International flights from Agartala Airport to Bangkok, Bangladesh will begin soon

The Airports Authority of India recently declared that in the future, Agartala's Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport (MBB) will provide flights to Bangkok via Guwahati, as well as Chittagong and Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The airport is located 20 kilometres north of Tripura and is the second busiest in India's northwestern area. After the Guwahati airport in Assam and the Bir Tikendrajit International Airport in Imphal, Manipur, the MBB airport is the third international airport in the northeast.

 Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport (MBB), Agartala ( Picture Credit: Inside)

"During the Second World War, King Bir Bikram supported and helped the Allied powers, especially Great Britain. He deployed a contingent of the Tripura Army to assist Great Britain. During that time Agartala, Kailashahar and other airports were built to facilitate the Allied powers."Pannalal Roy, Historian & Writer

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the MBB airport on January 4. With 143 passengers on board, its inaugural flight arrived from Kolkata. A new terminal building was inaugurated at the airport. During the ceremony, a  cultural performance was hosted here, with tribal women performing the iconic Hojagiri tribal folk dance. The up-gradation is expected to be completed by mid-2025. After becoming operational, flights from Agartala to Dhaka, Sylhet, Chittagong, Bangkok, and likely to Singapore will be operated.

The airport was built at INR 500 crore, and the new terminal is planned to hold 1500 people during peak hours, with 200 international travellers. The new terminal facility is being hailed as one of the best in the northeast, with all of the modern conveniences.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the MBB airport on January 4

The new terminal of the airport has 20 check-in counters, six parking bays, four aerobridges, conveyor belts, and passenger-friendly modern facilities and amenities like In-Line Baggage System (ILBS), Escalators, Lifts, etc. In addition to the new terminal building, a new parallel taxiway to the runway and two new hangars are being built.

The airport was earlier known as Singerbill Airport and was renamed only in July 2018. The airport sees a massive footfall of Bangladeshi tourists who come to travel the country. The airport is equipped with all modern amenities and is up to international standards.

The commissioning of the new airport terminal was attended by Pratima Bhoumik, the Minister of State. Talking to the media she said that I am delighted to be a part of this historic moment and very fortunate to travel amongst the first passengers.

The Hon'ble minister expressed happiness over the commissioning of NITB for the people of Tripura and said that very soon International flights will start to Dhaka, Bangkok from here. She was among the first passengers to embark from the Airport. A local folk dance HOJAIGIRI by the artists was also performed on the occasion. Minister along with Airport Director greeted the first arriving passengers with packed sweets.

This airport will now cater to about 1500 passengers during peak hours, which is three times the old capacity. This will enable over 5000 passengers’ footfall per day in the coming days. The check-in counters are now increased to 20 were In-Line Baggage Screening (ILBS) system will provide a hassle-free luggage drop facility.

The airport is equipped with four aerobridges for seamless embankment and dismemberment. It also has six parking bays, more than double the previous one. The much-awaited international tag to the airport will soon be a reality once mandatory clearance comes. It will be the third International Airport in North East India after Guwahati and Imphal.

The rapid rise in the Omicron variant COVID-19 cases in India has prompted many citizens who had travel booked during January-March to revisit their plans, and a subset of them have also approached airlines and hotels for cancellations.

A survey conducted by Local Circles, which provides a community-based social network found that though over twice as many citizens were able to get a flight or hotel booking refund due to third-wave-related cancellation as compared to the second wave, the majority still ended up losing money to airlines, hotels, travel websites, and agents. The survey received more than 20,000 responses from citizens residing in 332 districts of India.

Less than one-third of people got a flight cancellation refund

Less than one-third of the people who cancelled their flights owing to the emergence of the Omicron variant-led third COVID wave were able to receive refunds, according to an online survey. For those who were forced to cancel their hotel bookings on account of the same reason, 34% of people could get the refunds.

On an aggregate basis, of those who cancelled flight tickets due to the third COVID wave, only 29% were able to get a full refund from airlines/travel agents, it added. In comparison to the second wave, over twice as many citizens were able to get a flight ticket refund due to third-wave-related cancellations.

Citizens suggest government come up with a Special Policy

The survey found out that of those who cancelled hotel bookings due to the third COVID wave, only 34% were able to get a full refund from hotels/travel agents. On hotel bookings during January-March 2022, 34% said travel agent and/or hotel accepted cancellation and refunded full amount, 13% of respondents received a partial refund and 13% got a very small amount.

When compared to the second wave, over 2.5 times as many citizens were able to get a hotel booking refund due to third-wave-related cancellations. Citizens responding to the survey have been suggesting that the government should come up with a special policy for travel booking refunds till the COVID pandemic is going on, especially for airlines and hotels.

"Due to lack of uniformity in cancellation charges by different airlines and hotel operators, the majority don't approve of the existing travel booking refund policies during the pandemic."Sachin Taparia, Founder, LocalCircles

Top cargo delivery company FedEx wants to take the security of its cargo one notch higher. It has sought permission from the US flying regulator FAA to install a missile-defence system on its cargo aircraft.

There is a strong case for securing cargo jets against heat-seeking missiles. FedEx told FAA that in recent years, there have been incidents when civilian aircraft have been fired upon by man-portable missile systems.

FedEx is proposing to install an anti-missile system that aims to fire infrared lasers toward any incoming missile. The laser would interrupt the missile’s ability to track the aircraft’s heat signature. The plan is to install this system on Airbus A321-200 airplanes.

FedEx requests permission from FAA to equip cargo planes with anti-missile systems

FedEx's submission to the FAA states that "in recent years, in several incidents abroad, civilian aircraft were fired upon by man-portable air-defence systems (MANPADS). This has led several companies to design and adapt systems like a laser-based missile-defence system for installation on civilian aircraft, to protect those aircraft against heat-seeking missiles."

The cargo company is also proposing to build safeguards, to prevent any inadvertent mis-firing or collateral damage. This won't be the first time for an anti-missile safeguard on commercial airlines.

These have been installed in US commercial aircraft way back in 2008. In fact, Israeli passenger airline El Al fitted a missile defence system as far back as 2004. But the threat of missile attacks on airlines and cargo jets is now being increasingly seen as a real one.

Now aviation regulators will hear 45 days of public comment before approving "a system that emits infrared laser energy outside the aircraft as a countermeasure against heat-seeking missiles" on Airbus A321-200 aircraft.

The FAA document says FedEx started the government approval process for modifying A321-200s back in 2019, even though the company does not yet own such aircraft. FedEx has not responded to CNN's request for comment.

The FAA stipulates that any approval must include "means that prevent the inadvertent activation of the system on the ground, including during airplane maintenance and ground handling," since laser accidents "can result in eye and skin damage."

Reason behind this concern

There's a reason for this concern. In 2003, a surface-to-air missile slammed into the left wing of an Airbus A330 operating for DHL just after takeoff from Baghdad. The crew returned to the airport unharmed.

Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 from Tehran to Kyiv was shot down shortly after takeoff by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which later said it mistook the plane for a cruise missile.

A Malaysia Airlines passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down in 2014 while flying over eastern Ukraine, in what international inquiries concluded was a botched operation by Russian-backed separatists.

Cover Image - The Drive

Air traffic controllers typically track airplanes using radar technology, which is only effective for up to 200 miles offshore. After flying farther than 200 miles over the ocean, commercial airplanes are typically out of radar range.

The disappearance of Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330, on Monday, 1 June 2009 and Malaysian Airlines, a Boeing 777-200, MH 370 on 8 March 2014 raised serious questions on as to how state-of-the-art aircraft with advanced technology onboard could possibly vanish without a trace. Although it took two years to find the wreckage of the former, Flight MH370 remains a mystery.

Wreckage of Air France Flight 447

Cars have Global Positioning System (GPS) devices to pinpoint where drivers are when they get lost. Why not have the same technology installed in aircraft? Well, it may not be as simple as that. Nearly all modern planes are fitted with GPS navigation systems today. How sophisticated those communications and navigation systems are is down to individual airlines when they fit out their planes.

Malaysian Airlines MH370 | Businessinsider

Onboard GPS systems are primarily navigation tools for the crew and do not currently enable a constant tracking of a jet by a ground crew at all times.

Planes receive a position signal, but don't transmit that back. This is not a problem when a jet is flying over land or in coastal areas, as it is tracked by radar. Over oceans, radar does not work as it relies on line-of-sight tracking from a ground station.

Airlines often have a contract with a private operator to provide their satellite communications. Some companies pay for it, some have free contractsMichel Roelandt, aviation expert for Eurocontrol, a European air navigation safety organization

Alternative methods of communicating while flying long distances over water

1. High-Frequency Radio

Although an older and less reliable mode of communication. it is, however, still used by countless airliners today. High-frequency radio technology involves relaying the airplane’s location to a network of receivers, which eventually pass the data to air traffic controllers on the ground

2. Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS)

These systems are used to communicate with other nearby airplanes to avoid a midair collision and are not really used to communicate with the ATC.

Wikimedia Commons

Whether an airplane is flying over land or sea, its traffic collision avoidance system will constantly emit a signal. If another airplane encroaches upon the plane’s airspace, both pilots will receive an alert. The pilots can then take the necessary actions to avoid a collision.

3. Satellites

The most common way that airplanes communicate when flying over the ocean, is by satellite communication wherein the flight crew upload the airplane’s location to the satellite, after which the satellite will relay this data to air traffic controllers on the ground.

Reportedly, satellites were found to be non-reliable in cases when aircraft had to fly over remote ocean areas.

Fast forward to 2019, a new technology breaks cover claiming to be able to track all commercial airplanes in real-time, anywhere on the planet.

Tucked inside the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, in what was touted to be a $3 billion project,10 satellites were launched into space to replace 66 ageing communication satellites.

SpaceX Falcon 9 blasts off into space carrying 10 Iridium advanced satellites | Aerion

Seventy percent of the world's airspace has no surveillance. Aircraft fly over the oceans and report back their positions to air traffic control every 10 to 15 minutes at best and in between those periods, no one knows where they areAireon CEO Don Thoma

Aireon CEO Don Thoma | SoundCloud

Aireon, based in McLean, Virginia, was developing the technology to change that even before Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 vanished over the Indian Ocean in March 2014. But a Boeing 777 with 239 aboard disappearing was a wake-up call, prompting years of safety experts demanding change.

The technology may also make it possible for air traffic controllers to allow more flights to be in the air at the same time on busy routes over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It could also allow for more direct flight paths, which means more flights, the potential for fewer delays, and shorter flights to places like Europe.

Space In Africa

It's kind of like changing a tire on a bus going 17,000 miles per hour. With these new satellites that we're putting up, we have more capacity, more processing capability, more memory … so we are taking an old flip phone and upgrading it into a smartphone said Walt Everetts, vice president of satellite operations for Iridium

Watt Everetts | Vice

The satellites launched into space were 10 advanced Iridium Communications satellites, each the size of a Mini Cooper and once active, they'll power satellite phone communications, space-based broadband and carry a device that will solve an issue that's plagued aviation for decades. Iridium is replacing its existing constellation of 66 satellites and 9 spares orbiting the earth built and launched in the mid-90s

Apparently, the technology was also adopted by the Indian aviation fraternity way back in 2019.

The Airports Authority of India has tied up with Aerion to track the exact position of aircraft flying over vast stretches of the Indian Ocean as well as Indian airspace every 30 seconds.

The backbone of AERION'S technology resides on Iridium NEXT constellation of satellites. Eight Iridium NEXT launches on SPACE-X Falcon 9 rockets successfully occurred between January 2017 and January 2019. Iridium is hosting Aerion's specially designed receivers on each Iridium NEXT satellite covering 100%.Aerion website

SOURCE(s)

COVER: Airways Magazine

The father of an Army Aviation pilot who died in a crash in Jammu and Kashmir in 2021 has written to President Ram Nath Kovind, requesting him to make it mandatory for all army pilots to undergo underwater survival training and to equip them with essential life-saving gear.

Harish Chander Joshi's son Capt Jayant Joshi of 254 Squadron of Army Aviation had died in a fatal crash of his helicopter over Ranjit Sagar Dam in Jammu and Kashmir on August 3, 2021 while on a mission sortie.

Ram Nath Kovind, President of India

A pilot of Rudra Weapon System Integrated (WSI) attack helicopter of Army Aviation, Jayant Joshi along with Lt. Col. A S Batth, a test pilot and an aviation instructor, were practising target acquisition and deployment of integrated weapons on the 200-square kilometre dam when the crash took place.

"The crash has exposed many glaring gaps in the safety processes being followed in Army Aviation. It has also apparently revealed an attitude of apathy and disregard in the matter of pilot safety and training needs among those responsible for the affairs of Army Aviation," Jayant Joshi's father Harish Chander Joshi wrote in his letter to the President.

The President's secretariat has forwarded the complaint to the Defence Secretary, according to a communication received by Joshi.

"My question is that if the Rudra was not meant to be flown over water, then why were the helicopters of the squadron being routinely sent to fly over a vast expanse of water that was 25 km long and 8 km wide? This information on the expanse of water was often put out in the public domain by the army's own publicity wing.If that be the case, did anyone responsible for running the affairs of Army Aviation, from top to down the squadron command level, realise the basic survival training needs of the men and provide them with the necessary safety gears before sending them for flying over water? Were they not aware of these needs? Did they not know that their pilots were risking lives by flying over a vast water body every day? They did know but chose to ignore and disregard these critical requirements."Harish Chander Joshi, Father, Late Capt Jayant Jpshi

He questioned whether the Rudra helicopter is meant to fly low to avoid detection and fire by the enemy and fly overground. Why was it being flown over water?

Joshi said he was told that it was the only area available for low flying as it was free from obstacles.

Joshi said flying over water as a routine requires specialised training about depth perception which is different from flying over land due to reflection from the water surface.

"If not trained and while over water, a minute miscalculation about the depth on the part of pilots may cause them to hit the water and crash," he said.

He was told that the court of inquiry found that the team, flying very low and deeply engrossed in acquiring the target, and aligning it on to the integrated weapons, both the pilots did not realise that they were going to hit the water. In plain words, they missed the depth perception and crashed to die, he said.

"In my opinion, since they were not trained for depth perception, the crash was inevitable. This is one version of the circumstances and reasons leading to the crash. There are many eyewitness accounts and CCTV footage and all these present a different story," he said.

He said lack of training, as well as lack of basic safety gears for flying over water, are perhaps to be blamed for this crash.

"Unfortunately, all army pilots fly in the same situation. Those flying over water routinely are trained for underwater escape and survival in case of a crash. Navy pilots are provided with this training. These pilots are also provided with life-saving jackets so that they float and are rescued in case of a crash over water," he said.

He was a pilot of Rudra Weapon System Integrated (WSI) attack helicopter of Army Aviation.

Joshi said that had basic life-saving gear in the form of a life jacket been provided to his son, he would have floated on the water surface and could have been rescued to the nearest medical facility by the locals and the rescue boats of the dam authorities that had reached the crash site within 15 minutes of the crash.

"Deprived of a life jacket, he was killed and went into the waters. The other pilot also met the same fate. Chances of their survival were reduced to zero due to the criminal negligence to pilot safety and survival. Due to this criminal negligence, his body could be retrieved only after a 76-day-long search," he wrote.

Indian Army Aviation Corps

Joshi requested the President to make it mandatory for all army pilots to undergo underwater survival training and also equip them with the essential life-saving gears, and ensure life-saving skill up-gradation through periodic training modules. Their flying machines should also be made float worthy.

Joshi also asked the President to fix accountability for the death of his son and the other pilot and those responsible for violation of safety norms, apathy and complete disregard to pilot safety and survival training be brought to book and commensurate action be taken against them.

(With Inputs from PTI)

Ma Jian, a China Southern Airbus A380 pilot, spent 189 days and 4,536 hours in quarantine during 2021, and was aptly named the “King of Quarantine.”

On Thursday, January 13, China Southern Airlines tweeted a photo of Ma Jian, the airline’s 2021 “King of Quarantine.” He is an Airbus A380 captain.

https://twitter.com/CSAIRGlobal/status/1481813324027289601

In 2021 he spent 189 days or 4,536 hours in isolation due to the travel restrictions imposed by the Chinese Government to prevent new COVID-19 cases. China Southern Airlines posted a Ma Jian photo to celebrate the “great sacrifice and dedication” of its crew during the COVID-19 pandemic, reported FlightGlobal.

“Every China Southern Airlines pilot knows that they maintain the stability of the international logistics supply chain and have become a symbol of China’s national strength during the epidemic.”China Southern Airlines

Even though he was spending 189 days in isolation, Jian was on duty approximately 75 days in 2021. Ma Jian completed 505 hours of flying, about one hour of work for every five hours he spent in quarantine.

While he was working, Ma Jian delivered thousands of passengers and supplies around the world onboard the superjumbo A380, said China Southern on social media.

China has imposed severe travel restrictions in the last couple of years. The country has set a zero-COVID policy and has tight border controls. This has impacted the services airlines can offer.

For pilots like Ma Jian, the long stretches under quarantine can be lonely and challenging. Nonetheless, many people are going through more difficult times than them, Ma Jian said. He added that they can go home after each quarantine and hug their families.

Approximately 30 A380 pilots working with China Southern Airlines have been quarantined for more than 300 days each in the last two years. Additionally, many Boeing 777 pilots were also under quarantines for more than 170 days last year.

Flight attendants don’t have it any easier, though. For example, Liu Hui, a flight attendant for the carrier, spent 310 days in quarantine the last couple of years.

China Southern Airlines is currently the world’s fifth-largest airline and the largest in China

According to OAG, China Southern Airlines is currently the world’s fifth-largest airline and the largest in China. The carrier is behind American Airlines, Delta, Southwest, and United.

China Southern Airlines’ main route at the moment goes between Shenzhen and Shanghai, with 401 scheduled flights. Guangzhou-Beijing has 400 scheduled flights in the month.

Approximately 32% of all China Southern Airlines flights are operated with the carrier’s Boeing B737-800 fleet. The airline uses its Airbus A320 fleet on 28.5% of all flights. Meanwhile, it only has 31 scheduled flights using the Airbus A380, or just 0.04% of the airline’s services this month.