 573 daily slots from Mum-bai. However, capacity constraint issueshave also forced the Indian regulator tofreeze flights from Mumbai to 490, thatis 223 less flights than its last year’s win-ter schedule and much less than Delhi’s630 flights for this year. This has forcedairlines to increase fares on the sector,during the peak season to abnormal lev-els. To beat the slot constraint, Jet Air-ways says: “Grow bigger and grow widerwith A330s.”



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PANORAMIC: MIAL has undertaken the renovations of the main runway with clockworkprecision. Not a day has the operation been delayed because of this huge project.



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Domestic fliers have delighted atthe better shopping and diningoptions and less congestionsince the opening of Mumbai

airport’s new terminal (1C). In fact, theterminal has been a super hit since dayone of its inauguration last year andhas considerably scaled the reputa-tion of GVK for innovation andintelligent use of space.

The terminal is connected to the existing terminals (1A and 1B) and has sixaerobridges. Check-in counters won’t be

shifted from the existing terminals. Thosewhose flights depart from 1C checks in atthe existing terminals. Frisking andscreening of cabin baggage are done atTerminal 1C.

Commenting on the landmark, Chair-man G V Krishna Reddy said, “AtMIAL, our focus has been onenhancing passenger experience

and the opening of 1C is yet another testa-ment to our endeavour to consistently pro-vide passengers with a world class travelexperience at the Chhatrapati Shivaji


Terminalsthat

delight1C

2 march GVK Mumbai airport NEW.qxd 4/5/2011 10:59 AM Page 72


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International Airport (CSIA). The openingof this terminal also marks a significantmilestone for MIAL in meeting thedemands of the growing tourist and busi-ness traffic in and out of Mumbai. Wehave always strived to give Mumbai an air-port that the city can be proud of and wewill continue to do so going forward.”

A section of departing passengers whocheck-in at Terminals 1A and 1B are nowfacilitated through Terminal 1C, the sec-ond level of which has a large security holdarea for passengers post checking-in.

Designed with a high roof and glass facadeproviding a view of the runway, this areahas spacious interiors with a seatingcapacity for around 900 passengers.

This area also has 9,677 sq ft of retailspace including prominent F&B outletssuch as Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf andUltra Bar. Passengers can shop at a rangeof premium stores such as Ethos, WilliamPenn, Parcos, Swarovski, Croma, MediaMart, Bombay Store, Lilliput andHidesign. It also houses a 4,250 sq ft com-mon lounge for all airlines where passen-gers can relax and unwind before board-ing their flight.

A state-of-the-art Mantra Spa delightspassengers who wish to indulge in a relax-ing massage prior to their flight. The mez-zanine level holds an expansive 11,750 sqft food court, overlooking the airsidewhere passengers can grab a quick mealwhile waiting for their flights. It hosts avariety of Indian and international outletsincluding KFC, Domino’s, Idli.Com, CurryKitchen, Cafeccino and Mad over Donuts.

Additionally, the terminal providesother value-added facilities such as Wi-ficonnectivity, ATMs, foreign exchange, aninternet kiosk, long distance and localtelephone call booths, an infant careroom, laptop charging stations and twosmoking rooms. The terminal will alsohouse airline and MIAL back offices.

Meanwhile, Mumbai airport is tofinally have a ‘hospitality district’, alongthe lines of international airports likeShanghai and New York. So far, in Mum-bai, the project had stalled due to landconstraints. But now MIAL, a joint ven-ture led by GVK that runs the airport, isreportedly ready to lease out two millionsq ft of buildable area this year for thepurpose.

Once cleared, the project will trans-late into luxury hotels and shoppingdestinations within a five km radius ofthe airport. The plan is to sub-leaseplots to real estate and hospitality com-panies for 30 years - renewable foranother 30 years. Sources say as part ofthe first phase, the company has identi-fied eight lakh sq ft of land at differentlocations near the airport that will be upfor bidding.

Sanjay Reddy has announced plansto monetise around 200 acres (8.7 mil-lion sq ft) of land in the next 10 years forhospitality and retail purposes. This ispart of the land leased to GVK by Air-ports Authority of India with rights forcommercial development. But the entireland is not available immediately asmuch of it is encroached upon or is insmall fragments.


SANJAY REDDY HASANNOUNCED PLANSTO MONETISEAROUND 200ACRES (8.7 MILLIONSQ FT) OF LAND INTHE NEXT 10 YEARSFOR HOSPITALITYAND RETAIL.




FUEL FACILITY AT CSIAMumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd(MIAL), the GVK-led consortium oper-ating Mumbai’s Chhatrapati ShivajiInternational Airport (CSIA), hassigned a memorandum of understand-ing (MoU) with the three public sectorOil companies (IOCL, HPCL andBPCL) to set up a joint venture compa-ny for the purpose of setting-up anintegrated aviation fuelling facility atCSIA.

The MoU envisaged the formationof joint venture company (JVC)“Mumbai Aviation Fuel Farm FacilityPrivate Limited”, with MIAL, IOCL,HPCL and BPCL, being equal partnerswith a shareholding of 25 per centeach. This JVC developed the integrat-ed facility at the site of the existingIOCL and HPCL facilities near termi-nal 1A, by upgrading the facilities,increasing tankage and linking it tothe hydrant systems that supply fuelat the hydrant pits of the aircraft park-ing stands.

Considering that CSIA is a land-constrained airport, this step was tak-en so that the aviation fuelling facili-ties are integrated into a single loca-tion, which would serve as a common-user fuel facility for all fuel suppliers.Sanjay Reddy, Managing Director,

MIAL said: “This is an importantmilestone in the transformation ofCSIA. We look forward to partneringwith IOCL, HPCL and BPCL to createa modern and efficient aviation fuelfacility to cater to the needs to the air-lines operating from CSIA.”

A MILESTONE: MIAL, in pact with three PSUs, has set up an integrated aviation fuellingfacility at the Mumbai airport.

Leading infrastructure developer GVKPower and Infrastructure Limited(GVKPIL) recently signed two Memo-randums of Understanding (MoUs) withthe Government of Indonesia to developgreenfield international airports in NorthBali and Yogyakarta, Java. The MoUswere signed in the presence of Dr H Susi-lo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of theRepublic of Indonesia, who was on astate visit to India.

The MoU for the Bali airport is athree-way agreement between BadanKoordinasi Penanaman Modal (BKPM— a board set up by the Government ofIndonesia for the facilitation of domes-tic and foreign investment), PT Pem-bangunan Bali Mandiri (a special purpose vehicle for airport develop-ment) and GVKPIL. The MoU for theJava airport is an agreement betweenAngkasa Pura I (the Government ofIndonesia-owned airport operationsand management company), BKPM andGVKPIL.

The scope of the agreements pro-vides exclusivity to GVKPIL andincludes planning, design and develop-ment, operations and management ofthe airports along with all associatedinfrastructure, land and commercialdevelopment.

Speaking on the occasion, G V Krish-

na Reddy, Chairman, GVKPIL, said:“The signing of these MoUs marks a verysignificant milestone for GVK. Our capa-

bilities, expertise and strong track recordin the airports sector is well establishedin India. We are very excited by theopportunity to create new landmarks inBali and Java and we are confident thatthis agreement will yield significant syn-ergies for all parties involved and helpIndonesia in realising its growing poten-tial as a key destination in the region.”

The Indonesian economy, consid-ered to be SE Asia’s largest, has per-formed consistently well with its GDPhaving grown by an impressive rate of6 per cent in the last year. Moreover,both Bali and Java are prime destina-tions for tourist traffic from bothEurope and Asia. Both the airport proj-ects are expected to create a number ofeconomic development opportunitiesin both Bali and Java.

G V Krishna Reddy was honouredwith the Padma Bhushan this year forhis work in the field of trade and indus-try. An industrialist with interests inbiotechnology, chemicals, hospitality,power, healthcare and infrastructure,Reddy has been serving society throughthe GVK Foundation. The foundationhas built a number of schools in NelloreDistrict and has also taken up the man-agement of ambulance services after theSatyam fiasco and expanded it to 11states in the country.

GVK HONOURED WITH PADMA AWARD,

LOOKS OVERSEAS!

HONOURED: GVK Reddy (top) waspresented the Padma Bhushan this year forhis contribution to trade and industry; and,(above) the signing of a MoU for the development of international airports at Bali and Java.



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(Continued from page 65)

For instance, CSIA handled 28.10million passengers in 2010, which wasthe highest-ever for Mumbai airport. Itis something that is now being recog-nised globally: according to AirportCouncil International (ACI), CSIA is nextonly to Gimpo International Airport,Seoul, in terms of airport service quality.Vancouver International Airport, Cana-da, comes third. The CSIA was ranked12th in 2009. ACI had surveyed threelakh passengers at 153 airports in theworld in 2010. These included airports

which handle 15-25 million passengersevery year.

Reacting to the results, ManagingDirector Sanjay Reddy said: “We havealways worked towards providing quali-ty service. We have strived to cultivate acustomer-oriented service culture atCSIA. We are proud that it continues towin accolades.”

The real test, however, for SanjayReddy and his hugely competent team isto get the integrated terminal ready foroperations two years down the line, getthe huge land bank that is a gigantic

slum on airport land back into produc-tive use and restructure the entire air-port terrain including shifting buildings,hangars and colonies to create a moreholistic and integrated airport’s inIndia’s commercial capital.

Five years back when they took overthe airport on its privatisation, the gen-eral murmur was that GVK has acceptedone heck of an ‘impossible’ challenge.The congestion, the work culture and theliterally cramped airport had innumer-able challenges. Five years down the lineit is apparent that there is light at theend of the tunnel and that is G V KrishnaReddy and Sanjay Reddy’s biggestachievement.


HOW CAN I HELP YOU?: At MIAL, one can find customer-oriented service culture.

A TOP PERFORMING AIRPORT IN 2010 CSIA has emerged as one of the topperforming airports in the annual ACIAirport Service Quality Awards for2010. It has been rated the secondbest airport worldwide for airports inthe 15-25 million passengers perannum (mppa) category asannounced by Airports Council Inter-national (ACI) recently. This is a dis-tinct and considerable improvementover the earlier ranking of 12 for 2009in the 15-25 mppa category.

This latest recognition from ACIcomes within a year of CSIA beingvoted the “Best Brown Field Airport inPPP” in an independent survey of pas-sengers and opinion makers conduct-ed by the Air Passengers Associationof India (APAI).

The ASQ passenger survey under-taken by ACI, an autonomous andindependent body, measures cus-tomer feedback on a range of servicedelivery parameters that track thecustomer experience at an airportfrom the moment of arrival to thedeparture gate.

In 2010, ACI conducted over300,000 passenger surveys at ASQparticipating airports and this servedas the basis for determining the top 5performers in each of the ASQ cate-gories - worldwide, by size (e.g., thenumber of passengers handled, in 6size categories) and by region (6regions) and a best improvementaward (also by region). The ASQ sur-veys are carried out on a monthlybasis and the results are releasedquarterly. In 2010 the survey was con-ducted at 153 airports and 140 quali-fied (full year participation).

BRICK BY BRICKMumbai International Airport Private Ltd (MIAL) flagged off the constructionof the new integrated passenger terminal building at Sahar in February 2009.When completed, the new terminal building will cater to both domestic andinternational passengers. The design ofthe new terminal combines Interna-tional and Domestic passenger servicesunder one roof optimising terminaloperations in coordination with theairline schedules. The highly flexiblegating plan and terminal arrangementwill ultimately accommodate 40 mil-lion passengers per year operating 24hours a day. The terminal building will have a totalfloor area of nearly 4.3 million sq.metres spread across four levels. Some of the key features of the termi-nal building are:

52 Contact positions with Passen-ger Boarding Bridges 184 Check-in Counters 14 Reclaim Belts 700,000 SF of Retail, F&B, Lounges and Travel Services Terminal Peak Hour Passenger capacity at 9,900 World Class Architecture and Passenger Facilities

NEW BEGINNING: Praful Patel along withAshok Chavan performing the Ground-Breaking Ceremony at Mumbai Airport




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EYE CANDY: Bengaluru airport woostravellers with its grand edifice.

Constantly evolving:That’s Bengaluru !

The international community —both business and leisure —finds Bengaluru an importantand attractive destination in the

country. The strong business communityresults in an attractive passenger profilefor the airlines. Further, Bengaluru nowhas a very well-functioning airportwhich offers adequate capacity and slots,a very good service at a competitive rateand excellent transfer opportunities andfacilities, domestic - domestic as well asdomestic - international and vice versa.

Bengaluru has the third highestdomestic traffic in the country afterMumbai and Delhi, which makes Ben-galuru International Airport the busiestin the south of India. No national airlinenetwork can be complete without includ-ing Bengaluru. Besides, the city is thecountry’s IT and BT hub, has a high per

BARELY THREE YEARS OLD, THEBENGALURU INTERNATIONALAIRPORT BELIEVES THATCHANGE IS CONSTANT. THEAIRPORT CONSTANTLYUPGRADES ITSELF, ALWAYSMEETING AND OFTEN EXCEEDINGWORLD STANDARDS. AND THEEFFORTS ARE PAYING OFF: THEAIRPORT HAS SEEN A STEADYGROWTH IN PASSENGERS ANDIS ALREADY SEEING CLOSE TO11.5 MILLION PASSENGERSANNUALLY. SIMILARLY, CARGOIS NOT FAR BEHIND.

GVK Bengaluru.qxd 4/5/2011 10:36 AM



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capita income, higher percentage of highyield business-class traffic than any oth-er Indian airport, and is increasinglybecoming a MICE (Meetings IncentivesConventions and Exhibitions) destina-tion due to its excellent weather all yearround. Geographically, Bengaluru is atthe centre of the southern peninsula andthis makes it a good domestic hub.

Bengaluru’s location is significantto it becoming a gateway to south Indiaas its distance to any of the airports inthe southern region is just over 400 kmwhich enables it to maximise regionalconnectivity. In fact, Bengaluru offersconvenient connections to almost allthe airports in southern India, makingit a natural hub.

The vision for the Bengaluru Inter-national Airport is to capitalise on itslocation advantage and become the gate-way to the south of India, enabling theeconomic prosperity of the region byfacilitating connectivity to the world.While this is being achieved, the focus ofthe airport is constantly on the opera-tional excellence and that is reflected inthe high Airport Service Quality scores.The airport’s aim is to continue develop-ing and modernising the airport infra-structure to avoid capacity constraints,improve air-space efficiency and minimise costs.

The advantage of a Greenfield air-port like Bengaluru is that it has a freshstart in all spheres: technology, infra-structure, people, as well as the airportmanagement. While all of these have apositive impact, there is also a heavydemand of putting all the complex sys-tems to work and maintaining a certainstandard for the passengers as well asthe airlines. The Bengaluru Internation-al Airport takes pride in the fact that in aspan of three years, it has recorded arobust year-on-year growth. Annual traf-fic growth at the airport was 17.4 percent for the last 12 months. Last year, it

recorded an overall annual internationaltraffic growth of 15.5 per cent and annu-al domestic traffic growth of 17.9 percent. With annual ATMs growing by 7.2per cent, in February 2011 for example,the airport touched 111,168 movementsfor the last 12 months.

Adding to the increasing passengertraffic, what has been particularlyencouraging for the airport has beenthe fact that these three years haveseen the introduction of several newinternational airlines. Since the airportopened in May 2008, it has been ableto attract more than 10 new airlinestaking the total number of airlines to34 (22 international and 12 domestic)and connecting the city and the state to51 destinations directly.

Airlines connecting Bengaluru toSouth East Asia currently include Singa-pore Airlines, Dragonair, Malaysian Air-line, Thai Airways, Silk Air, AirAsia, AirChina. The eight airlines connectingBengaluru to South East Asia’s countrieslike Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Chi-na and Hong Kong carry over 13,000 toand from Bengaluru every week to SouthEast Asia and beyond.

In addition to these new airlines,carriers such as Emirates increased thedaily frequency to three daily flights.With the advent of new internationaland domestic flights and routes, the

airport has marked the beginning of bet-ter connectivity between Bengaluru andthe world.

Spearheading a new approach to theairport operations, BIAL pioneered theconcept of the Airport Operations Con-trol Centre (AOCC) in India. OperationalAirport Management, a concept that isnew to Indian airports, ensures smoothand efficient airport operations. TheAOCC is crucial in operational recoveryin times of disruption and delays. Ithelps enhance predictability resulting inbetter planning and real-time overviewof operations resulting in enhancedquality of decision-making — quick,accurate and taken by the correct part-ner. This improves processes leading tohigh punctuality of the flights.

Departure punctuality has touched85 per cent through most months and iswithin 15 minutes of scheduled time.Baggage delivery remained constant overseveral months, with the first baggagebeing dropped on the belt within sevenminutes of the flight touching down atthe airport, for domestic arrivals. Byinternational standards, this is a goodrecord. Passengers were involved in theseoperational milestones through commu-nication around the airport.

With these developments, the airport is well on its way to becomingone of the leading airports in operationalefficiency in the country. As a team, theairport has stayed true to its focus ofproviding world-class service. The recentpassenger opinion of the airport’s per-formance and service has been positive.

Last year was a year of accolades forthe airport. It received a platinum certi-fication from IATA for becoming thefirst airport in India to be 100 per centBar Coded Boarding Passes (BCBP)compliant. That was testimony enoughto the fact that BIAL has continued andwill continue to pioneer best practicesin the industry.

THE ADVANTAGE OF A GREENFIELDAIRPORT LIKEBENGALURU IS THATIT HAS A FRESH STARTIN ALL SPHERES:TECHNOLOGY,INFRASTRUCTUREAND PEOPLE.

TRAVELLERS’ DELIGHT: (Left) Departures entrance and (right) food and beverages section at the airport.




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BIAL also received ISO 14001:2004certification, an official recognition of theairport management’s constant effortstowards a greener airport and city. In May2010, BIAL received ISO 27001 certifica-tion for Information Security Manage-ment System Standards.

In 2010, Bengaluru InternationalAirport was acknowledged with the titleof the Best Emerging Airport — IndianSubcontinent by Emerging Markets Air-ports Awards (EMAA) hosted by theacclaimed Airport Expo, Dubai. Thehonour came post the tabulation of the

poll results from industry chiefs andleaders across the world airports.

Domestic passenger traffic at theairport currently accounts for around 83per cent of the total traffic and theremaining are international travellers.India’s Silicon Valley sends more than50 per cent of its international passen-gers to the US and Europe, thereby iden-tifying them as knowledge workers andIT professionals. In domestic aviation,more than 60 per cent of travellers areon business while the others are on per-sonal or leisure travel. So, it was only aptthat the airport be designed to suit theneeds of the time-stretched businesstraveller or frequent flier.

From the time the airport opened, ithas received positive, and often enthusi-astic feedback, from passengers as wellas the airlines. For all of them, the infrastructure at the new airport comesas a long-sought change as it is efficientand at par with international standards.

The airport has already generatedapproximately employment for 7,000people. This trend will continue with thefurther development of the airport.

Just to explain this further, in theyear 2007, IATA announced that thelivelihoods of 32 million people acrossthe globe were tied to aviation, account-ing for $ 3.5 trillion in economic

ENSURING CONNECTIVITY: Interior of an aerobridge at the airport.

BIAL ALSO RECEIVEDTHE ISO 14001:2004CERTIFICATION, ANOFFICIAL RECOGNITIONOF THE AIRPORTMANAGEMENT'SCONSTANT EFFORTSTOWARDS A GREENERAIRPORT.

EASY ACCESS: Business passengers accessing free Wi-Fi internet at Bengaluru airport.




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activity. For hub airports, the thumb rulestates that 1000 jobs are generated inthe aviation industry for every millionpassengers. Going by this fact alone, theIndian aviation sector will emerge as asignificant employment generator of thecentury. In addition to that we estimatethat airport city will provide some 60,000 - 100,000 jobs.

Between now and 2015, air traffic atBengaluru International Airport is esti-mated to increase from thecurrent 11.5 million passen-gers annually to approximate-ly 17 million passengers. Inkeeping with this rapidly-growing passenger traffic,Terminal 1 (T1) of the airportwill be expanded to provideenhanced capacity and opera-tional performance. Theexpansion is scheduled to becompleted in 18 months fromthe commencement of its con-struction.

The existing building willbe extended in such a way asto give the entire complex a new lease of life, effectively producing a new design; stronger architecture.Designed by architecturalfirm HOK, along with severalleading international archi-tects, planners, urban design-ers, landscape architects andengineering consultants, theexpanded T1 will sport anenhanced and modern designelevation.

The total terminal areawill be spread over approxi-mately 1,34,000 sq m. Thearchitectural concept is basedon the idea of a dramaticswooping and curving roof,under which the buildingresides. The roof is the unify-

ing element for both the new and theexisting facilities, bringing both togetheras one composition. It also forms a dra-matic canopy to the main entrance,offering passengers and public a giantcovered area, protected from the weath-er elements. The undulating wave formprovides the terminal with greater phys-ical presence.

At the Bengaluru International Air-port, change is a constant. The airport

constantly upgrades itself, always meet-ing and often exceeding world stan-dards. The airport will complete threeyears of successful operations on May 24this year. Achieving the dream of givingBengaluru an airport of world-class stan-dards, which has proved its operationalefficiency has not been an easy one. Allthis was made possible through therelentless commitment and enthusiasmof the thousands of people involved in

making the project successful. BIAL welcomes and actively

seeks the involvement in theairport’s development. Soonafter announcing the expansionof the existing Terminal 1, theairport operator launched the‘Smile Bengaluru’ campaign.This was an opportunity for thecity’s residents and airportstakeholders to share theirthoughts and ideas on how theywould like to see the expandedT1. After all, it is the needs ofthe Bengaluruan that the air-port serves. The launch of thecampaign was testimony to theinclusive approach of involvingthe local community with theairport project. The ideas andsuggestions that the airportmanagement received will beconsidered to shape the futureof the expanding airport.

With this campaign, Ben-galuru International Airportbecame the first airport in thecountry to seek public opinionon what the travelling publicwould like at their airport. Acampaign strongly promotedon the social media platformsas well as outdoor city hoard-ings, radio and the airportspaces itself included a largeaudience. For suggestion, pas-sengers and citizens were

SHOP AND HOP: (L-R) Outside and inside view of a duty free shop at Bengaluru airport.

NO COMMUNICATION GAP: Users providing feedbackto an airport staffer.


encouraged to log on towww.smilebengaluru.com and posttheir ideas. All comments were trans-parent and viewable by all, in fact,readers could even vote for an idea thatthey liked.

The management envisions the airport city to be a flourishing destina-tion in itself; people will not only comehere to take flights but also to relax, dobusiness and shop. It will providegrowth giving a strong impact on econ-

omy and creation of jobs. The landside development of the

Bengaluru International Airport is visu-alised as a microcosm of ‘structure of acity’. The development is visualised asflow of activity, density from the ‘CBDof development, i.e. near the Terminalcenters’ radiating outwards ‘represent-ing the suburbs of city’. The conceptenvisages flow of high density develop-ment from the terminal area to low-density development as moved away

from the central area and the terminal,which represents the hub of the busi-ness district. There is a transition (ofactivities, density, etc.) between the twocenters with other link spaces/areasvisualised as concept.

The airport authorities have con-ceived the proposed landside develop-ment by the end of 2020 for the airportcity. Broadly, the proposed preliminarydevelopment mix envisages four sepa-rate concepts as described below:

Centre of Excellence: The Centreof Excellence is expected to catapult thedevelopment into a knowledge-basedhub with a focus on the aviation indus-try. Proposed thought leadership posi-tioning would strengthen and showcasethe knowledge base in line with theBengaluru global brand and create abrand for the airport city.

IT-ITES SEZ: The proposed IT-ITES SEZ will cater to the IT-ITES SEZspace demand of the occupiers. This IT-ITES SEZ will be integrated with Busi-ness District and continue the greenbuilding and energy-efficiency concept.This is envisaged to provide choice tothe occupiers/developers ranging fromlow-density campus type of develop-ment to multi-tenanted flatted develop-ment.

Business District: The BusinessDistrict is visualised to house the head-quarters of the corporate offices. This isenvisaged as a high-density develop-ment integrated with green buildingand energy-efficiency concept. Thedevelopment is envisaged as a semi-enclosed areas comprising walkwayswith plazas on ground connectingpedestrian walkway into the centralarea. The development is also envis-aged to have a roof canopy with contin-uous membrane, energy conservation,utilise photovoltaic panels to supple-ment electricity and thus reduce energyconsumption.



ARCHITECTURAL SPLENDOUR: Outside and inside view at BIAL.

CENTENARY SPIRIT CATCHES ONBengaluru International Airport (BIAL) joined the rest of the country to celebratethe completion of 100 years of Indian civil aviation. The airport operator, togeth-er with its partners and concessionaires, began the celebrations with an auspi-cious lighting of the lamp followed by unveiling of two of the official Civil AviationCentenary Year logos. The two large installations were on display at the terminalbuilding for a month and were created with ambient lighting and revolving bases.The ceremony saw the attendance from the airport authorities, airlines, partnersand the BIAL staff. BIAL will continue the celebrations through the year byactively engaging with passengers, the local community and schools.

Meanwhile, G V Sanjay Reddy, Managing Director of BIAL, was felicitated atthe inaugural function of the centenary celebrations for the significant contribu-tion of the GVK group to the growth of civil aviation in India.

ACKNOWLEDGING THE CONTRIBUTION: BIAL staff during the unveiling ceremony of theCivil Aviation Centenary Year logo at the Bengaluru airport.




{ACI}Central Area: The

Central Area is proposedto house a multi-modalhub and a parking zone.This high flux area willhave maximum movementof people and visualised tohave varying activities atdifferent levels catering to both commercial activi-ties focusing airport passengers and passengeramenities. This area willessentially have mixeddevelopment with transitat ground level and upperlevels catering to retail,F&B and transit hotels tomaximise revenues. Themulti-modal hub is alsoexpected to integrate pro-posed high-speed rail link,also known as BengaluruAirport Rail Link (BARL),internal and externaltransportation hubs.

The concept for theoverall development is tohouse the high-end occu-piers under aviation, pre-cision engineering andtechnology sectors andthe subsidiary link-upoffices.

In conjunction withthe real estate develop-ment plan and theapproved SEZ, the airportwill support various busi-nesses related to aviation that derive val-ue from being located at or near the air-port. These include airline maintenanceand third-party MRO (MaintenanceRepair and Overhaul) facilities, aircraftspare parts inventory and storageincluding avionics, aviation trainingacademies, aircraft simulators, segmentsfrom the value chain of the air cargobusiness and offices for aviation-relatedbusinesses. Low-end manufacturing andassembling related to the aviation indus-try may also find presence at the airportof immense benefit.

Even on the cargo front, the airporthas taken large strides. The two cargowarehouse operators, Air India andSATS and Menzies Aviation with Bob-ba Group have their state-of-the-artcargo infrastructure and provide excel-lent storage and processing units forboth perishables and non-perishables;they are responsible for the design,construction, financing and operationof a cargo facility of international stan-

dards and much of the growth is credit-ed to their high performance stan-dards.

Bengaluru being one of the largestexporters of cut flowers and a providerof high-quality floricultural productsin the country, it becomes very essen-tial to preserve the product qualityduring export. Apart from careful han-dling of the horticultural productsbeing exported, both the cargo termi-

nal operators providecold storage to ensurethat the cold-chain forhorticultural products isnot broken.

Adding to these facili-ties, BIAL’s efforts toensure government agen-cies such as animal andplant quarantine and drugcontrollers at the cargowarehouses have beeninstitutional for theincrease of cargo growthin the recent past. The car-go village at the BengaluruInternational Airport isalso fully functional, cater-ing to the trade better andsubsequently contributingto the growth. From anindustry perspective,imports have also growntremendously due to ahigh demand in automo-bile and engineeringindustry. New freighterslike FedEx, Deccan 360and Blue Dart’s newroutes have also con-tributed to the increase incargo output.

The airport and thecity complement each oth-er. The rapid growth of thecity — particularly the ITand BT sectors — has ledto the booming air trafficvolumes in Bengaluru.

Therefore, there was the need for a big-ger airport. A bigger and better airporton the other hand attracts new airlinesand new companies, correspondinglyincreased employment and economicgrowth.

Currently, there are over 7,000people working at the airport. In thenear future, BIAL’s vision is to alsodevelop an ‘Airport City’ as a destina-tion in itself and create a premier busi-ness, retail and entertainment hub.This area, then, will be a well-balancedmix of office parks, retail, entertain-ment and hospitality.

The state has also allocated signifi-cant budget for improvement of infra-structure in and around the airport.Major IT companies are also lookingfor land near the airport to set up officespace. Even the retail industry is wit-nessing the emergence of Air TravelRetail as a new format to reach out totarget audiences marking a significantchange.

STICKING TO BASICS: Check-in counters at the airport allow passengers tohave good service and facilities.

BIAL’S VISION IS TO ALSO DEVELOP AN ‘AIRPORT CITY’AS A DESTINATION IN ITSELF ANDCREATE A PREMIERBUSINESS, RETAILAND ENTERTAINMENTHUB.


What are your priorities for Bengaluru International Airport?While the vision of the Bengaluru International Airport is to become the Gateway to South India, the focus of theairport is constantly on maintainingoperational excellence, minimizing costsand on continuous improvement. Ourimmediate objective is to develop andmodernise the airport infrastructure toprepare the airport to handle the nextwave of growth in the aviation industry.

We understand that the airporthas plans to expand. Can you givesome details and the time frame?Between now and 2015, the air traffic atBengaluru International Airport isestimated to increase from the current

10.6 million passengers annually toapproximately 17-20 million passen-gers. In keeping with this rapidly growing passenger traffic to and fromBengaluru, the Terminal 1 (T1) expan-sion of the Bengaluru International Airport will enhance capacity and operational performance. The expan-sion will double the available floor spacein comparison to the existing terminal.This construction is scheduled to becompleted in 18 months from the com-mencement of construction, which isscheduled to begin in the comingmonths.

The existing building will beextended in such a way so as togive the entire complex a newlease of life, effectively producing a new design;stronger architecture.Designed by architecturalfirm HOK, along with


G V SANJAY REDDY, MANAGINGDIRECTOR, BIAL, ON THEPERFORMANCE OF THE BENGALURUAIRPORT AND THE FUTURE PLANS.


“Our constant focus is on maintaining operationalexcellence”


several leading international archi-tects, planners, urban designers,landscape architects and engineer-ing consultants, the expanded T1will sport an enhanced and mod-ern design elevation.

The total terminal area willspread across an area of approxi-mately 1,34,000 square meters.The architectural concept is basedon the idea of a dramatic swoopingand curving roof, under which thebuilding resides. The roof is theunifying element for both the newas well as the existing facilities,bringing both together as one com-position. It also forms a dramaticcanopy to the main entrance, offer-ing passengers and public a giant cov-ered area, protected from the weatherelements. The undulating wave formprovides the terminal with greater phys-ical presence.

The airport has performedadmirably last year. How have youachieved this success?BIAL is fortunate to be operating in acity like Bengaluru, a city with a robusteconomy. Post-recession, industries likeInformation Technology, garment andR&D have recovered relatively fastreflecting the positive impact whichincludes travel. BIAL, on the otherhand, concentrates on making the envi-ronment friendly for the airlines. Wework closely with them to provide ade-quate and cost effective facilities andsolutions.

Adding to the increasing passengertraffic, the introduction of several

new international airlinesincluding Dragonair, Tiger Air-

ways, Air Arabia, Oman Air,Qatar Airways, Saudi Air-lines, Air China, Silk Air andAir Asia have been encour-aging. With these introduc-tions, BIAL has now openeddoors to newer routes offer-ing passengers with a host ofairlines and cabin classes tochoose from to a particulardestination. We have been

able to attract over 10 new air-lines taking the total number of

airlines to 32, and connectingthe city and the state to 49 desti-

nations directly. Of course, thisdoes not include the numerous

connecting flights that lead to oth-er destinations, both internationally

and within the country.

In addition to these new airlines,carriers such as Emirates, increased thedaily frequency to three daily flights. Anew airline that began operations fromthe Bengaluru International Airport inearly 2011 is Etihad Airlines to AbuDhabi.

In keeping with the demands ofgrowing air traffic, the airport has alsomaintained its focus on operational effi-ciency and customer service, resulting inseveral awards and accolades, including

receiving the platinum certificationfrom IATA for becoming the first airportin India to be 100 per cent Bar CodedBoarding Passes (BCBP) compliant.This is testimony to the fact that BIALhas, and will continue to, pioneer bestpractices in the industry. BIAL alsoreceived the ISO 14001:2004 certifica-tion, an official recognition of the airport management's constant effortstowards a greener airport and city. InMay 2010, BIAL received ISO 27001certification for Information SecurityManagement System Standards. In2010, Bengaluru International Airportwas acknowledged with the title of theBest Emerging Airport - Indian Sub-continent by Emerging Markets Airports Awards (EMAA) hosted by theacclaimed Airport Expo, Dubai. Ben-

galuru International Airport wasdeclared the winner post the tabula-tion of the poll results from industrychiefs and leader s across the worldairports.

What are your plans toenhance Bengaluru's connec-tivity in the domestic market?While the focus across airlines is toincrease frequencies on account ofgrowing demand in the domesticmarket, BIAL looks to attractdomestic airlines by providing thema quick turnaround through itsoperational efficiency, its award-winning IT infrastructure and concepts like AOCC which is an

industry first. In addition, the airportalso aims to provide sufficient infra-structure facilities like parking bays. Ona more regional basis, BIAL providesmarketing support through incentivesand tie-ups with local tourism bodies toprovide sufficient passenger base for anairline to operate from the city.

You want your airport to be thehub of the region. How do youplan to go about that?In addition to my response to the earli-er query, apart from the trunk routesconnecting the metro cities, there is a

tremendous growth potential forregional connectivity. Bengaluru hasthe best network, connecting airportsin South India and this only keepsgrowing with addition of new regionalairports by the domestic airlines.

A responsive government couldgive BIAL the push it requires toget into the big leagues. Whatmore do you expect from the government?BIAL has been fortunate to have a verypositive and supportive relationshipwith the State Government. The Stategovernment has so far been veryresponsive to the needs of the airportand has supported us as equal stake-holders in fulfilling the variousrequirements of the airport. Going for-ward, support for better connectivitybetween the airport and the city will bethe most important expectation fromthe state government. Efforts toimprove the road access to the airporthave to continue in the coming years.Within a few years we need to have anadditional highway and for environmental and capacity reasons, a dedicated rail link to the airport.


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AT THE HELM OF AFFAIRS: ATC tower at the airport.

BIAL IS FORTUNATETO BE OPERATINGIN A CITY LIKEBENGALURU, ACITY WITH AROBUST ECONOMY.





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The new Ground HandlingPolicy (GHP), which wasannounced in 2007 and hadbeen missing the deadlineeach succeeding year due to

opposition from scheduled domesticcarriers, has finally been implemented(April 1). The government has instruct-ed all airport operators to gear up forimplementation of the policy, which wasformulated in 2007 to enhance safetyand security. After being deferred threetimes, the DGCA had notified in June2010 that the new GHP was likely to beimplemented in January 2011.

Then the Federation of Indian Avia-tion (FIA) obtained a stay from the HighCourt against the policy that has beenfinally vacated by the Court. The courtupheld a Cabinet Committee on Security(CCS) decision restricting airlines likeJet Airways, Kingfisher and IndiGofrom activities like baggage handling,cargo scanning, taxing, refuelling andcleaning of the aircraft among others.Private airlines, however, haveapproached the Supreme Court and thematter is to be heard on April 4.

As per the policy, it was decided that in the six metro airports—Delhi,

THE GROUND HANDLING POLICY (GHP), WHICH WAS A NON-STARTER EVER SINCE IT WAS ANNOUNCED, WILL BESEEN IN OPERATION FROM APRIL 1. THERE HAD EARLIER BEEN PROTESTS FROM AIRLINES, SPECIALLY LCCS. THESECARRIERS HAD, AMONG OTHER THINGS, PROTESTED THAT HANDING OVER GROUND HANDLING TO THIRD PARTYPROVIDERS WOULD ROB THEM OF THEIR USP. R KRISHNAN WONDERS WHAT THE FUTURE SCENARIO COULD BE…

Ground Handling ready to roll

OONN TTHHEE RRAADDAARR:: The new ground handling policy will provide much needed support to ground handling staff.

Pho

to:

H.C

. Tiw

ari

Ground Handling.qxd 4/5/2011 10:31 AM



{ACI}Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabadand Bengaluru — none of the domesticairline operators would be allowed to doself-handling. The Union Cabinet andthe Cabinet Committee on Security,while granting approval to the newGround Handling Policy had laid downthat there would be three specialistground handling companies in each ofthe six airports, namely Air India and itsJV partner (foreign ground-handlingcompany with a lot of expertise in thefield), the airport operator-led JV and athird independent company, whichwould provide ground support services,subject to that JV winning the bid in therespective airport falling in the categoryof the six metro airports.

As for the existing Kolkata andChennai airports, since state-owned Air-ports Authority of India (AAI) has beenretained as the operator, it selectedMessrs Bhadra International, as itspartner, based on revenue-sharing bids.Bhadra International will provideground-handling services in Chennai

and Kolkata. Besides, there will be AirIndia and its JV partner and anotherthird independent ground-handlingoperator as in the other four metro air-ports mentioned above.

When the deadline was approachingto implement the ground-handling poli-cy from January 1, 2011, the Federationof Indian Airlines (FIA), approached theDelhi High Court in December 2010,seeking the declaration of the newground-handling policy, as null andvoid, as its implementation would ham-per the airlines’ business interests.

The airlines have maintained thatsuch restriction would affect their abili-ty to distinguish themselves from rivalsand render ground-handling equipmentworth hundreds of crores of rupees use-less. The civil aviation ministry had for-mulated the new ground handling policybased on the security concerns in theface of terror attacks. The policy, howev-er, could not be implemented as airlineslobbied against it and argued that it

would add to the cost of the alreadybleeding industry.

The FIA, whose membershipincludes all the domestic carriers, con-tended that member-airlines could effi-ciently manage their ground-handlingservices of their aircraft as at present.Moreover, the airlines would also beforced to retrench nearly 30,000 work-ers, who are associated with ground-handling work, on behalf of these carri-ers all over India.

However, Air India, which is also amember of FIA, kept out of this chal-lenge — as a major beneficiary of thenew ground-handling policy — since itwould help in enriching its exclusiveground support division.

At the time of filing this report, theairlines do self-handling like generaladministration, baggage, freight andmail handling, loading and unloading ofaircraft, crew, passenger and baggage

and fuel handling besides catering services. According to official sources,the domestic carriers had earlier prom-ised that they would go along with thenew ground-handling policy after it wasstalled earlier and that was the reasonfor the DGCA to notify that the new policy would become effective from January, 2011.

Instead, the airlines chose to chal-lenge the new policy in the Delhi HighCourt. The airlines, on the other hand,had a legitimate fear that handing overtheir ground-handling functions toindependent companies, would takeaway the airlines’ control over their cost,efficiency, scalability, and managementof ground-support activities. The Cen-tre, on the other hand, feared that allow-ing too many personnel on the airporttarmac and other restricted/technicalareas could pose serious security risks.

Even as this debate continued, theBureau of Civil Aviation Security(BCAS), had written to the Ministry ofCivil Aviation much before the airlinessought judicial intervention that itwanted the airlines not to provideground-handling services and in thiscontext listed at least 13 security-relatedfunctions, which included access to air-craft, screening of baggage and securitysearch at various airport points to beprovided by official agencies. As allknow, the Central Industrial SecurityForce (CISF), in all the airports in the country, provides all the security-related functions.

A bigger fallout of this policy imple-mentation may be the fate of the so-called or estimated 30,000 ground sup-port division workers, who are workingin various airports on behalf of the pri-vate airlines. The Executive Director,Bird Group, Ankur Bhatia, in an earlierinterview had said: "The fear of the air-lines that their staff will lose jobs wasunfounded, as they will be absorbed bythe new ground-handling companies,which will be doing exactly their job."

Incidentally, Bhatia has got his ownventure, Ground Global, which isalready in one of the metros. However, ifpeople lose jobs because of the new pol-icy, what will the new Civil AviationMinister Vayalar Ravi, a self-confessedtrade unionist, say? Soon after takingover, he said, he was a trade unionistand would ensure that the public sectorAir India would be nursed back tohealth. Will his trade unionism beginand end with state-owned enterprises orwill it be, in line with workers anywhereor workers everywhere?

THE CIVIL AVIATIONMINISTRY HADFORMULATED THENEW GROUNDHANDLING POLICYBASED ON THESECURITY CONCERNSIN THE FACE OFTERROR ATTACKS.




{ACI}There is also the ‘chaos’ factor that

airlines constantly talk about to movethe goal posts. Their argument is thatthe nominated ground handler won’t beable to do the job. But, if they are able todo the same thing across the globe, whynot in India?

A bit of history In October 2007, the Union Governmentannounced a new GHP. It said the policywould not be implemented for one year -till December 2008 - to give time todomestic airlines to make way for analternative arrangement. Thus, it was tobecome effective from January 1, 2009,by then only the following companieswere to be permitted to provide groundhandling services at six Indian metro air-ports — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chen-nai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — (i) Air-port operator that is either AirportsAuthority of India (AAI) or the privateoperator managing the relevant metroairport in a Joint Venture (JV) with aknown ground handling agency, (ii) AirIndia which has already tied-up withSATS; and (iii) Private GH agent.

Of the six metro airports, four arebeing managed by private entities:Hyderabad and Delhi by a consortiumled by the GMR group, Mumbai andBengaluru by the GVK group. As forKolkata and Chennai airports, they con-tinue to remain under the AAI which isspending over a billion dollars for theirupgrade and modernisation.

AAI appointed Bhadra Internation-al, a unit of TDI in JV with a Danishcompany, to provide ground handlingservices in Chennai and Kolkata. AAIhas given out GH contracts to new agen-cies in the four regions - namely west-ern, southern, eastern and northernregions, respectively. However, exceptfor Chennai and Kolkata (as they arepart of the six metro airports) — whereairlines are barred by the new policy ofno self-handling, no such bar had beenimposed in non-metro airports. Consid-ering the rapid pace of urbanisation innon-metros, there is a high probabilitythat cities like Ahmedabad, Coimbatore,Trichy, Goa, Nagpur, Thiruvanathapu-ram, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jaipur, etc.would become important businesspropositions. In a way, as a result of thenew arrangement and induction of newGH agents by AAI, one could — for thefirst time — get to see a sea change inGH facilities in these airports.

As per the GHP details, apart fromthe concerned airport operator, be itAAI or the private operator, ground

handling services could also be providedby the ground handling subsidiary of thenational carrier Air India or its JV and athird independent ground handlingcompany selected by competitive bid-ding subject to security clearance. Con-sequently, there would be a maximumof three ground handling companiesthat would operate at a given airport.Hence, any ground handling agency orcompany that was operating at the sixmetro airports but not meeting theabove criteria had to close shop byDecember 2008. However, this did nothappen and the implementation of thenew policy has to be postponed twice. Itis also learnt that the government had topostpone the GHP implementation forthe third time because of the dire finan-cial straits of domestic carriers sufferingfrom the after effects of the economicdownturn.

Further, there was also an issue oflabour and what to do with the surplusGH staff at various airports who couldbe either permanent or contractual staffof the airlines.

However, with the revival of theIndian economy along with a rise in pas-

senger loads, perhaps, the governmenthas had a re-look at the policy and notthe policy per se. After all, the GHPcould not have been framed or receivedCabinet approval without properdebate. Those wanting development of astrong airport infrastructure believethat the new GHP should be implement-ed as it was one of the important ingre-dients of a new airport’s business plan.

It is believed that if the governmenthad summoned courage to implementthe Ground Handling Policy (GHP) ear-lier, perhaps the business plans of newplayers could have begun to unfold andthat of airlines with really no right toself handle in the six metro airportswould have begun to fold up. The policywas to have come into force from January 1, 2010. But following protestsby domestic airlines — that third partyground handling would lead to sackingof a few thousand airline employeesengaged in ground handling, jack upcosts at a time when they were cuttingevery available corner to stay alive — theGHP was postponed yet again.

Under the proposed new GHP regu-lation, airlines are not allowed to self-handle at these six metro airports asmany of them were doing. In fact, whilee domestic airlines were earlier allowedto do self-handling at non-metro air-ports, no foreign carrier was allowed todo self-handling. There were murmursof protest about the special treatmentfor metro airports when security was anequally important objective at non-metro airports as well. Was the revenuestream of AAI which has been strugglingto raise funds for its own airport mod-ernisation not important?

Then, why were more playersallowed to do self-handling at non-metro airports? A Centre for Asia

SSTTRROONNGG GGUUAARRDD:: CISF provides all the security-related functions in all the airports.

IT IS ALSO LEARNTTHAT THEGOVERNMENT HADTO POSTPONE THEGHPIMPLEMENTATIONFOR THE THIRD TIMEBECAUSE OF THEAIRLINES’ DIREFINANCIAL STRAITS.


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{ACI}

Pacific Aviation (CAPA) study showedthat domestic airlines objected to thenew GHP as they felt awarding theirground handling job to third partyGround Handlers would lead to: (i) lossor dilution of control over service quali-ty as airlines feel the first point of inter-face between passengers and airlinestaff is at the check- in counter/gate andinduction of a third party on airlines’behalf will dilute its USP; (ii) airlinesstated that they are not too concernedabout the impact of outsourcing rampactivities but were not willing to tradetheir USP like on-time performancewhich they fear could happen as onecould not expect the third party GHprovider to treat all the airlines as theirown respective staff do; (iii) while air-lines doing self-handling could cut coston their own self-handling, this may notbe the case when a third party is doingthe job leading to rise in costs; and, (iv)limiting the number of ground handlersto three is limiting competition. Inci-dentally, what an airport operator or aground handler can charge for variousground handling services is now animportant matter awaiting examinationand resolution by the newly set up Avia-tion Economic Regulatory Authority.

Independent Ground Handlers hadstated at that time that they would makehuge investments in GH equipment toenhance service quality and efficiency. Ifairport infrastructure is expected to suckin a few billion dollars in investmentthen it would be a total distortion if suchinvestments were not made in groundhandling, a very crucial aspect of airportmanagement, that includes a drasticreduction in down time or turnaroundtime for aircraft and thereby increase the

rate of aircraft movement. This aspect,then, of airport revenue stream could notbe wished away.

The ground handling agencies whichhad been shortlisted had also com-plained that they were being forced tocharge higher rates for the services theywere providing or would provide to air-lines because of the high revenue sharethey had committed to the airport opera-tors. Not surprisingly, the airport opera-tors did not agree with this argument asthey pointed out that they had to agree toa very high revenue share with the UnionGovernment to get the concession fromthe government in the first place.

According to the CAPA study, GHagencies pointed out that with theinvestment they were making in state-of-the-art equipment, service quality andefficiency would actually improve. Theyhad argued that what constituted groundhandling in India was not up to globalstandards. While what was being offeredcould seem cost effective and cheap, itdid not conform to the global safety andsecurity standards. In this context, GHagencies stated that there was need for

significant increase in capital outlay inusing airport compliant tractors asopposed to farm tractors as were oftenused at Indian airports.

If India is to have international stan-dard ground handling, then it is aninvestment that will have to be made.Introduction of international best prac-tices and software-based resource alloca-tion systems will lead to greater efficien-cies in the utilisation of equipment. Atone time, last year, Mumbai Airport hadlisted an inventory of more than 90ground power units which was morethan three times for an airport of its size.It is not known if this position haschanged. As for traditional agencies - beit airlines or otherwise - there is over-staffing and the fear of job losses and theresulting airport unrest are what hasbeen bothering policymakers afterannouncing the ground handling policy.

An important trend for ground han-dlers in the context of the Indian markethas been the rapid growth of Low CostCarriers (LCCs) and similar subsidiariesof full service carriers. Today, LCCsaccount for nearly 60 per cent of thedomestic market share or even more.When their negotiation position increas-es it will not be surprising that they mayeven demand competitive bids frompotential GH agencies. Since the airlineswere allowed self-handling and in thecase of LCCs, it was beneficial since itensured a quick turnaround of the air-craft. The LCCs did not want this com-promise by a third party agency provid-ing ground handling and also the cost atwhich it was going to be provided. Werethese issues thought through when theGHP was formulated and approved bythe Union Cabinet way back in 2007?

CCOONNVVOOLLUUTTEEDD PPRROOCCEEDDUURREESS:: Passengers are subjected to additional security checks.

AN IMPORTANTTREND FORGROUNDHANDLERS IN THECONTEXT OF THEINDIAN MARKETHAS BEEN THERAPID GROWTHOF LCCS.


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Charminar: The signature ofIslamic architecture.

TO FACILITATE THE HIGH GROWTH VOLUMES AT METRO AIRPORTS IN THECOUNTRY, NACO, NETHERLANDS AIRPORT CONSULTANTS BV, HAS BEENCOOPERATING WITH AIRPORT OPERATORS TO FIND OUT WAYS TO AUGMENTAIRPORT CAPACITIES. IN TURN, THAT HAS LED TO ENHANCEMENTS IN THEMASTER PLANS OF THE AIRPORTS. A DETAILED LOOK BY JOERI AULMAN.

NACO aids in airportdevelopment

Amajor portion of the volumegrowth in air traffic in thepast decade has taken placeat the metro airports of Delhi,Mumbai and Bengaluru, and

to a lesser degree at Chennai, Kolkata andHyderabad. This has perforce created theneed for major airport development programmes at these cities.

In Hyderabad and Bengaluru, the government opted to rope in the privatesector to build new Greenfield airportsoutside the cities. Of these Greenfield

airport terminals, Hyderabad now sportsa so-called loose fit’passenger terminalfacility that was generiously sized interms of its capacity to meet air trafficdemands. In Bengaluru, the terminalfacility on the other hand, has proved tobe a ‘tight fit’. Shortly before the openingof the facility, NACO (Netherlands Air-port Consultants B.V.) was asked tostudy how the terminal capacity could beaugmented to meet growing passengertraffic demands. This resulted in a reviewof the masterplan and a technical study

NACO Royal Jet FBO General Aviation

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on how the terminal building could bestbe expanded (see image BIAL Master-plan Review). The terminal expansion ispresently under construction.

Private sector engagement was alsosought for Delhi and Mumbai since theinvestment and speed-of-developmentrequired at these metros was such that itwas believed that the public sector alonewould not be able to deliver in time andkeep pace with the tremendous trafficgrowth that was taking place. The AirportsAuthority of India (AAI) retained a minor-ity stake in these developments.

Major challenges that the new pri-vate promoters of airports such as Mum-bai faced were: a lack of terminal capaci-ty, airside capacity and tenancy-prob-lems ranging from legacy carriers andthe military establishment occupyinglarge swathes of land at the airport, tomajor encroachments by slums (espe-cially in Mumbai). The consultants thatthe promoters appointed for masterplanning the airport’s development overthe next decades, such as NACO forMumbai airport, were faced with theHerculean task of solving a Rubik’scube-like puzzle by shifting programmesaround the airport to create the neces-sary extra space for augmenting terminaland airside capacities (see image ‘NACOMumbai Masterplan’).

Indian Aviation marketgrowth potentialWith the economy growing at ahealthy 9 per cent per annum, theIndian Aviation growth story is allset to continue.

The concentration of air trafficgrowth in the major Indian metros(Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai,Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyder-abad) will continue in the futureas these urban centres will contin-ue growing at a tremendous pace

and their economic development willincrease its inhabitants’ propensity to fly.Hans Mohrman, former Managing Direc-tor of Schiphol Management Services andCEO of Terminal 4 at JFK knows like noother airport manager, that as these

airports develop their terminal and airsideinfrastructure in line with the trafficgrowth, they will encounter new chal-lenges that are specific to large-size air-ports that reach a level of complexity nev-er encountered when they were still in themiddle leagues. This will call for ingenuityon the part of the airport owners to tacklethe new challenges and accomodateIndia’s air traffic growth efficiently andsafely in the decades to come. Internation-al benchmarks and lessons learned areput at their disposal by consultants suchas Hans Mohrman and his colleagues atNACO and InterVISTAS to support thesedecision-makers in this daunting task.

The growth of air traffic volumes atthe metro airports, on the one hand, consists of inter-metro traffic (the Delhi-Mumbai sector, for instance, is one of thebusiest sectors in the world), but is alsofuelled by new regional destinations beingconnected to the metros in greater fre-quency. Even though India has the near-largest railway network in the world,many destinations that are riding theIndian economic growth story or have aninert potential for this, have not beenblessed with a rail connection. This is

where regional airports canprovide the necessary inter-connectivity between thesedestinations and the urbancentres which will allowthese regions to fulfil their



{ACI}

A design of a Cargo terminal

Punj Lloyd MRO bid design

BIAL Masterplan review

THECONCENTRATION OFAIR TRAFFIC IN(DELHI, MUMBAI,CHENNAI, KOLKATA,BENGALURU ANDHYDERABAD) WILLCONTINUE IN THEFUTURE .




{ACI}true economic potential. It is parties suchas RAHI (Regional Airport Holding Inter-national), supported by NACO and InterVISTAS that have acknowledged thispotential and are undertaking efforts todevelop such regional (often Greenfield)airports (see image ‘Gulbarga LandsideTerminal’).

Traffic growth will need to be support-ed by fleet-expansion of the Indian carri-ers. This will spell the need to optimisemaintenance costs of an increased fleet ofaircraft. Indian carriers have alreadyrealised the benefits of standardising thetype of aircraft they buy. This has beenIndigo’s policy from the very start and onefinds that even Kingfisher is following suitand cancelling orders for non-standardaircraft types such as their A380-order. Astandardised fleet allows for purchasingspare components in bulk and minimisingthe diversity of skills required for mainte-nance staff. Additionally, several Indiancarriers are considering ‘in-sourcing’ theiraircrafts’ Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul(MRO) services by developing their ownMRO facilities at major airports in Indiasuch as Delhi and Bengaluru. As soon astheir fleet has reached a critical mass, itstarts to become a feasible proposition tomake this investment in maintenancefacility hardware (Maintenance Hangars)and software (skilled staff). As soon asboth are in place, the Indian carriers canstop having their fleets serviced at foreignlocations and reap the benefit of a reduc-tion in non-productive flying hours for itsaircraft flying to and from the foreignlocation and reduced commercial rates formaintenance, since this has become an in-house business.

NACO, Netherlands Airport Consul-tants BV, is at the forefront of this development, having completed sites-tudies for new MRO facilities at Ben-galuru International Airport (BIAL) and

has been supporting Punj Lloyd in itsDesign-Build solutions for a MROHangar development at Delhi Interna-tional airport (DIAL) (see image ‘PunjLloyd MRO Bid Design’). For the Indianprojects, NACO relies on its decades-long experience of designing MROhangars for clients such as KLM, BritishMidlands, Kuwait Airways and XinhuaAirlines at Schiphol, Heathrow, Kuwaitand Bejing Airports, respectively.

As mentioned earlier, many destina-tions that are riding the Indian econom-ic growth story or have an inert potentialfor this, have not been blessed with arail-connection nor a regular scheduledair-service. Yet these areas which can berich in minerals, hydro-power potentialor any other important economicresource, attract the interest of manycorporates who decide to develop indus-tries there that utilise these resources.These are considerable investments andthese corporate chief executives willwant to regularly visit to update them-selves on the progress. This has meant amassive increase in general aviation traf-fic between the metros and these remoteareas. Investing in a private jet for thispurpose gives the added bonus of pres-tige and avoiding the hassle of regularairline travel on routes that are well-served by scheduled carriers. It is theseconsiderations that has resulted in aboom in private jet sales in the Indianmarket. At airports, the necessary infra-structure will need to be put in place tocater to these ‘high flyers’ which willresult in Fixed Base Operator (FBO) ter-minals being developed at major metroairports similar to the Royal Jet Termi-nal NACO designed with KPF at AbuDhabi Airport (see image ‘NACO RoyalJet FBO General Aviation’). Additionallyseveral ‘fly-in-fly-out’ airstrips will beconstructed all accross the Indian mineral belt.

(The writer is India Representative,NACO, Netherlands Airport Consul-tants BV. He was assisted by EmreSerpen, Aviation Expert, Inter VISTASConsulting. Both will be available atBooth No. 23 at the ACI Asia-PacificConference in Delhi.) Gulbarga landside terminal

NACO, NETHERLANDSAIRPORTCONSULTANTS BV, ISAT THE FOREFRONTOF THISDEVELOPMENT,HAVING COMPLETEDSITE STUDIES FORNEW MRO FACILITIES.

NACO Mumbai masterplan


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