New regulator for airports in place by March 31

August 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government plans to convert the airport regulator Airports Authority of India (AAI) into a company, a senior aviation ministry official said Tuesday. "We are working out to convert AAI from an authority to a company by next March.

July 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Five greenfield airports would come up in Karnataka and Sikkim in the next two years, said Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel Thursday. In reply to a question by Congress parliamentarian Naveen Jindal, the minister told the Lok Sabha that four new airports would come up at Shimoga, Gulbarga, Bijapur and Hassan in Karnataka, and another at Pakyong in Sikkim.

July 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The new aviation regulator, Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA), will settle all contentious issues in the aviation sector, including the airport development fee issue, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said here Thursday. Replying to questions in parliament, Patel said: "AERA has been constituted by an act of parliament and has started functioning.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Out of a total plan outlay of Rs.12,165 crore for the civil aviation ministry, a sum of Rs.190 crore will be provided as budgetary support to various organisations under the ministry, the government said Monday after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented the annual budget in Parliament. Out of the Rs.190 crore, India's airport developer, Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been allocated Rs.99.15 crore for development of airports.

June 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Y.S. Bhave, secretary in the Department of Consumer Affairs, was Friday appointed chairperson of the newly constituted airport regulator, Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA).

June 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation Tuesday submitted the report of its probe into near-collision between President Pratibha Patil's choppers and an Air India aircraft at Mumbai airport Feb 9. DGCA Director General S.N.A.

April 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Indian government Thursday asked airports around the country to adopt heightened security measures after an intelligence tip-off of a possible terror attack. Official sources confirmed that a red alert has been sounded at airports across the country, especially in the four metros, as well as in Hyderabad, Bangalore and at some international airports like Amritsar.

March 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has assured its US counterpart that India will soon have a separate agency for investigating air accidents, a government official said Monday. 'We are streamlining the working of our agency and would have a separate agency to handle air accident investigations.

March 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The international airports at Chennai, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram, Goa and Ahmedabad will soon get the government's nod to levy development fee on passengers to raise funds for their expansion, an Airports Authority of India (AAI) official said Thursday. 'We are doing this to bridge the capital funding gap.

March 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The country's airports operator, Airports Authority of India (AAI), Friday said airline operators owe it Rs.11 billion (Rs.1,100 crore), of which Air India alone has to pay RS.7 billion (Rs.700 crore). 'We are in the process of settling this issue with the airlines.

March 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has asked at least 4,000 of its employees working at the Delhi and Mumbai airports to either opt for the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) or work at other AAI-owned airports, an official said Wednesday. The AAI official, who did not want to be identified, told IANS that the decision has to be implemented at the earliest and such VRS offers will be made to employees in some other airports also.

March 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Monday asked all airlines flying out of Delhi to collect development fee from the passengers while issuing air tickets, and not when they are checking in at the airport. 'The development fee should then be remitted to DIAL (Delhi International Airport Ltd, the developer of Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport) in line with the system procedure,' a statement issued by the civil aviation ministry said.

February 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Defending the government's decision to levy surcharge on passengers at the Delhi airport, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel Thursday said 'airports of certain scale' being developed by the Airports Authority of India could also do the same. 'This should be taken in the right spirit.

January 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's fear of getting downgraded by the US aviation regulator, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), looms large as the latter has refused to postpone its India tour beginning Feb 22, according to a government official. 'They (FAA team) will reach India according to the schedule worked out earlier.

December 30th, 2008 NEW DELHI - The government has postponed by at least six months the implementation of the new ground-handling policy at airports, expected to come into force Thursday, an official said Wednesday. 'The implementation of the new ground-handling policy has been deferred by six months or until further order,' said a spokesperson of the civil aviation ministry.