NEWS -- Other airports in India

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Date: Sep 15, 2006

Goa govt mulls new international airport; ropes in agency	Permalink Closed

www.uninews.com Goa govt mulls new international airport; ropes in agency Panaji, Sep 15 (UNI) The Goa government has decided to conduct a fresh feasibility study for an international airport at Mopa by commissioning a top aviation agency, taking into consideration the existing Dabolim airport, officials said. The ICAO and IATA had earlier done the Mopa feasibility study and given it a green signal. However, a special government-appointed committee, which met here on Thursday, noted the report was done ignoring the existing airport at Dabolim near here which is also used by the Navy. The meeting, chaired by Goa Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane, decided to ask ICAO to ’restudy the matter’. ‘‘ICAO and IATA would be commissioned again to do the feasibility study for airport project,’’ said Shantaram Naik, Rajya Sabha MP, who is also a member of the committee along with MP north Shripad Naik, Chief Secretary J P Singh and other bureaucrats. The proposed airport faces opposition from a faction of the ruling Congress, while Opposition BJP strongly favours the project for the tourist state. Following objections, the Prime Minister had constituted a committee headed by Chief Minister Rane to decide on the issue. __________________ KCM

karatecatman

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Date: Sep 16, 2006

RE: NEWS -- Other airports in India	Permalink Closed

http://www.hindu.com/2006/09/13/stories/2006091315480100.htm `Air service from Salem will be feasible' Staff Reporter SALEM: Flight service from Salem airport would be feasible, according to a survey by Sona School of Management. The institute carried out the survey to study the potential for the operation of flights from the Salem airport and to understand whether the A/C class travellers in train would be prospective customers of airlines. A special survey team headed by the institute director D. Dhanabalan, which included David Rajesh and Nachimuthu as members, carried out exhaustive interviews with many travel/air-ticketing agents, cargo/courier booking agents and A/C class train travellers in Salem, Namakkal and Tiruchengode.The survey found out that there were 45 to 50 persons booking air tickets regularly with the travel agents from the Salem region in a day for domestic flights and three to five persons for international flights. The survey report further said the travel agents promised the airlines their support for the commencement of flight services from Salem. With Salem witnessing increased industrial activities, businessmen were frequently travelling to cities such as Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. Air Deccan service Air Deccan officials are expected to be here on September 14 to finalise the flight airport. Salem District Small Scale and Tiny Industries Association president K. Mariappan told The Hindu that a high level official team led by its principal revenue officer John Kuruvilla would interact with travel agents, industrialists, traders and eminent personalities of Salem, Namakkal and Dharmapuri districts to finalise operational schedules and fares. Air Deccan is planning to operate its services in the Salem-Chennai sector with a 48-seater aircraft from the first week of November. The exact date of its operation will be finalised during the September 14 discussion. "Most probably it may take off from November 1 itself," Mariappan added. __________________ KCM

karatecatman

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Date: Sep 18, 2006

New Hyderabad airport awards in-flight catering contracts	Permalink Closed

ww.uninews.com New Hyderabad airport awards in-flight catering contracts New Delhi, Sep 17 (UNI) GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), which is developing a world-class international airport at Shamshabad near Hyderabad, has entered into two in-flight catering concessional agreements with LSG Sky Chef and Sky Gourmet. The contracts envisage setting up of world-class in-flight catering units in the upcoming international airport. LSG Sky Chef is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lufthansa and the world’s largest provider of airline catering and in-flight solution. It caters to 270 airlines from 190 customer service centres in 49 countries. It produces around 369 million airline meals per year. In India, it is currently operating in Hyderabad and Bangalore. Sky Gourmet Catering operates under the trade name of skygourmet and is one of the leading airline catering companies in India with operations spread across Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Pune. It has partnered with leading carriers such as Jet Airways in Mumbai and Kingfisher Airlines across the country, as well as with Malaysian Airlines to give air travelers high standards of in-flight cuisine. It is now set to expand its network to other metro airports. The in-flight catering concessions involve financing, constructing, operating and maintaining in-flight kitchen facilities for catering to the in-flight kitchen services at GHIAL. Both the in-flight catering units will have an initial capacity of around 7,500 meals each per day. __________________ KCM

karatecatman

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Date: Sep 18, 2006

Service tax on air travel hampering tourism: Praful Patel	Permalink Closed

www.uninews.com Service tax on air travel hampering tourism: Praful Patel New Delhi, Sep 16 (UNI) Worried over the impact of imposition of service tax on air travel on tour and travel business, the Union Tourism and Civil Aviation Ministries will seek a review of the decision. ‘‘Both me and Tourism Minister Ambika Soni will talk to the Finance Minister P Chidambaram and ask him to reconsider the decision to impose service tax on air travel,’’ Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told reporters on the sidelines of an international conference of tour operators here. Service tax is now being charged on flying Business Class and First Class on any airline. ‘‘It is proving to be a big hurdle in increasing the tourist inflow and promoting the civil aviation industry. Hence, we will ask the Finance Minister to review the decision to impose service tax,’’ Patel said. On the upgrade of Kolkata and Chennai airports, he said talks were on with both the state governments and a final decision will be taken within a month. ‘‘While the West Bengal government wants the upgrade to be done by the Airports Authority of India, the Tamil Nadu government has a different view,’’ he said. Runway expansion for DehraDun In a pre-election bonanza ahead of the Assembly elections in Uttaranchal in February, Civil Aviation Minister and NCP leader Praful Patel today announced a Rs 150 crore modernisation plan for the airports in Dehradun and Pantnagar in the hill state. The plan would be carried out by the Airport Authority of India and would be completed by 2007, he told reporters on the sidelines of the Extended Working Committee meeting of the NCP on the first day of the two day National Convention of the party here. Under the plan, the two airports would be prepared for regular landing of bigger planes. Dehradun airport would have a runway extending to 5700 feet with night landing facililties. It will then be able to accept Airbus A319 aircraft. Presently only small planes connected Delhi with Dehradun. The Pantnagar airport will also be provided all these facilities, Mr Patel said, adding such a step was necessary in view of the boost given to promote tourism and industrialisaion in Uttaranchal. The Union Minister said that in view of the vast possibilities of religious tourism in Uttaranchal, helicopter and small planes services would be increased, and FDI invited in the sector. ‘‘I am already getting representations in this regard and will decide about them in two months,’’ he said. In the present day world connectivity had become very important for the development of a region, he said, adding the centre was even prepared to help develop airstrips if the state Governments so desired. __________________ KCM

karatecatman

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Date: Sep 20, 2006

Old air strips in NE to be reopened	Permalink Closed

www.uninews.com Old air strips in NE to be reopened Old air strips in NE to be reopened Aizawl, Sep 20 (UNI) Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) has initiated a project to reopen smaller airports and air strips, some dating back to the Second World War era, for flight operations in north eastern region. The project aims to launch a dedicated air service in the North-East in joint venture with North Eastern Council (NEC) and a few private operators to cater to remote and inaccessible areas in the region, DoNER ministry sources told UNI here today. At present only Guwahati and Agartala airports have night landing facilities. Runways in most of the airports in the northeastern states are insufficient in length and strength for operation of air bus. About 12 airports in the region have been identified for improvement at a cost sharing basis with Airport Authority of India (AAI) in 60:40 ratio. The proposed airports to be modernised are Guwahati, Aizawl, Imphal, Dimapur, Tezpur, Dibrugarh, Lilabari, Silchar, Agartala, Kamalpur, Kailashahar and Shillong. Apart from this, the aircrafts being shorlisted for operations in these airports include the 19-seater Beach aircrafts, which have pressurised cabins. -- Edited by karatecatman at 16:01, 2006-09-20 __________________ KCM

karatecatman

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Date: Sep 22, 2006

Orissa House Committee oppose privatisation of Jharsugura airport	Permalink Closed

www.uninews.com Orissa House Committee oppose privatisation of Jharsugura airport Sambalpur, Sep 21 (UNI) The House Committee of the Orissa Assembly led by Draupadi Murmu, MLA, has opposed the move of the state government to hand over maintenance of Jharsuguda airport to private agencies. The Committee, which visited Jharsuguda district on Tuesday, said the Jharsugura airport had played a crucial role during the Second World War and Indo-Pak war in 1971. But due to lack of proper maintenance and ‘‘apathetic’’ attitude of the Civil Aviation Ministry, it had been declared unsafe since long. The Committee felt that the revival of the Jharsugura airport was necessary in the wake of rapid industrialisation in Jharsuguda and Sambalpur districts. Congress MLA Anup Sai, also a member of the House Committee, dubbed the move of the state government to hand over the airport to private management as illogical and unjustified. __________________ KCM

the_380

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Date: Sep 22, 2006

RE: NEWS -- Other airports in India	Permalink Closed

karatecatman wrote: www.uninews.com Orissa House Committee oppose privatisation of Jharsugura airport Sambalpur, Sep 21 (UNI) The House Committee of the Orissa Assembly led by Draupadi Murmu, MLA, has opposed the move of the state government to hand over maintenance of Jharsuguda airport to private agencies. The Committee, which visited Jharsuguda district on Tuesday, said the Jharsugura airport had played a crucial role during the Second World War and Indo-Pak war in 1971. But due to lack of proper maintenance and ‘‘apathetic’’ attitude of the Civil Aviation Ministry, it had been declared unsafe since long. The Committee felt that the revival of the Jharsugura airport was necessary in the wake of rapid industrialisation in Jharsuguda and Sambalpur districts. Congress MLA Anup Sai, also a member of the House Committee, dubbed the move of the state government to hand over the airport to private management as illogical and unjustified. Thats quite pleasing to hear rgds the_380 __________________ Light travels faster than sound...thats why people appear bright, until you hear them talk!

karatecatman

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Date: Sep 23, 2006

Plan to upgrade Trivandrum airport	Permalink Closed

www.uninews.com Plan to upgrade Trivandrum airport BANGALORE, India, Sept 21, 2006 (UNI) India Thursday cleared a 54.6-million-dollar plan to double the capacity of the international airport in the capital of southern Kerala state, a government spokesman said. The federal Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved a proposal for the state-owned Airports Authority of India to build a new international passenger terminal at the Arabian Sea coastal city of Thiruvananthapuram in two phases. ‘‘The first phase the project would be completed in 18 months from the date the contract is awarded to Airports Authority,’’ the government spokesman said in a report carried by Press Trust of India. He said once the project was completed, the airport would cater to more than 1,000 passengers during peak hours, double its current capacity. The airport saw about 900,000 international passengers in the fiscal year ended March 2005 and would be able to handle about 1.7 million passengers by 2017, according to the spokesman. Tourist arrivals to India jumped 13 percent in the fiscal year ended March to 3.91 million. __________________ KCM

karatecatman

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Date: Sep 27, 2006

Jet Airways Boeing 737-800 aircraft lands in Bajpe	Permalink Closed

http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=33926 Jet Airways Boeing 737-800 aircraft lands in Bajpe Mangalore Sept 27: The Bajpe airport on Tuesday received its first Jet Airways Boeing 737-800 aircraft from Mumbai at 2.15 pm. This is the largest aircraft to land on the runway tarmac as on date. Airport director Vasudeva said this proves that the runway was capable of handling heavier and larger aircraft. __________________ KCM

karatecatman

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Date: Oct 13, 2006

RE: NEWS -- Other airports in India	Permalink Closed

*http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/13/stories/2006101301091900.htm* Cochin airport to adopt CUTE reservation system A Correspondent CUTE streamlines reservation and check-in systems The new system will be implemented in January AI is following the system in Mumbai and Delhi NEDUMBASSERY: Things are set to get "CUTE" at the Cochin International Airport. CUTE (Common User Terminal Equipment) is a software which helps streamline the reservation system at the airport and facilitate the checking-in of passengers of individual airlines from a common terminal. Air-India, the ground- handling agent of the airport, is scheduled to implement the new system by the first week of January. Air-India is already following the CUTE system at the Mumbai and Delhi airports. Under the present system, individual airlines are required to send the reservation data, such as passenger Name List (PNL) to the Air-India's Departure Control System (DCS) through the SITA network. (SITA is a provider of global information and telecommunication solutions for the air transport industry). The passengers are then checked-in on the Air-India DCS. An inherent drawback of this system is that the individual airlines cannot provide their special and unique features as these features are not available on the Air-India DCS. For instance, an airline may be having provision for providing special facilities to its frequent flyer card holders but might not be able to offer it while checking-in as the ground handling agent's, in this case Air-India's, DCS does not support it. This would cause much hardship to the airline concerned. Advantage A solution to this problem is for each airline to set up its own dedicated check-in counters, which is not feasible. CUTE provides an all encompassing solution to this problem by facilitating the checking-in of passengers of all airlines from a common terminal while at the same time enabling the airlines to bestow their passengers with their own unique features. Under the CUTE system the Air-India DCS will have no role and the entries will go straight to the native DCS of the respective airlines and the responses will be readily available on the common terminal in which the entry was originally made. CUTE, however, if implemented as a stand alone system would require the counter staff to be familiar with the transactions of all the airlines which could prove to be a tedious process prone to mistakes. Considering this, Air-India will be implementing CUTE along with the Common Language Interface (CIL). This will enable the counter staff to make only a few entries common to all airlines and the CIL will translate it into a language compatible for the native DCS of the respective airline. Another advantage is that the passenger data can be transferred to another airport with a CUTE-supported check-in system in times of need. The existing counters will be replaced by CUTE counters and to begin with there will be 24 counters in the international side and 10 in the domestic departure. Once the new departure block becomes operational more CUTE counters will be set up, M.K. Hingorani, Executive Head of Air-India, has said. The CUTE system will be implemented within the existing cost structure without levying additional charges from the airlines. __________________ KCM

karatecatman

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Date: Nov 1, 2006

SIA’s ground-handling arm keen on Hyderabad’s new airport	Permalink Closed

www.uninews.com SIA’s ground-handling arm keen on Hyderabad’s new airport Singapore, Nov 1 (UNI) The ground-handling arm of Singapore Airlines (SIA) is keen on a new airport project in the Indian city of Hyderbad, the chief executive said in a published report on Tuesday. Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) has ‘‘expressed interest’’ in the project, Ng Chin Hwee told The Straits Times, adding that it is in discussions with potential partners. SATS recently won all three contracts it had bid for at Bangalore’s new airport in cargo, passenger handling and catering. Hyderabad’s airport is scheduled to open in 2008. SATS’ overseas business earned 15.6 million Singapore dollars (10.1 million US dollars) in the quarter which ended September 30, a 1.3 per cent hike over the corresponding period a year ago. It has 16 joint ventures in eight Asian countries, including India and China. ‘‘We have always articulated that we would like to expand regionally,’’ Ng said. Prospects are bullish in Asia and the Middle East, he added. __________________ KCM

karatecatman

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Date: Nov 2, 2006

Parking rates slashed, non-metro airports park themselves here	Permalink Closed

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=207893 Parking rates slashed, non-metro airports park themselves here Express News Service Ahmedabad, November 2: NOT being a metro does have its perks. With the Airport Authority of India (AAI) lowering parking charges at ‘non metro’ airports by half, private airlines are now queuing up to these airports to set up their bases. With three such airlines already operating from Ahmedabad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) Airport is now revamping its infrastructure to meet the rising demands for parking space. ‘‘We have already spent Rs.46 crores to build the existing domestic terminal,’’ said SD Awasthi, Director, SVPI Airport, ‘‘The other building, still under construction is costing us about Rs. 56 crore and is likely to come up by the first half of next year’’. Of the Rs. 291 crore earmarked for upgrading the international terminus, Rs. 117 would be spent on constructing the new building alone, he added. Awasthi informed Express Newsline that as of now, private carriers like Spice Jet and Air Deccan have started parking their planes at the airport here, while Kingfisher has reserved space but has not started parking yet. Indian Airlines too is setting up a sub-base here, he added. “Going by the current trend, we do see a higher level of pressure for space building up on us,” said Awasthi revealing plans of increasing the current 12 parking spaces in the domestic terminus to 17 and creating 16 in the international terminus. He further spoke of a possible ‘push-back arrangement’ to accommodate more aircrafts in the airport. Setting up a base for an airline means setting up a crew room, a medical room and an engineering room, in addition to reserving parking space for their aircraft, explained Awasthi. Meanwhile, Air Deccan started its aircraft base at Ahmedabad here on Thursday. A daily flight connecting Ahmedabad and Coimbatore has also been introduced. The fully deployed base here would have maintenance staff, pilots and cabin crew apart from engineering and operational support. Addressing the local media, R. Krishnaswami, Chief Corporate Planning, Air Deccan said, ‘‘We have chosen Ahmedabad in the western zone due to its proximity to Mumbai.” __________________ KCM

himmat01

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RE: NEWS -- Other airports in India	Permalink Closed

IXE suffers from infrastructural prolems. http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=35455 International flights from Mangalore were being planned since last 3 years. AAI could have constructed a new terminal simulataneously with the new rwy. Why does it always have to wait for water to reach the nose before getting into action. The new terminal will not be ready before 2 years. Till then Mangalorians will continue to suffer. __________________

karatecatman

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Date: Nov 21, 2006

Pathankot terminal to serve Punjab, HP	Permalink Closed

Part of a story on Air Deccan http://www.indianexpress.com/story/17034.html Pathankot terminal to serve Punjab, HP Developed at a cost of Rs 35 crore, the newly constructed terminal building at Pathankot Airport was inaugurated by Civil Aviation minister Praful Patel today. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Minister of State for Industry Ashwani Kumar, and Lok Sabha MP Vinod Khanna were also present on the occasion. The centrally air-conditioned terminal building with a peak hour capacity to handle 300 passengers and aircraft apron for 3 A-320 class of aircraft at a time has been constructed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) to facilitate the states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and cater to increased flow of tourists to Dalhousie and Dharamshala. Land for the airport has been provided by both Haryana and Himachal Pradesh governments. raghvendra.rao@expressindia.com __________________ KCM

karatecatman

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Date: Nov 23, 2006

Sholapur, Nanded and Latur to be in aviation map	Permalink Closed

www.uninews.com Sholapur, Nanded and Latur to be in aviation map New Delhi, Nov 23 (UNI) Making a bid to connect small but important towns in a state, government today announced plans to shortly launch air services to Sholapur, Nanded and Latur cities of Maharashtra. This was conveyed by Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel to Maharashtra Tourism Minister Vijay Singh Mohite Patil when they met here today. Patel told the state Minister that he had spoken to Air Deccan chief G R Gopinath who had assured him that the low-cost carrier would start operations from Mumbai to Sholapur and on to Nanded and Latur shortly. The Civil Aviation Ministry has decided to grant several concessions like non-payment of landing and navigation charges in a bid to encourage small aircraft launching services to non-metro cities and towns. __________________ KCM

COUGAR

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Date: Nov 23, 2006

RE: NEWS -- Other airports in India	Permalink Closed

Other airfields include Gondia and Karad. The idea is all MIDC run industrial belts will have an airfield within a 50 km radius. Parking will be for atleast upto 3 ATR type aircraft. Nanded is going to be able to handle Boeing 737 type aircraft mainly because the State Industries minister and the driving force behind the project is from nanded. Excellent idea. Maharashtra is on the right track! The next phase is to introduce direct connectivity to Delhi and Mumbai which could be easily done by 70 seater jets operating one-stop. For eg. Coimbatore-Nanded-Delhi, Salem-Akola-Delhi and so on. __________________ http://www.cougar-rides.com Live to Ride - Ride to Live

himmat01

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	Permalink Closed
Last time I saw the Solapur airport, it was just a mud track with a small shack for a terminal. __________________

ssbmat

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Date: Nov 28, 2006

Permalink Closed

The politicians may have pipe-dreams, but the business may not quite be there yet.

It is ironical (though not without reason) that perhaps the most industrialized state in India (Maharashtra) has poorer 2nd/3rd tier connectivity than states like TN, Karnataka,Gujrat or UP.

I mean major towns like Solapur, Kolhapur, Nasik (DN called it quits) have virtually NO connectivity even to Pune/Mumbai, forget amongst themselves. Aurangabad has some limited connections to BOM (DEL?), but none to PNQ/NAG.

And all of these cities are surely bigger in trade-commerce than Vijaywada/Porbandar/Rajkot.

Last I heard, they are planning a 4th International airport in Kerala ??

Surely GOI and AAI have some issues with priorities?

Can you compare the 'urgency' of developing an airport for Pune with that of Kannur (with 3 international airports around). And BOM being close to Pune is NOT a valid excuse.

SSB

__________________

karatecatman

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Date: Nov 28, 2006

Work on upgrading Bhubaneswar airport to international status to start next year	Permalink Closed

www.uninews.com Work on upgrading Bhubaneswar airport to start next year New Delhi, Nov 28 (UNI) Government will start next year work on upgradation of Bhubaneswar airport to international scale, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said today. ‘‘Bhubaneswar airport has been identified as one of the 35 non-metro airports for development of international standards,’’ Patel said replying to supplementaries in Rajya Sabha. The scheme of things involve construction of additional parking stands with associated taxiway, new integrated terminal complex and new technical block cum control tower. The expansion work is expected to be completed by 2010, he said. ‘‘Our effort is to promote regional connectivity and open new destinations,’’ he said adding air connectivity has recently been provided to Kanpur, Pathankot, Dehradun and Gwalior. A slew of incentives have been provided to small aircrafts with capacity of upto 80 person. The smaller aircraft have to pay only 4 per cent sales tax and are not levied landing, parking and navigational charges. Patel said Airport Authority of India (AAI) was in talks with Orissa government for acquiring additional land for increasing length of the runway to beyond 10,000 feet. The process for appointing Global Technical Advisor for upgrading the Biju Patnaik Airport at Bhubaneswar has been initiated and work is expected to start in 2007, he added. __________________ KCM

Nimish

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RE: NEWS -- Other airports in India	Permalink Closed

ssbmat wrote: Last I heard, they are planning a 4th International airport in Kerala ?? Surely GOI and AAI have some issues with priorities? Can you compare the 'urgency' of developing an airport for Pune with that of Kannur (with 3 international airports around). And BOM being close to Pune is NOT a valid excuse. SSB Hi SSB - and welcome to AI.net. I think the biggest problem with Maharastra is both the politicians and the people seem happy with the existing air connectivity. Kerala is on it's way to multiple intl airports, only because the people have been shouting and screaming for that for years. There's so much volume of traffic to the gulf, and folks were sick of tired of paying top $$$ for crappy service, and long routing (via BOM or MAA). hence they shouted and screamed, and you can see where they are now. Even the politicians in Kerala loudly support aviation related causes, and in fact the govt. wanted to start it's own airline connecting Kerala to the gulf. Now contrast this with Maharashtra, I don't recall a single campaign for better air connectivity from say Solapur. The only city complaining about poor connectivity is probably Pune, and even there it's the IT folks who are busy making a noise. I don't think any of the politicos are bothered, and that's probably none of the voters are bothered about it. I would not really blame the GoI/AAI for this, more the politicos and people of Maharashtra. __________________ Welcome on board!