MAA | Chennai International Airport

[Vicvin86]

[Vicvin86]

[Vicvin86]

Airport construction updates Posted by mr_madras..

Originally Posted by mr_madras

Chennai airport on 20th March 2012

Originally Posted by mr_madras

Cont:

Originally Posted by mr_madras

Chennai airport on 20th March 2012

Originally Posted by mr_madras

Cont:

[Vicvin86]

http://www.airchinacargo.com/en/inde...&id=1331877663

At 10:10 on March 16, one B747-400 cargo aircraft B2460 of Air China Cargo Co., Ltd (abbreviated as Air China Cargo in this passage) is departing from Shanghai Pu Dong International Airport to Chennai , a city located in the south of India, and becomes a milestone that Air China Cargo officially launches a cargo aircraft route of Shanghai-Chennai-Chongqing-Shanghai. It is the first cargo aircraft route to South Asia and Southeast Asia launched by Air China Cargo.


The cargo aircraft route of Shanghai-Chennai-Chongqing-Shanghai in Air China Cargo is scheduled as follows: 2 flights on each Wednesday and Friday per week, flight number is CA1011/2. The departure time from Shanghai Pu Dong International Airport is 10:10, the arrival time at Chennai is 14:30 (local time) and the arrival time at Chongqing is 00:45 on Thursday and Saturday. This route will be operated in a form of charter flight in early stage, and it will become a schedule flight in the later stage. This flight will be operated with B747-400 cargo aircraft.

The operation of this route enhances the transport capacity investment of cargo aircraft of Air China Cargo into Asia Pacific market and links with two important industry cities of Chennai and Chongqing. Meanwhile, with Shanghai cargo aircraft hub and global route network of Air China Cargo, the cargos to Chennai can be quickly transferred to North America, Europe, and Japan and Asia Pacific areas.

[musang]

nice progress.. last when i was there the terminal was a bit quiet..

say what is the purpose of that thing in the middle of the V like structure? a rail transit or the like?

[Vicvin86]

Originally Posted by musang

nice progress.. last when i was there the terminal was a bit quiet..

say what is the purpose of that thing in the middle of the V like structure? a rail transit or the like?

That is for travellators.. connecting the two terminals. It is shelved for now and will be built in the coming years and will be commissioned along with metro station.

[Vicvin86]

Air China Cargo started Chennai service on March 15th...

[Vicvin86]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a7QoFBD5tE

[musang]

Originally Posted by Vicvin86

That is for travellators.. connecting the two terminals. It is shelved for now and will be built in the coming years and will be commissioned along with metro station.

thx VV.. they should have get it done now rather than shelving it in the coming yrs. but what's the reason of delaying it?

[Vicvin86]

fund shortage..

[Vicvin86]

Posted by karkal in India section

Originally Posted by karkal

Chennai airport may soon get a travelator to connect terminals


VITAL LINK Passengers waiting under the shell, where the travelator is to be installed, at the airport. Photo: A. Muralitharan

AAI has sent a revised estimate for project

[Vicvin86]

posted by tamilnaduboy..

Originally Posted by tamilnaduboy

[Vicvin86]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZ9ud2Squ0U

[Vicvin86]

Poster by Karkal in India Forums

7 gates, 52 check-in counters, 3,300 passengers an hour



Arrival of an airport The new terminal can hold up to 10 million passengers per annum Photo: Special Arrangement

[Vicvin86]

Crossposting from India forums....

Originally Posted by bonoslack7

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...cle3380908.ece

While the new domestic terminal at Chennai airport is gearing up to start operations by July, the expanded international terminal will be in ready only by August.

Trial runs at the new domestic terminal began on Monday with 128 passengers arriving from a Kingfisher flight from Mumbai being guided through the new building for baggage check-out. One more trial for departure will happen in 7-10 days; this will be the real challenge as it involves check-in and boarding, said an airport official.

The five-level domestic terminal spans 72,614 sq m. It has seven gates, 52 check-in counters and eight e-ticketing counters. Terminal-2 is equipped to handle 3,300 passengers an hour. The existing terminal handles 2,200 passengers.

The State Government is looking at a grand inauguration of the domestic terminal by mid-June. “The Airports Authority Chairman has spoken to the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary. We are waiting for official dates,” said the official. But this will only be a soft launch; operations will start in full swing only 15 days thereafter, he said.

Some work is still pending at the international terminal, which is being expanded by 59,300 sq m. “Offices for international airlines have not yet been allocated. This could take up to August.”

The three-level international terminal will have 52 check-in counters and 18 immigration counters.

The Chennai airport expansion project also involves extension of the secondary runway (which is currently 2.07 km long) by 1.03 km. The runway is ready but awaiting final clearance from the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation, as a few cellular towers are still in the way. Five towers have been displaced already; three more have to be removed around the Trident Hotel area, said the airport official.

There has also been delay in the arrival of seven aerobridges from Indonesia. “This could take two-three months. We have to manage with the existing seven aerobridges.”

The new car park can accommodate 1,200 vehicles. But the multi-level car parking, which was promised during the conception of this project, will happen only in phase 2. The project cost has gone up from the original outlay of Rs 1,808 crore to Rs 2,015 crore.

Traffic at the expanded airport is expected to go up to 23 million passengers by 2020 (16 million domestic and 7 million international) from 12 million now.

[Vicvin86]

X-posting from India forums....

Originally Posted by saysenthil

New token counters help reduce vehicle pile-up at Chennai airport

For R. Venkatesan, a frequent flyer from Chennai, a recent trip to the city was one of the smoothest in his memory – at least when it came to getting dropped at the airport and picked up on his return. “When I came to the airport to go to New Delhi, the vehicle that brought me left immediately after I alighted from it. Similarly, when the same vehicle came to pick me up, I was able to go upto it at the car park without any difficulty.”

Dr. Venkatesan is one of the passengers who have begun to experience the smooth flow of the vehicular movement at the airport in recent days. The new counters set up to register the entry and exit of vehicles at the airport have helped in reducing congestion, passengers say.

On the same lines is the feedback from the Air Passengers' Association of India. The organisation's National President, D. Sudhakara Reddy said that after the introduction of the counters for issuing tokens for vehicles, congestion at both the arrival and departure areas has substantially reduced. In addition, the removal of some of the support structures for the new terminals has also reduced the time taken by vehicles for reaching the departure terminal.

Mr Reddy said a meeting of the Chennai Airport Advisory Committee was held last month. In the meeting, it was indicated that by the time the new terminals are opened, the congestion will be completely eliminated and there will be sufficient parking available.

Data with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) showed that on an average, nearly 14,000 vehicles enter the airport a day, of which nearly 5,000 of them exited within the stipulated five minutes.

E.P. Hareendranathan, Airport Director, Chennai Airport, said under the earlier system, taxis that came to drop passengers used to hang around on the airport premises, hoping to take some passengers to the city or its suburbs. “Those vehicles are absent now, which is one of the main reasons for decrease in congestion.”

Under the new system, any vehicle that stays for more than five minutes inside the premises has to pay a fee of Rs 60. This is valid for four hours and the vehicle will be parked in the ordinary car park. For premium parking, it is Rs 120 for four hours, he added.

Originally Posted by bonoslack7

http://expressbuzz.com/states/tamiln...re/389294.html

The price for various services at Chennai Airport may see a 90 per cent hike as Airports Authority of India (AAI) has proposed a User Development Fee (UDF) of Rs 160 and Rs 500 on domestic and international passengers, respectively.

The proposal for UDF as well as other charges is now with the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA), which is likely to give its final decision in the next six months. AAI is proposing to follow a multi-year tariff plan, by which tariff at the various AAI airports will be reviewed by the AERA every five years.

Chennai is one of the first airports for which such a proposal has been made.

Going by the promises, new terminals are likely to be operational by June, after which, the AAI will have to capitalise its expenditure, leading to losses at one of the few profit-making airports.

“The AAI is running a deficit of Rs 200 crore in the construction of new terminals. Capitalisation and depreciation has to be accounted for,” an AAI official said.

A hike of almost 50 per cent has been proposed in the landing, parking and housing charges.

“Rentals for office spaces are being increased to Rs 1,250 per sqm against the existing Rs 940 per sqm. For ticketing areas, airlines have been asked to pay Rs 2,500 per sqm against the existing Rs 940,” an airline official said.

“To top it all, an additional 25 per cent utility charge is being proposed on the overall bills for the airlines. The annual periodic increase of 7 per cent will also be applicable.

“We are still trying to calculate the operational cost with the many new add-ons and how much of it the airline can absorb.

“Flying out of Chennai will definitely become expensive like Delhi and Mumbai,” the official added.

While UDF was being charged at many other metro airports, Chennai and Kolkata were recent additions. AAI Chairman V P Agrawal said that it was a part of the infrastructure development cost.

“Any infrastructure investment has a definite risk of this kind. But two years down the line, things will iron out,” he said.

Chennai has been a preferred airport for expansion of operations, going by statistics. Domestic aircraft movement at Chennai airport in February 2012 was 7,003 compared to 6,290 last year.

International aircraft movement at Chennai airport in February 2012 was 2,706 compared to 2,413 last year. While passenger movement also increased, freight decreased to 26,842 metric tonnes from 30,644 in February last year — a decrease of 12.4 per cent.

Originally Posted by karkal

Canopies to welcome passengers



White canopies have been put up at the dedicated taxi pick-up point near the new domestic terminal to provide shelter for passengers at the city airport. — DC

Originally Posted by murlee

New domestic terminal

image hosted on flickr
image hosted on flickr


SRC: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ambaris...n/photostream/

[Vicvin86]

Crossposting...

Originally Posted by murlee

Originally Posted by satchitananda

SOURCE:


For the first time in 10 years, cargo volume at the Chennai airport has dipped.

The drop was witnessed in both domestic and international sectors in the just concluded financial year.

In 2011-12, there was an 8.14 per dip in cargo volume to 3.57 lakh tonnes compared with 3.88 lakh tonnes, the previous year.

Mr E.P. Hareendranathan, Airport Director, attributes the drop to global economic slowdown, poor demand from the US and Europe and the dollar appreciation.

Cargo revenues in 2011-12 were flat at Rs 194 crore. “Major boost was supposed to have come from cargo with the handling rates being revised. Despite this, cargo volumes have dipped,” he said.

Mr J. Krishnan of S. Natesa Iyer & Co, a leading freight forwarder in Chennai, said traditional commodities such as textiles, garments and leather to traditional markets such as the US and Europe have dropped last year.

Even during the global recession period of 2008-09, there was a marginal increase in cargo volume by 0.65 per cent.

Passenger traffic
“Last year has been the worst so far,” said an industry source.

After a spurt in growth rate of passenger traffic in 2010-11 – in the immediate wake of economic recovery – the growth rate quietened in 2011-12. Passenger traffic grew a modest 7.3 per cent to 1.29 crore (43 lakh international; 86 lakh domestic) against 1.20 crore the previous year.

While the traffic in the domestic sector grew over 10 per cent, the international traffic went up marginally by 1.47 per cent, according to Airports Authority of India data.

“The number of business travellers have come down,” said Mr Hareendranathan.

Total revenue for the Chennai airport during 2011-12 increased to Rs 711 crore (Rs 693 crore).

Projections
Airports Authority of India projects cargo volume at the Chennai airport to grow five per cent to 3.75 lakh tonnes during 2012-13. The current year will see the passenger traffic grow by 8.4 per cent to 1.4 crore.

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Seems more like an impact of the depressed global economy, rather than systemic issues with the airport. But will be a golden opportunity to improve the airport infrastructure to beef up basic facilities.. Lets start with more clean restrooms..

[Vicvin86]

Originally Posted by bonoslack7

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/...cle3412887.ece

Manpower recruitment for the new domestic and international terminals at the Chennai airport is being worked out, said Krishna Kant Jha, Member (HR), Airports Authority of India (AAI), here on Friday.

Talking to reporters after inaugurating a Regional Training Centre at the new cargo complex at Meenambakkam, Mr. Jha said that the AAI had advertised in newspapers for recruiting junior executives. While it was a certainty that a large number of specialist workers would be required, the number had not been arrived at. “There are more than 20 departments such as service, operations, technical and so on. It is a long process that we will complete soon.”

The prospect of recruitment for the service sector in the airport has been a cause for concern among members of the AAI employees union. Airport sources said that a majority of the additional services were likely to be outsourced to private contractors.

Mr. Jha said that the ongoing feud between the staff of the erstwhile International Airports Authority of India (IAAI) and the National Airports Authority of India (NAAI) would be resolved soon. Calling them both “dissimilar organisations” that were merged in an unhappy setting, he said that the management was working towards a firm resolution.

The Regional Training Centre that was inaugurated is the second such centre. The first was started in New Delhi. This centre would be used to train the staff of the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and other departments in the aviation sector, said Dinesh Kumar, Director of the Indian Academy of Aviation. The centre would have two training centres, an auditorium, a computer training lab and office space.

The Centre would impart training in airfield driving, incident command for fire and operations, screening for CISF and online pilots examination for the DGCA.

Cathy capacity increase...

Originally Posted by singapore_airlines

Update at 0640GMT 14MAY12

Cathay Pacific starting 31AUG12 is increasing Hong Kong – Chennai service, where it’ll increase from existing 4 weekly flights to daily.

Airbus A330-300 aircraft operates this service. Schedule:

CX631 HKG2245 – 0130+1MAA 333 D

CX632 MAA0255 – 1055HKG 333 5
CX632 MAA0255 – 1100HKG 333 x235
CX632 MAA0255 – 1105HKG 333 23

New flight departs HKG on Day 124, MAA on Day 235

[Vicvin86]

X posting

Originally Posted by bonoslack7

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...cle3424992.ece

China Airlines today launched its freighter service to Chennai from Taipei.

The Taipei-based airline will start with two services a week to mainly tap the growing demand for both import and export of electronic goods in Chennai.

The service with B747-400F aircraft will originate at Taipei with a stopover at Kuala Lumpur and reach Chennai every Wednesday and Sunday mornings.

In the return direction, the freighter will go to Luxembourg in Europe and from there directly to Taipei, said the airline's Senior Vice-President, Mr Brian Chou.

[Vicvin86]

Extremely rare given the restrictions imposed on photography here