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Maharashtra Aviation

44K views 265 replies 22 participants last post by  Anvesh AB 
#1 · (Edited)
Thread to track Aviation Updates in Maharashtra.

There are 27 airports in Maharashtra

1. Operational Airports

  • Mumbai.
  • Aurangabad.
  • Pune.
  • Nagpur.

2. The airport at Ambly Valley city is private.

3. Operated By Reliance
  • Baramati.
  • Nanded.
  • Osmanabad.
  • Latur.
  • Yeotmal.

4. Mumbai is operated by GVK.
5. Navi Mumbai - Under Construction will be operated by GVK.
6. Sindhudurg is operated by IRB infrastructure.

7. Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation holds ownership
  • Amravati.
  • Chandrapur.
  • Dhule.
  • Karad.
  • Nagpur.
  • Phaltan.
  • Shirdi.
  • Solapur.

8. Airports Authority of India (AAI)
  • Juhu Aerodrome.
  • Nashik.
  • Kolhapur.
  • Kalyan.
  • Jalgaon.
  • Gondia.
  • Aurangabad.
  • Akola.

9. Ozar in Nashik, Pune and Ratnagiri are under the control of the military.

http://www.asianage.com/mumbai/27-airports-state-only-four-are-fully-operational-476
 
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#31 ·
X- posting from indian Avaition Thread

Wait 1 more month for flights to Nashik


Flights connecting Nas hik with Mumbai and Pune under the Centre's Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) will take at least one more month to take off.
Member (operations) of Airports Authority of India (AAI) G K Chaukiyal told TOI over the phone from Delhi that Deccan Charters Pvt Ltd is still in the process of completing some mandatory formalities from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). “It will take the airline at least one to one-andahalf months more to complete these essential formalities before flights from Ozar airport can take off,“ Chaukiyal added.

The Bengaluru-headquartered Deccan Charters Pvt Ltd had won the bid to operate flights connecting the three cities of Maharashtra in March and was to start operations from September.

Ever since the Shirdi Airport in the neighbouring district of Ahmednagar became operational from October 1, there have been apprehensions among a section of the Nashikites that flights from Ozar Airport could remain a non-starter since Nashik and Shirdi are just 80-km apart.

But Chaukiyal said, “ As far as the AAI is concerned, flights from Nashik are very much on. Mandatory procedures like approval for flight operations from DGCA, allotment of time schedule for flights are being worked out.“

Deccan Charters Pvt Ltd is to operate 18-seater flights connecting Nashik with Mumbai and Pune.

times of india
 
#32 ·
Travel time to Shirdi reduced, many prefer air route now

More than a month after its inauguration, flights from Mumbai to Shirdi show more than 80 per cent occupancy during weekends, according to senior officials from the Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation (MADC), which manages the airport. The one-hour route which connects Hyderabad to the pilgrim town is also drawing immense crowd.
The airport was inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind on October 1 this year. The airport is connected to Mumbai and Hyderabad by Alliance Air airline, a subsidiary of Air India. The ATR 72 connects the two cities on all days. “Flights from Mumbai to Shirdi see more than 80 per cent occupancy during the weekends. Tourists, who come to pay visit to the Shirdi Sai Baba temple halt for a day or two and tend to take a return flight the next day. The occupancy has even reached 85-90 per cent on most days during weekends,” says C S Gupta, General Manager, MADC.
The officials said the Hyderabad-Shirdi flights too were recording as much as 80 per cent occupancy on all days. “Travellers from Hyderabad would otherwise have to take a bus or use the rail route to travel till Aurangabad station to commute till Shirdi. With air travel cutting down the time taken to reach Shirdi to only one hour, the route sees major traffic,” Gupta added.
The MADC now intends to promote the route to other airlines, which can encourage more traffic to the airport. “The demand for the sector must be conveyed to the airlines. For example, visitors coming from Mumbai to Shirdi ask for at least two flight connections for both ways in a day as opposed to a single flight. There is an equal demand to connect Shirdi to the rest of the country. We wish other airlines would tap these routes,” said Suresh Kakani, Managing Director and Vice-Chairman, MADC.
Travellers have expressed happiness over the air route reducing the total time taken for the commute. “Travelling to Shirdi by road would take up your entire day which would be strenuous. We are happy the air route has reduced the overall time taken. Frequency of the flights to Shirdi could be increased,” said Jayesh Kumar from Mumbai, who had flown to Shirdi last week.
The officials are now planning an extension of the runway to enable airlines to park wide-body aircraft at the airport. Night landing at the airport, which could allow flight operations after 6 pm, is expected by the end of January. “Almost 45 per cent of devotees visiting the temple are from Andhra Pradesh. While flyers from Hyderabad have expressed joy over the route, there is also a demand to connect Chennai and Bangalore to Shirdi,” added Rubal Agarwal, CEO, Shirdi Sansthan.

http://indianexpress.com/article/ci...di-reduced-many-prefer-air-route-now-4945459/
 
#34 ·
Air Deccan will take to the skies again with Nashik-Mumbai flight; fares start at Re 1


Air Deccan, the first homegrown budget carrier in India, is getting a makeover. The low-cost airline, founded by Captain GR Gopinath in 2003, will restart its operations after nine years. In 2008, Air Deccan merged with Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines, which later became defunct in 2012.
Known for fares as low as Re 1, the no-frills carrier is set for a relaunch this month. The first flight of the newly relaunched Air Deccan will take off on December 22 from Nashik and fly to Mumbai, Gopinath told Mint. "This will be my last Udan and then I will hang up my boots," said Gopinath.

To boost regional connectivity under the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme, the government had announced a list of airlines that will be connecting several unserved and under-served airports in the country. Five airlines that had won bids will operate flight services on 128 routes that will connect 70 airports across the country. The operators include SpiceJet, Air Odisha, Air India subsidiary Airline Allied Services, Air Deccan, and Turbo Megha.
In its new avatar, Air Deccan will begin with four bases at Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Shillong. "Some of the initial lucky people will be able to get Re 1 fares also," the report quoted Gopinath, as saying. Air Deccan will also operate daily return flights between Nashik and Pune and Mumbai and Jalgaon.
Air Deccan, which will use 19-seater Beech 1900 D planes, plans to station a second aircraft in Delhi to connect the national capital with Agra, Shimla, Ludhiana, Pantnagar, Dehradun and Kullu by January 2018.
In his 2016/17 budget speech, finance minister Arun Jaitley had said that "there are about 160 airports and air-strips which can be revived at an indicative cost of Rs 50 crore to Rs 100 crore each."
Early this year, Expenditure Finance Committee had recommended the proposal to revive 50 unserved and under-served airports and airstrips at an estimated cost of Rs 4,500 crore over three financial years starting 2017/18. At the moment, India has around 100 operational airports.

The biggest issue with air traffic in India is that it's largely concentrated around metro cities. According to rough estimate, over 66 per cent of India's total air traffic comes from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. The over-dependence of India's air connectivity on metros has led to congestion in these airports. Both Delhi and Mumbai have chalked out expansion plans because they cannot give fresh landing and parking slots to airlines.

http://www.businesstoday.in/sectors...-re-1-fare-captain-gopinath/story/265895.html
 
#38 ·
AIR DECCAN GETS BACK WINGS WITH MUMBAI-JALGAON FLIGHT

Almost a decade after bidding adieu to air services, India's first low-cost carrier Air Deccan returned to commercial aviation on Saturday with its first maiden flight from Mumbai to Jalgaon under the regional air connectivity scheme UDAN.

State Revenue and Public Works Minister Chandrakant Patil flagged off the inaugural flight from Mumbai Airport and Air Deccan opened its counters first time after its merger with Kingfisher Airlines in 2008. Senior DGCA officials, Joint Director General Lalit Gupta, and Chief Flight Operations Inspector Atul Chandra were on-board the inaugural flight which was marred by delay and took off for Jalgaon at 2:54pm instead of its scheduled departure of 1.20pm.
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Soon after its inaugural flight, Air Deccan operated its second flight to Nashik, on Saturday evening, at around 7.30 pm. Nashik's guardian minister Girish Mahajan and Shiv Sena MP Hemant Godse organised the inaugural function at Ozar airport. The same flight was scheduled to fly to Pune and return to Nashik where it has been given night parking facility.
Nice to see that the inaugural aircraft VT-DND sported special UDAN decals :cheers:

Source
 
#39 ·
IndiGo’s fleet expansion may boost Shirdi airport

Pune: IndiGo's plan of adding 28 twin-engined planes to its fleet by the end of 2018 could benefit the nascent Shirdi airport.The airline, by adding ATR (Aerei da Trasporto Regionale) aircraft, hopes to boost air connectivity between smaller towns and cities.As per sources, the airline has held talks with Shirdi airport officials, expressing an interest in connecting the pilgrim town to more destinations."The talks have been informal in nature so far, but the airline is interested in planning some flights from the (Shirdi) airport. There will be more rounds of talks, but we hope that something positive does come out of this. It will give a boost to the airport," an official, who wished to remain anonymous, told TOI.At the moment, Shirdi has flights to and from Hyderabad and Mumbai through the Air India subsidiary Alliance Air.IndiGo had started its regional ATR operations on December 21, with the first flight taking off from Hyderabad for Mangaluru , As Reported By TOI.

According to the Newspaper,A statement released by IndiGo said that by December 2018, the airline, through 21 ATRs, will connecting 15 tier-II and tier-III cities, boosting regional air connectivity."Presently, the Shirdi airport has two flights, and we expect more airlines connecting more destinations. We expect a flight between Shirdi and Delhi by February, but we are waiting until things are more concrete," another official said, adding that they are satisfied with the way things are at the airport.Conveyor belts soonThe official said the Maharashtra Airport Development Company Limited (MADC), which manages the Shirdi airport, has floated tenders to set up two baggage conveyor belts at the facility. "At the moment, there are no conveyor belts at the airport.

https://www.nyoooz.com/news/pune/993341/indigos-fleet-expansion-may-boost-shirdi-airport/
 
#40 ·
Airports gear up for UDAN scheme with new instruments

Under the UDAN scheme, the Pune based India Meteorology Department’s (IMD) Surface Instrumentation (SI) division has been going to supply instruments to nearly 52 airports across the country. For the development of regional airports, UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) is an initiative of the government. The first flight under the UDAN scheme took off on December 22 between Jalgaon and Mumbai. Recently, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had approved around 100 new routes which will be covered under the scheme and it to expected to gather pace by February 2018. The Pune’s India Meteorology Department operates 57 aeronautical meteorological stations, and 17 aerodrome meteorological offices in the country.

IMD’s senior officer of the SI division said, “many of these airports would have restricted flying schedules with the standard airport instruments and would require the installation of specific instruments.”

Installation work of UDAN scheme is in progress at Aurangabad and Kolhapur airports in Maharashtra. Two months before with the trail of flights the installations were recently completed at Jalgaon and Shirdi airports. Currently, the India Meteorology department is working on procuring and calibrating airport instruments required for day to day operations. These daily operations include temperature, wind speed, humidity and sunshine recorders. The latest addition to the airport instruments being ingenuously developed by IMD is the transmissometer, Drishti it is said that it improves the runway visibility.

“A total of 26 airports are equipped with Drishti and installation is in progress at 13 others at present. Also, the proposals for installations at seven new airports are in the pipeline, and hopefully we reach the 50 mark by the end of 2018.” said by the official.

The instrument is exclusively supplied for airports located close to hilly areas. The important instruments also supplied to the northern parts of the country, where flight operations are often hit by heavy fogging.

https://www.newsfolo.com/india/airports-gear-udan-scheme-new-instruments/133195/
 
#41 ·
Flight to Mumbai set for take-off

NASHIK: The much awaited Nashik to Mumbai flight will take off on Tuesday at 6.20 am from Ozar airport.
The flight was expected to depart on Sunday December 24 but did not.
There are two daily flights from Ozar airport- Nashik to Pune and Nashik to Mumbai on all weekdays except Monday.
Air service started from Ozar airport on December 23 with Air Deccans Nashik to Pune flight. The plane was an 18-seater Beechcraft 1900D aircraft.
Air Deccan station manager Navin Kumar told TOI, "The Nashik to Mumbai flight will take off at 6.20 am from Ozar airport on Tuesday. Ten tickets have been booked for the 18-seater aircraft."
He added, "We will be operating from Tuesday through Sunday. The evening flight scheduled for 6.20 pm will travel from Nashik to Pune. The morning flights will fly from Nashik to Mumbai."
Air service from Nashik was also started in 2003 but had to be shut down soon. Kingfisher Airlines had to shut the Nashik-Mumbai air service after operating for a year in November 2009 due to poor response. Nashik air service has been revived after eight years.
Now, under the Centre's Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) flights from Nashik are expected to continue on a regular basis.
The union civil aviation ministry had announced on March 30 the first phase of air service for 45 cities under RCS, including Nashik.
Air Deccan was to start its services from September but due to unavailability of slots it had to postpone its service. Service operators have promised to continue these low cost air services for Nashik and later include other destinations as per demand.


https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...bai-set-for-take-off/articleshow/62251089.cms
 
#42 ·
Air Deccan finally starts air services from Ozar

NASHIK: Air service from Ozar airport finally started from Ozar airport with the inaugural Nashik-Pune flight taking off on Saturday.
The inaugural flight, which was expected to take off at 6.20 pm, was delayed by almost two hours. Air Deccan's 19-seater aircraft, Beechcraft 1900D, took off around 8.20 pm.
Air Deccan clarified that the Nashik-Mumbai and Nashik-Pune return flights will continue regularly from Sunday throughout the week, except Monday.
The first Nashik-Pune flight was inaugurated by district guardian minister Girish Mahajan in the presence of Union ministry of civil aviation secretary R N Choubey, Air Deccan founder Captain Gopinath and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) chairman T Suvarna Raju.
"It was a dream to provide low-cost air service and we had also started air service from Nashik in 2003. Now, we are again commencing from here under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) of the Centre," said Gopinath.
"We have got all the permissions and both the flights from Nashik to Mumbai and Pune will operate regularly from Sunday throughout the week, except Monday," he added.
"This is a good development for the city and it will definitely boost the industrial growth. The air services have finally started from two cities in Maharashtra - Nashik and Jalgaon - under RCS," said Mahajan said.
Kingfisher Airlines had shut the Nashik-Mumbai air service after year-long operation in November 2009, following poor response. The air service of Nashik has revived after a long gap of eight years.
On March 30, the Union civil aviation ministry had in the first phase of air services for 45 cities under RCS, including Nashik. Air Deccan had announced to start two flights from Nashik (Ozar) - Nashik-Mumbai and Nashik-Pune from September. The services did not take off as the private airline operator did not get slots in Mumbai airport from private airport operator GVK.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...r-services-from-ozar/articleshow/62228561.cms
 
#43 ·
Abandoned airstrip outside Mumbai for UDAN scheme?

The Maharashtra Government wants an abandoned airstrip on the outskirts of Mumbai to be made operational for regional flights under the Central Government’s UDAN scheme, according to sources here.
The airstrip was constructed by the erstwhile British government during World War II and was abandoned soon afterwards.
Though the airstrip belongs to the Indian Navy, parts of it are still being used for agricultural purposes by families from whom the land was originally acquired.
“We will have to rehabilitate more than 3000 families in nine villages on which the airstrip falls,” a state government official said.
Earlier this year, scores of villagers ran riot amidst rumours that government officials had arrived to clear the land for a proposed airport.
Several smaller airlines which have applied to operate regional aircraft under the UDAN scheme have reportedly suggested that the Kalyan airstrip be made available to them.
Officials from the Union Civil Aviation Ministry had undertaken a survey of the area and the state government was asked to consider parting with land owned by it to set up passenger facilities.
Under the UDAN scheme, the Central Government provides viability gap funding to airlines which operate flights connecting small airports across the country.
Since the Kalyan airstrip cannot accommodate bigger aircraft it is suggested that smaller ATR aircraft deployed on regional routes could land and take off from here.
The Maharashtra Government has so far proposed development of airports in smaller cities like Kolhapur, Shirdi, Amravati, Gondia, Nashik, Jalgaon, Nanded, Solapur, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg. Of these the airport in Shirdi is already operational.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/na...ip-outside-mumbai-for-udan-scheme/513194.html
 
#44 ·
Abandoned airstrip outside Mumbai for UDAN scheme?

The Maharashtra Government wants an abandoned airstrip on the outskirts of Mumbai to be made operational for regional flights under the Central Government’s UDAN scheme, according to sources here.
The Maharashtra Government is broke and can't afford to build an airport on its own.

They can keep wanting.:lol:
 
#45 ·
Kalyan, before Navi Mumbai, could end up hosting Mumbai’s second airport

A Ministry of Civil Aviation said the government had received four to five proposals from airline operators to fly to and from Kalyan under its regional connectivity scheme

The woes of all stakeholders -- be it airline companies or the passengers or the operator of the Mumbai airport itself -- are all too well known. The city whose only airport boasts of a record – that of highest number of landings and take-offs on a single runway -- is crying for a new airport and another one at Navi Mumbai is still some years away. But before that, a non-functional airport at Kalyan, a city in Thane district near Mumbai, could be revived.

The airport at Kalyan belongs to the state government. A Ministry of Civil Aviation said the government had received four to five proposals from airline operators to fly to and from Kalyan under its regional connectivity scheme.

“The airport is not even functional and we have received four to five proposals under the UDAN scheme to connect Kalyan with regional routes,” the official said, saying that flights to and from the airport were a possibility in the future since the airlines themselves had expressed their interest in operating flights to and from there.

The ministry will on Thursday open financial bids by airline companies under the government’s regional connectivity scheme that seeks to connect unserved and under-served airports with partly subsidized flights, according to the official. The scheme is also known as UDAN which stands for ‘Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik’ -- roughly translating to ‘the country’s common man flies’.

It is worth noting that while the government is seeking to connect unserved and underserved airports with served airports, the airport at Mumbai has no additional slots to offer, UDAN or no UDAN. The official said the ministry had told the airlines that they could use their existing slots at the Mumbai airport to fly to and from Mumbai in order to connect the city to unserved and under-served airports. But no additional slots could be granted at Mumbai, the official said.

This is the second phase of UDAN scheme, routes under the first having been awarded earlier this year.

The scheme is laid out in such a way that airlines bid for the routes between two airports through an online auction where the name of the bidder isn’t known. The first financial bids are then made available to invite counter bids. The routes are finally awarded based on who asks for the lowest support from the government termed as viability gap funding. Thursday is when the counter bids will be opened and the names of the successful bidders made public.

The official said 17 companies had originally submitted bids with 141 proposals. Against this, 55 counter proposals have been received from 10 applicants. All proposals including those received in counter will be opened Thursday. The airlines bidding in this phase include IndiGo parent Interglobe Aviation, Jet Airways and SpiceJet. The first two had not participated in the first round of the scheme.

The contract to build and operate the proposed airport at Navi Mumbai has been awarded to GVK, which also operates the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/bu...p-hosting-mumbais-second-airport-2460981.html
 
#48 ·
Set to take off in Maharashtra: its own civil aviation policy

The Maharashtra government is planning to draft an independent civil aviation policy to cover standard operating procedures for flight operations within the state. Likely to be proposed in the current quarter, the policy aims to standardise the protocol for helipads and heliports in use.

Officials believe drafting an independent policy on the guidelines of the national civil aviation policy would include nuances of flight operations specific to the state. One of the major components of the policy would aim to bring uniform guidelines for flight operations under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS).

“We are planning to get a policy that will regulate flight operations in the state. It will further include details of the helipad locations and bring in standard operating procedures for landing and take-off operations of choppers. It will also include guidelines on the land strips to be used for flight operations for VVIP arrangements and other further instructions,” said Suresh Kakani, Chairman and Managing Director, Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation (MADC).

He added: “We are likely to float the tender for appointing a consultant in this regard within 15 days. The policy should be ready by February.”

The need for drafting such a policy was mooted after the choppers used by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis witnessed more than one accident. In May, the Sikorsky chopper carrying Fadnavis crash-landed in Nilanga, Latur. On December 9, the private chopper used by Fadnavis had to force-land soon after taking off from Nashik.

By December end, four airports under the RCS would become operational in Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Nanded and Nashik. Each of them would see a flight connectivity to Mumbai.

“Flight connectivity under the RCS would receive a great boost by next year. Bringing guidelines for flight operations, airports and airport operators remains a must. It will set a protocol for operation of flights under this rule to be referred by each of its stakeholders,” said Kakani.

He added that the policy might include guidelines on the nature of infrastructure that must be required in the airports for seaplane operations. “As amphibious planes are likely to see their take-off and landing in water bodies, the Maharashtra Maritime Board is working on drafting its rules. As far as using the airports for parking the planes is concerned, the civil aviation policy will include certain provisions,” said Kakani.

The policy will also include guidelines on flight connectivity to boost cargo trade in the state. While cargo is traded by non-scheduled planes at some airports in the state, including the one in Juhu, it will classify more airports to be used for the purpose.

CM’S Chopper: 4 Incidents In 2017

* May 12: CM Devendra Fadnavis could not use a helicopter to travel from Gadchiroli to Mumbai after it developed a technical snag
* May 25: A state-owned helicopter carrying Fadnavis crash-landed at Nilanga near Latur minutes after taking off
* July 7: CM had a narrow escape in Alibaug when a chopper he was about to board took off before he could get in
* December 9: Fadnavis’s chopper force-landed soon after taking off as it was overloaded

http://indianexpress.com/article/ci...ashtra-its-own-civil-aviation-policy-5015556/
 
#49 ·
Fadnavis approves extension of Akola airport runway

According to a PTI report, Devendra Fadnavis , Chief Minister, Maharashtra, approved extension of the runway of Akola airport in east Maharashtra. He also ordered setting up of a Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) cell in the Maharashtra Airport Development Company Ltd (MADC).

MADC is a Special Purpose Company (SPC) constituted in 2002 by the state government to play a lead role in the planning and implementation of the Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) project. MADC is also supposed to take up development of other airports in the state not managed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Indian Air Force (IAF) in order to provide air connectivity between district headquarters and state Capital, Mumbai.

The decisions to extend the Akola airport runway and setting up the RCS cell were taken by the chief minister at the 62nd meeting of the board of directors of the MADC in Mumbai.

"The status of the greenfield international airport at Shirdi, along with the airports at Purandar, Amravati, Solapur, and Chandrapur, was reviewed in this meeting. Fadnavis directed for further extension of Shirdi airport. The chief minister also instructed extension of the runway of Akola airport," said a statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).

The CM also reviewed the progress of UDAN, the regional connectivity scheme (RCS) and approved the establishment of an RCS cell in MADC. The airports in Maharashtra covered under RCS are Amravati, Gondia, Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Nanded, Nashik, Solapur, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg.

http://www.travelbizmonitor.com/Top...roves-extension-of-akola-airport-runway-34692
 
#50 ·
Govt sanctions CISF cover for Shirdi airport
Union Home Ministry cleared the proposal on Wed; induction soon.

The government on Wednesday sanctioned an armed cover of over 180 CISF personnel to guard the international airport in Shirdi, which is frequented by lakhs of Sai Baba devotees every year.

The Union Home Ministry cleared the proposal to deploy the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at the facility which was inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind on October 1last year.

This will be the 60th airport in the country that will come under the security cover of the CISF, the paramilitary force tasked with securing civilian airports in the country.

“We have received the government sanction and the force will shortly takeover full security duties at the Shirdi airport,” CISF Director General O Singh said.

The force, along with the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and the airport operator, has conducted a security survey of the facility in the last few months.

Officials said a contingent of 185 CISF personnel, both men and women, will be guarding the airport, apart from the vehicle-borne quick reaction teams (QRTs) that are specifically tasked to thwart terror bids.

The enhancement in the number of airports under CISF cover has come after about a decade, as the force has been guarding 59 civil airports for many years now.

Located in Ahmednagar district, at a distance of 238 km from state capital Mumbai, Shirdi is home to the famous shrine of Sai Baba and is one of the prominent pilgrimage centres in the country.

According to estimates, about 60,000 pilgrims visit Shirdi every day, out of which the airport authorities have said they plan to tap at least 10-12 per cent.

The aerodrome is owned and developed by Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC), a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to develop airports in the state.

Constructed at an investment of around Rs 350 crore, the airport, with a 2,500 m-long runway, is capable of handling single narrow-body aircraft, such as Airbus A320 and Boeing 737s.

The 2,750 sq m terminal building has been designed to handle a total of 300 passengers, including the arriving ones.The 1.80-lakh personnel strong CISF is tasked with guarding vital and critical infrastructure in the government and private domain and it works under the command of the Union home ministry.

https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com...r-for-shirdi-airport/articleshow/62359290.cms
 
#54 ·
Nashik to get flights to 7 more cities

Nashik will be connected by air to seven more cities in the country under the regional connectivity scheme. The civil aviation ministry on Wednesday announced the sectors that airlines had bid for under the scheme. Nashik will have flights to Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Goa and Hindon in the NCR. It is now has flights only to Mumbai and Pune. Among other cities to be benefited are Jalgaon, Ahmedabad and Kolhapur.


https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...hts-to-7-more-cities/articleshow/62648809.cms
 
#55 ·
Udan: Flights to link Solapur with Bangalore and Hyderabad

SOLAPUR airport will soon be connected to Bangalore and Hyderabad airports under phase-II of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS). While SpiceJet will connect the airport to Bangalore, Alliance Air would connect it to Hyderabad.

On Wednesday, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Raju announced that the airports would be connected under phase-II of the RCS. While Solapur was included in Phase-I of the scheme, officials said an operational hurdle
delayed starting of flights on the route.

“There is a chimney coming in the flight path at the airport. We are still in talks with the company to demolish the chimney as early as possible,” Valsa Nair, the secretary, civil aviation said. “We see tremendous potential in the routes that we have been awarded and look forward to beginning operations very soon,” said Ajay Singh, CMD, SpiceJet.

As many as 16 routes connecting airports at Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Ozar (Nashik) and Solapur were awarded on Wednesday. Jet Airways, IndiGo and TruJet were the other airlines to connect the airports in the state with other cities.

http://indianexpress.com/article/ci...solapur-with-bangalore-and-hyderabad-5038310/
 
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