http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2006/jun/28inter1.htm

We will give India an airport to be proud of'
The Rediff Interview | G V Sanjay Reddy, MD, MIAL    

 
 
G V Sanjay Reddy, MD, Mumbai International Airport Ltd. Photograph: Jewella C Miranda
 
 
June 28, 2006
How many of us wiggle our nose each time we walk into Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport? How often have we felt that apart from its nomenclature, the airport hardly possesses anything 'international'?
For those who would give anything for a better airport for India's commercial capital, here is a piece of good news: Mumbai International Airport Private Limited has been given the job of revamping and upgrading it as per the global standards.

MIAL is a 74:26 per cent joint venture company between GVK-SA consortium and the Airports Authority of India. The consortium comprises GVK, Airports Company South Africa Limited and Bidvest Group Limited.

MIAL managing director G V Sanjay Reddy spoke at length about his company's plans on the project in an e-mail interview with rediff.com's Indrani Roy Mitra.

While giving the Mumbai international airport a facelift, would you be following any particular model? If yes, what is that?

Mumbai International Airport Private Ltd has partnered with the best in the world to develop, design, construct, upgrade, modernise, operate, maintain, finance and manage Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA).

The development of the airport is going to happen in three phases. The first phase is the 100-day plan, which has been branded as Parivartan to signify the change that will be brought about in the initial days primarily focussed on a few areas.

Parivartan, which is currently underway will focus on specific areas of improvement which include:

Terminals

Kerbside improvements and Terminal entrances
Improved housekeeping & maintenance
Toilet upgradation
Signages, Flight Information Display Systems and Public Address Systems
Transit facilities
Terminal furniture
Opening of the new wing of the Terminal 1B
Fire Safety
Airside

Regulatory Compliance
Safety and Security
Beautification

Cleanliness of all areas and facilities in the airport
Landscaping
HR Initiatives

Employee Communication
Training
Change Management
Cargo

Improve overall facilities and services
The second phase of development would be to upgrade the existing terminals, including Terminal 1A and the Terminal 2, which is the international terminal.

The third phase will be to implement the Master Plan, which will include brand new terminal, runway and cargo complex.

What is the kind of investment you will have to make towards revamping the Mumbai airport? Where will you raise the money?

Over the next seven years, MIAL plans to invest Rs 5,800 crore (Rs 58 billion) towards the modernisation of CSIA.

The modernisation is being done with a debt-equity ratio of 80:20. Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) will be raised through bank loans

What is the traffic at the Mumbai airport like? How do you see it changing over the next few years and what have you planned to accommodate the boom?

The Mumbai airport currently facilitates more than 500 aircraft movements per day, carries around 50,000 passengers daily resulting in handling about 37 per cent of India's air traffic. With over 17.66 million passengers last year and movement of over 490,000 tons of cargo per year, CSIA is the largest airport in India.

It is witnessing a phenomenal growth in traffic, which is much more than anticipated a few years ago. This necessitates the need for upgradation and development of new facilities at Mumbai, which is the top priority of MIAL.

The biggest problem for the Mumbai international airport happens to be lack of space. How do you plan to solve it? How will you counter the encroachment problem?

The space available to Mumbai airport is less as compared to the other international airports in India. This is one of the biggest challenges we have to counter. We will work closely with the government to resolve the encroachments issue.

MIAL has appointed Netherlands Airports Consultants B V (NACO), world's leading consultant in airport design, to assist us to develop the master plan for CSIA. We have also appointed Changi Airport from Singapore to review the master plan and also help in improving the operations and management of CSIA.

The Mumbai airport, as we all know, fails to meet the international standards. Revamping it, therefore, means starting from scratch. Please tell us how you have drawn up the priority-based to do list for the same?

MIAL's priority areas are included in Parivartan. These priority areas are the ones which can be immediately worked upon, improved and which are fundamental to passenger convenience such as cleanliness, kerbside traffic management, toilet upgradation, better signages, furniture, housekeeping and maintenance. We will simultaneously be focusing on employee communication which is equally important for the first 100 days.

What plans do you have for airport ground handling activities?

Currently, the ground handling is taken care of by the airlines and Cambatta. In due course, we will keep you informed if MIAL gets into this business.

Cargo is known to be the major revenue earner for Mumbai international airport. What plans do you have for better handling of cargo services?

As part of Parivartan, we are looking at developing and improving the cargo facilities. Over the time, we will look at a dedicated terminal for cargo operations.

To improve the facilities at the cargo complex, MIAL is looking at modernising and mechanising the entire cargo handling process, which will include handling, storage and retrieval. The plans will be completed in the next four months and we will implement the same in the next 12 months.

You mentioned during a press meet in Mumbai that you see the forthcoming Mumbai metro project facilitating communication to the airport. Could you please tell us what plans do you have in mind? Have you approached the Anil Ambani-backed project heads on this?

We are in talks with the government for linking the Mumbai airport to the Mumbai Metro so as to facilitate passenger movement. We have had no discussions with Reliance (Anil Ambani group) on this project.

There is talk that domestic airport at Mumbai will be shifted to Sahar. Will not that affect people, for there is a perennial jam in that area?

As per the master plan, the domestic terminals will be shifted to Sahar. In most parts of the world, domestic and international flights take off from the same airport. This is convenient for the passengers as well.

In order to facilitate better traffic movement into the airport, MIAL will be looking at developing an elevated expressway that directly connects from the Western Express Highway to the airport. We will also upgrade the existing roads close to the airport.

At the press meet, you also mentioned of building highways to ease Mumbai traffic congestion. Could you please elaborate?

There was no such mention.

As per your agreement with the AAI, you are supposed to absorb all the AAI staff for three years and after which at least 60 per cent of them. May we know what happens to the rest 40 per cent? Do you plan launching a VRS (voluntary retirement scheme)?

According to the operations, management, development agreement, 60 per cent of AAI employees will have to be absorbed by MIAL. We are not disturbing the existing setup. We are working closely with the existing staff and creating better facilities for the airport and employees. The rest of the 40 per cent will continue to remain with AAI.

When and how do you foresee the first phase of work to be over?

The first phase is Parivartan, which is already underway and is for a period of 100 days beginning May 3. It focusses on immediate areas of improvement.

Yours being a 30-year project, how do you see Mumbai airport 30 years down the line?

A world-class airport India will be proud of.

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1041016 
GVK plan to hike Mumbai airport charges rankles airlines

Praveena Sharma
Tuesday, July 11, 2006  22:28 IST

 
BANGALORE: As the modernisation and privatisation of Mumbai airport gets rolling, initial signals that indicate rise in airport charges are scaring off airline operators, who were expecting to lower costs with improved efficiencies and better airport infrastructure.

The proposal of GVK-led private airport operator Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) to raise check-in rentals from the current Rs 6,500 per month to Rs 30,000 per month is not going down well with many carriers, particularly budget airlines, which operate on very thin margins.

“It is not that they are giving us any additional services. It is only being done to improve their revenues and profits. The increase in rentals is not justified,” says a budget airline official.

He argues that with increased check-in counters, MIAL should be reducing rentals. The airport reportedly has around 200 check-in counters, bulk of which are with legacy carriers like Jet Airways, Indian and Air Sahara.

An Air Deccan spokeswoman fears that the increase in airport services charges could later trickle down to landing fee, takeoff fee and others.

“It is merely a proposal at the moment but if it is put into practice, it would hamper our services and we would be forced to pass the higher on to the customers as there is very little scope for absorbing it,” she rues.

And even as Air Deccan has raised objection to the impending increase in costs, it has applied for over 10 check-in counters at the Mumbai airport. But even the process of acquiring infrastructure at the airport has not changed much even after privatisation.

“They are still very slow in responding to us. It has not changed much from what it was when it was state-owned,” says SpiceJet Ltd airport manager Rajesh Singh.

However, Singh confesses that the waiting time for landing at the airport has come down drastically from over an hour to around 20-30 minutes after the privatisation. This translates into saving on fuel costs.

Meanwhile, the MIAL officials do not rule out a hike. “As of today, we have not increased it but we can’t say the same about the future,” says Mumbai Airport, commercial manager, Rajeev Jain.
 

Things are moving def.slow but moving.

regds

MEL

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1053080
Airlines told to skip main runway

Thursday, September 14, 2006  23:50 IST

 
Gouri Shah.Bhargavi Kerur

In a bid to ease air traffic congestion at Mumbai airport, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has urged all airlines, especially domestic carriers to use the secondary runway (14/32) during peak hours.

Opening this runway, which crosses the main runway (9/27), will not only facilitate quicker dispersal of traffic, but also amount to huge savings for airlines which have to either circle over Mumbai while waiting for permission to land or queue up for take off.

The secondary runway, which is usually used when the primary one is closed for maintenance, will be opened up for regular use from September 20.

“Though the airline has the right to choose which runway they want to use, we are encouraging them to use the secondary runway as it would ease up the traffic congestion during peak hours. It would also help airlines cut down on delays,” said SR Raghavendra Rao, regional executive director — Western Region, AAI.

This decision, say industry sources, was taken during a high level meeting chaired by Praful Patel, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, on September 7 in Delhi.

The AAI is also gearing up to handle busier airports. For the first time ever, six Air Traffic Control officers from Mumbai, and 12 others from metros such as Delhi, Kolkota and Chennai were sent to Amsterdam’s Schipol airport to study the handling of a busy airport with cross-runways. 

Sahar was definately a better name but govt wanted to remember all heros so that they can also be used politically

So Chhatrapati Shivaji was the name given

After AI only Damania gave its respects to the  Father of Indian Aviation Mr JRD Tata.His contribution to Aviation here is FANTASTIC.

Every time I visit the AI Facility at Santacruz.I try to spend a few Minutes looking at his Statue thats erected there.

Thanks to his Vision We are somewhere.

Ideal to respect the man by Naming something aviation after him.

regds

MEL

Naming of roads have gone overboard.But in Aviation We need to remember the few that did something under odds.

regds

MEL

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2047589.cms
 Common terminal planned for AI, IA
Byas Anand
[ 29 Sep, 2006 2358hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
 
 
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NEW DELHI: Come 2008, the two state-owned carriers — Air India and Indian Airlines — will be operating out of a single airport terminal building in Delhi and Mumbai. Under the Master Plan that is being drafted by the new owners of Delhi and Mumbai airports, the two national carriers are expected to be given a separate terminal replete with upper class lounge, duty-free shops and the works.

"The proposal for a separate but common terminal block for the two national carriers has already been made to the new owners of Delhi and Mumbai airports. The Master Plan for both the airports is under preparation now and is expected to include this proposal," a senior government official said.

The common terminal, the official said, will feature upper class lounge, special duty free area and other facilities that will be available to all other airlines. "The idea is to create a distinct identity for the national carriers. Also, the amount of passenger traffic handled by the two airlines is far higher than the others. So, it makes sense to give them a common, yet separate terminal," the official said.

The final Master Plan is expected to submitted to the government within a few months. The new owners of the two airports are also alongside in talks with international carriers like Continental, British Airways and Lufthansa for setting up separate upper class lounges at the two airports.

"Like all international airports, even Delhi and Mumbai will be home to independent lounges of separate airlines. This will be a clear departure from the present where international airlines have to share lounges run by 5-Star hotel chains," the official said.

Also, the days of long queues to get inside the Delhi airport and the never-ending wait for a flight to take-off are finally numbered. Come 2008, IGI airport in Delhi will have separate terminal space for every airline operating out of the city, and a third parallel runway that will ensure faster take-off and landing for airlines. And all three parallel runways would be capable of handling a fully-loaded Airbus A380, officials said.

"Instead of the present arrangement where airlines jostle with each other for space in one small building, the new airport terminal will have separate areas earmarked for every airline operator. This will ensure that there's enough space for passengers to freely move around. It will also eliminate the queue outside terminal buildings during peak hours," a government official said.