Pune Airport to lease land from the Defense Ministry to expand its cargo terminal

 The Pune airport expansion project has received a major boost after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) agreed to lease 2.5 acres of defence land parcel and grant working permission to begin work on the cargo terminal at the Lohegaon airport.

In a letter written to Pune Member of Parliament (MP) Girish Bapat, the civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said that the MoD will charge a nominal fee of INR 1 per year and grant working permission to begin work on the cargo terminal at the Lohegaon airport.

“I would like to apprise you that ministry of defence has agreed to charge a nominal lease of INR 1 per annum for the land parcel of 2.5 acres of land on which working permission has been granted; till the land of equal value is transferred to MoD instead of the total land of Air Force required at Pune airport,” Scindia stated in his letter written on February 15.

Earlier in September 2021, Nitin Gadkari, the Union minister for road transport and highways and the chairman of the infrastructure committee of the government of India, had said that the Indian Air Force (IAF) has agreed in principle to handover additional land to Lohegaon airport for its expansion.

In his letter, the civil aviation minister further said, “The two ministries (MoD and civil aviation) are working in close coordination to resolve various pending issues at Pune airport. The letter came days after MoD issued a corrigendum bringing down the lease amount from INR 1.38 crore per annum INR 1.

Pune Airport Is a Major Hub for Covid Shield Vaccine Storage

The additional land will help Pune to augment its cargo facility as the airport has emerged as an important centre as stocks of Covishield vaccine, manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII), are sent out from here. Larger consignments of the vaccine, however, are transported by road to the Mumbai airport and flown from there. The new space would help increase the volumes transported.

The MoD’s decision to give land at a nominal rate was welcomed by Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) president Sudhir Mehta.

The Uttar Pradesh government will purchase 7.9 hectares of land from the villagers to construct a boundary wall circling the upcoming Noida International Airport. Jewar district’s sub-divisional magistrate is in charge of buying the land for the purpose by March 31, 2022.

The state government intends to pay twice the amount of circle rate for the land. The land will be 56 scattered plots instead of a whole land.

According to Arun Vir Singh, the Chief Executive Officer of Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), a portion of the boundary wall is already constructed. The additional purchase is to complete the remaining part.

UP government will purchase 7.9 hectares of land from the villagers to construct a boundary wall circling the upcoming Noida International Airport.

A monitoring committee, comprising officials from the irrigation department, sewage treatment plant, power corporation, district magistrate, a general manager and an officer, are monitoring the day-to-day progress of the work. Barricades are raised around the entry and exit points of the airport.

The government already purchased 1400 hectares of land from the villagers for Noida airport during phase one development. Noida airport will be constructed in four phases and will be the biggest in the country once completed. The airport will have five to six runways spread across 5000 hectares.

Meanwhile, YEIDA has approved the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Noida Pod Taxi Project, which is proposed to connect Greater Noida to Jewar airport. The project, estimated at INR 810 crore, was prepared and submitted by Indian Port Rail and Ropeway Corporation Limited.

Noida Pod Taxi will be a driverless pod taxi with 12 stations between Noida International Airport and Film City in Noida Sector 12. The taxi service will charge Rs 8/km for the rides. The pod taxi will run at a frequency of 20 seconds.

Hi-tech pod taxis are popular in western countries, and they are cost-effective and convenient for passengers. As they are battery-operated, carbon emissions are less, making it a green initiative.

One taxi can accommodate up to six passengers, making it a more viable option than transportations like buses, which will run with empty seats when there are fewer passengers. Moreover, the accident rates of pod taxis are said to be zero.

RSS-affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch Friday, February 25 said the government should not give clearance to the appointment of Ilker Ayci as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Air India "keeping in view national security".

SJM's co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan said the government is "already sensitive" to the issue and has taken up the matter "very seriously".

"We feel that government should not give its permission (to Ayci's appointment) keeping in view national security. I think the government is already sensitive to the issue and has taken up the matter very seriously. I don't think the government will approve it," he told PTI.

SJM's co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan said the government is "already sensitive" to the issue and has taken up the matter "very seriously".

When asked for the reasons why the SJM is opposed to the newly appointed CEO and MD, Mahajan reiterated that it's a matter of national security. "After all, decisions are taken about a person based on his relationships."

On February 14, Tata Sons announced the appointment of Ayci, former chairman of Turkish Airlines, as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Air India.

Announcing his appointment, it said in a statement that Ayci will assume his new responsibilities on or before April 1. The statement also added that Ayci's appointment to the new position is subject to the requisite regulatory approvals.

Since Ayci is a Turkish national, the MHA is expected to take help from the external intelligence agency, R&AW, for his background check.

The Ministry of Home Ministry (MHA) "scrupulously" carries out a thorough background check of all foreign nationals when they are appointed to the key positions of any Indian company.

ALSO READ - MHA to conduct a thorough background check on the newly appointed CEO of Air India

It will be the same process for the newly appointed CEO and MD of Air India as well, official sources have said. Since Ayci is a Turkish national, the MHA is expected to take help from the external intelligence agency, R&AW, for his background check.

Ayci was an advisor of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan when the latter was mayor of Istanbul, from 1994 to 1998. He also served Turkish Airlines as its chairman from 2015 to 2022 and was credited with turning the airline around.

A trainer aircraft crashed in Telangana's Nalgonda on Saturday, February 26. The female trainee pilot, identified as 28-year-old G Mahima from Tamil Nadu, died in the crash. The details of other people on board are yet to be known. 

The aircraft - a Flytech Aviation Cessna 152 - had taken off from Macherla in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. It is believed that it hit an electric pole before crashing to the ground.

The aircraft came crashing down in the fields between Chelakurthi and Thungathurthy village limits. It was flying across the Andhra Pradesh-Telangana border and crashed in an agricultural field in Tungaturthi village of Nalgonda district in Telangana.

The aircraft belonged to a private aviation academy called Flytech Aviation Academy. The victim, G Mahima, was pursuing a commercial pilot course at the institute.

Farmers who were working in their fields at Tungaturthi village of Peddavoora Mandal noticed the aircraft crashing down in the fields and rushed to it. They tried to douse the fire and rescue the pilots on board. Further rescue operation is on.

Eyewitnesses said they saw the aircraft coming from Nagarajuna Sagar's side, crashed and exploded in the fields. "When we rushed to the spot, we saw bodies in them," they said. DGCA's accident investigation team has inspected the crash site and will submit its report on findings soon.

Qatar Airways has asked a UK court to reinstate an order for 50 Airbus A321neo passenger jets that the European planemaker revoked as part of a bitter dispute over the partial grounding of larger A350s, a court filing showed on Friday, February 25.

Failing that, the Gulf carrier is asking a UK judge to award the airline unquantified damages over the planemaker's decision to withdraw what it described as a "unique" plane as it prepares to receive the 220-seat A321neo from February 2023.

ALSO READ - UK court orders Airbus to halt the cancellation of Qatar Airways’ A321neo

The claim is the latest salvo in a months-old contractual and safety dispute that has brought relations between two of the industry's largest players to an all-time low.

Qatar Airways sued Airbus for more than USD 600 million as it prepares for an influx of visitors ahead of this year's FIFA World Cup.

The two sides are at loggerheads over erosion to the painted surface and gaps in lightning protection on A350 jets. In the new filing, Qatar Airways disclosed that a further A350 had been grounded on February 13.

So far, the airline has said Qatar authorities have grounded 21 of its 53 A350s over safety concerns, prompting the airline to sue Airbus for more than USD 600 million as it prepares for an influx of visitors ahead of this year's FIFA World Cup.

ALSO READ - Airbus cancels more A350 orders of Qatar Airways

Airbus has acknowledged quality problems but accused the airline of mislabelling them as safety woes to get compensation. European regulators have said the problems do not amount to an airworthiness issue on the jet, which is not grounded elsewhere.

Airbus had filed documents but declined to provide details ahead of their publication.

As the A350 row heated up, Airbus last month cancelled the order for A321neos, saying Qatar had breached a clause linking the two deals. Days later, Qatar placed a provisional order for at least 25 competing Boeing 737 MAX.

ALSO READ - Qatar Airways signs a deal for 737 Max and new 777X freighters with Boeing

Despite that, Friday, February 25's filing sang the praises of the Airbus model, saying it had no available equivalent in a section designed to support its request to have the deal reinstated.

Qatar also asked the division of London's High Court to order Airbus not to try to resell the A321neos, which are in high demand. Airbus is sold out until 2028 on that model and Qatar would otherwise face "severe disruption," it said.

Airbus has been ordered to preserve the status quo until a hearing due in April. 

Details of the airline's claim emerged as Airbus was expected to issue a counter-claim in the A350 dispute. A spokesperson confirmed Airbus had filed documents but declined to provide details ahead of their publication.

The planemaker has insisted in preliminary hearings that the A350 is safe to fly and suggested its interests could be damaged if it were forced to go ahead and build the A321neos while waiting for the outcome of a potentially long spat.

Even so, Airbus has been ordered to preserve the status quo until a hearing due in April. 

(With Inputs from Reuters)

Air India has allied with Vistara under which both airlines will accommodate each other's domestic and international flyers in case of flight disruption due to some reason. The pact is valid for 2 years.

This ‘interline considerations on irregular operations’ (IROP) agreement will let both Air India and Vistara offer alternative first available flights to lessen the inconvenience caused to the passengers.

"Carriage of passengers shall be on an 'as available' basis as determined by the airport manager of accepting airline," the agreement stated, as quoted by a report published in The Times of India.

Air India and Vistara to fly each other's passengers in case of flight disruptions

Passengers must note that the transferring airline’s baggage allowance as displayed on the original ticket will apply for the flyers accepted by the airline. 

Tata Group, which recently won the winning bid for Air India, has Vistara, a joint venture with Singapore Airlines Ltd. for full-service domestic and international flights. Including these 2, the group has 4 airlines and its major focus will be on synergy and operations of the scale of the airlines.

ALSO READ - Air India and AirAsia India sign an interline passenger transfer agreement

Before its pact with Vistara, Air India signed the same with AirAsia India (AAIPL) for domestic passengers (since it doesn’t operate international flights) two weeks back. Both the pacts are valid for two years.

Tata group will be operating 3 airlines under its umbrella

After Tata's takeover of Air India in January, Bhaskar Bhat, chairman of Tata SIA Airlines, which owns Vistara spoke on the merger of Vistara and Air India.

"Vistara will continue to focus on good customer experiences and to say anything beyond that will be speculation. To say anything beyond that will be speculation. Should Air India and Vistara merge is not an answer I can give. The merger is a strategic subject and best resolved between JV partners."Bhaskar Bhat, Chairman, Tata SIA Airlines (Vistara)

(With Inputs from The Times of India)