CHENNAI FLIGHTS

Called ‘driver’ by CISF official, Air India pilots stay grounded

Kolkata, September 23 Following a brawl between an Air India pilot and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials, members of the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) decided not to fly in and out of the city on Tuesday. The incident took place when an Air India pilot, Captain M K Singh, was heading for the Bagdogra flight around 1 pm. According to sources, there was a tiff between the pilot and a CISF personnel about his cabin baggage at the security check point. In a fit of rage, one of the CISF personnel allegedly called the pilot a “driver” and did not apologise as was demanded by Singh. According to sources, blows were exchanged and onlookers had to interfere to end the brawl. The pilot decided not to fly the aircraft and the Bagdogra flight was delayed by more than two hours. Following this, within two hours, members of the ICPA decided not to operate flights in and out of Kolkata. “One of our captains was assaulted and manhandled by CISF personnel. We have demanded an assurance from the airport management that such incidents will not be repeated in future. We have decided not to fly till the issue is resolved,” said R Khiangte, general secretary of ICPA (eastern region). Though Air India flights were delayed till late in the evening, they were being operated by airport management pilots and co-pilots who were on probation. A Delhi-bound flight had to be cancelled and a Chennai-Bangalore flight had to be clubbed. However, after a meeting between CISF and ICPA the issue was amicably resolved late in the evening. Air India will resume its flight opration as per schedule from Wednesday. On an average, 30 Air India flights operate in and out of Kolkata everyday. Both captain Singh and the CISF personnel have lodged complaints at the airport police station. Ealier, in April this year, Air India pilots had threatened to go on a strike after Captain Rajat Rana was allegedly called a “driver” by Kerala parliamentarian PV Abdul Wahab, after the pilot accused him of delaying the flight and refused to fly with him on board.

In two years, you can fly in on A-380

Chennai will be ready to receive the wide-bodied Airbus-380 aircraft in another 26 months, with the shoulders of the main runway getting widened, as part of the Rs 1,800-crore airport expansion project. A secondary runway that can handle simultaneous landing will also be a reality then, as it is being expanded. Work on the airport expansion is all set to begin as about 130 acres of land across the Adyar river has been acquired. To enhance capacity, parallel taxi tracks and parking bays will be constructed for both the main and secondary runways, besides 25 additional parking bays. A two-level terminal building, with approximately 67,000 sqm on each level, is also a part of the expansion plan, to accommodate an additional 23 million passengers, both in international and domestic sides. Six aerobridges are also being constructed with these terminals. These facilities will host 140 check-in counters and 60 immigration counters. With the increasing passenger traffic, parking capacity for vehicles also need to be taken into consideration. Two multi-level car parks are being constructed, each of which can provide space for 1,300 cars. However, with the expansion project taking off, it is doubtful if the Greenfield airport will come into being immediately, though necessary land has already been acquired for the project. Airline officials groan Even if Airbus-380 manages to land in Chennai, can the airport handle the 600 odd passengers who will be disembarking from a flight, asks representatives of Emirates and Singapore Airlines that have the aircraft in their fleet. “Since the terminal now has the capacity to handle not more than 400 passengers at a time, where will we land the passengers?” the representatives ask. “Where will they check-in? There is no scope until the support system is in place,” said a representative of Emirates. With the number of passengers increasing by the day, every airline operator has a complaint on poor ground level facilities and mediocre infrastructure at the airport. “We receive complaints from passengers almost on a daily basis about the airport facilities,” said a manager of a leading airline. The number of check-in counters is less, resulting in a longer waiting time. The number of immigration counters is also not enough to meet the demand. The number of passengers using the international terminal has increased by 13 per cent since 2006. “There is no floor space at the airport to accommodate this kind of passenger traffic,” say airline operators. Due to lack of aerobridges and parking bays, flights have to wait for their turn. On any given day, if there is more number of flights taking off within a stipulated time, the passenger woes start with congestion at the entrance. “The CISF here is short-staffed. This causes delay at every security point – entrance, in-line scanning, security check,” another operator pointed out. Moreover, only a few women CRPF personnel means women passengers to be frisked have to take a long route to do so. CISF men attribute this problem to the bunching of flights, which, again, is a problem the airport authorities have to deal with. To make processes simpler and more effective, airline operators Committee had requested for a Common User Terminal System (CUTE) which facilitates flight ground staff to access passenger information at multiple check-in counters. “Out of the 33 check-in counters at the international terminal only 17 are CUTE enabled and nine are mobile.We have been pushing for a well connected CUTE system since 2003 but nothing has been done yet,” complained an airline operator. Basic things like sanitation facilities at the airport are in bad shape. Airport toilets are so badly maintained that passengers shudder to use them.

Jet expands codeshare to Manchester

Jet Airways will be expanding its services to Manchester Airport following the extension of its codeshare agreement with Brussels Airlines. The new agreement will be introduced from October 26th 2008 and will see Jet Airways' flights from Manchester redirected via the Brussels Airlines hub in Belgium. Daily flights to Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai in India will be connected by the codeshare and will establish the carrier's second hub in the UK in addition to Birmingham. Jet chief exectuive, Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, said: "We can now offer passengers enhanced connectivity on the India-Europe sector through the hub in Brussels. "This network connectivity has ensured that Jet Airways is fast becoming the carrier of choice for business and consumer passengers on the sector." A number of other routes offered by the airline, including cheap flights to Lyon, Barcelona and Paris will also be included in the codeshare expansion. Jet Airlines currently has codeshare agreements with several other airlines, including American Airlines, Air Canada and Qantas. Jet Airways is also considering merging its subsidiary Jet Lite into the parent company within the next financial year.

aword from oneworld: September 2008

The FINANCIAL -- LAN is first in South America to offer Premium cabin on shorthaul flights: LAN has added a new class, called Premium Economy, on its shorthaul flights - while it is also upgrading its longhaul Economy cabins. Premium Economy, available on its Airbus A320 aircraft family services within South America from this month, offers new cabin and an overall focus on passengers travelling for business on a tight schedule. On the ground, besides on-line check-in, passengers will have preferential check-in lines, boarding and baggage delivery.  They will also have access to LAN's airport lounges and receive a bonus of 25 per cent of the regular frequent flyer mileage awards for each flight.   In the air, it offers 12 seats, with the middle seat in each row of three left empty, with its back folded down to provide more table space. read full story here finchannel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20398&Itemid=1