Kolkata (CCU) | Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport

[Suncity]

Originally Posted by abhipinak

:
The pic u uploaded about the domestic terminal.. just above... where is it..
the last time i visited India.. and traveled through the domestic terminal( way back in feb this year)... i didnt see this part... or am i missing something.... is this a new departure lounge or something...

This is around gates 2 and 2A on the ground floor. Not sure if this is new. I think I saw it for the first time but it may have been around.

[suraj100]

Indore: For those travelling to Mumbai frequently by air, here is good news. Low cost airline IndiGo is starting a new flight from Indore to Mumbai. The airline is expected to start operations on the route from December 20.

At present, there are four flights that are operational from Indore to Mumbai. Three of them are run by JetLite, while Indian operates a single flight to the commercial capital of the country.

However, travel experts claim that inconvenient schedules of the existing flights can benefit IndiGo. The air travellers had often been complaining about delayed Indian flights which used to leave them with only option of opting for low cost JetLite flights. The new IndiGo flight would operate on Kolkata-Raipur-Indore-Mumbai route.

At present, the low cost airliner is operating on two routes; one from Indore to Bangalore via Nagpur and second from Indore to Srinagar via Delhi. All the operational and the prospective ones are daily flights.

Significantly, one of the prominent airliners Kingfisher had scarped Indore operations due to financial constraints, leaving plenty of room for other airliners to step in.
Another low cost airliner SpiceJet has already stepped into the air space of Madhya Pradesh in October last. With prominent airliners facing cost constraints, travel experts see plenty of scope for low cost airliner in tier II cities like Indore.

Link

[AbhishekDatta]

After modernisation Kolkata airport would be the best: AAI
PTI | 11:12 PM,Dec 14,2011

Kolkata, Dec 14 (PTI) The Airports Authority of India (AAI) chairman B P Agarwal today said that after the modernisation work of the N S C Bose International Airport here is complete, it would be the best airport in the country. "The modernisation work of the N S C Bose International Airport is expected to be completed by March 2012. After that, the airport would be the best airport in the country, even better than airports in Delhi, Mumbai or Bangalore," Agarwal said here after inaugurating an operational building. AAI had taken up the Rs 2300-crore modernisation project for the Kolkata airport in 2008, which includes building a fourth terminal and revamping the existing ones. The different Airlines would also be alloted their own space in the airport here after the modernisation work is complete, he said.

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfee...ai/930275.html

[sidney_jec]

if it achieves operational efficiency then no doubt it can be. the terminal is beautiful needless to say.

[AbhishekDatta]

Originally Posted by sidney_jec

if it achieves operational efficiency than no doubt it can be. the terminal is beautiful needless to say.

can't agree more... it will definitely be one of the best when prepared but need to see how long the beauty remains since it will be operated by AAI

[Suncity]

More international flights?

http://www.telegraphindia.com/111121...y_14882877.jsp

Several international airlines have expressed interest in starting or resuming flights to and from the city.

“Jet Airways is eager to start a Calcutta-Sydney flight. Cathay Pacific and Fly Dubai have approached us as well,” said AAI chairman V.N. Agrawal.

Airport director B.P. Sharma said British Airways had also sent feelers about resuming its grounded Calcutta-London flight next summer. “The plan is in the preliminary stage,” he added.

A spokesperson for British Airways said the airline had “no interim plan” to resume flights from Calcutta.

According to the AAI chairman, all airlines would have to pay 40 per cent more to operate out of the new terminal.

[Suncity]

ABP reports that discussions are on with more airlines

Fedex (freight), Air Mauritius, Japan Airlines, Austrian Airlines

[barnomoy]

Wohooooooo.... So are we going to see CCU-NRT and CCU-SYD Flights soon??? And CCU-VIE!!! Im getting Goosebumps!!!

Air Mauritius means cheaper Mauritian vacations/honeymoons for a lot of people! Cathay news is understood, so is FlyDubai. With such an arsenal, CCU will be really doing good to India's "Look East" policy!!

Kudos to waiting to see it happen!

[sidney_jec]

too early to be happy about it. sorry if I am sounding cynical

[studdmanster]

cc: TNN

The citys track record of delays in major projects remains unbroken.After Metro Railways and flyovers,the modernization of Kolkata airport has spun out of schedule with the project deadline long over.Airports Authority of India (AAI) will now incur further cost and time over-runs.And passengers will be forced to bear with poor services at the current terminal with AAI pleading it can do little given its space constraints.
Already delayed by eight months,Airports Authority of India (AAI) chairman VP Agrawal said the completion deadline for the integrated passenger terminal could be pushed back by another two months.But that may still prove elusive with an impending work-to-rule agitation by a section of employees set to derail the deadline by several months more.
In purely monetary terms,Rs 1,700 crore or three-fourth of the funds has been spent.That means,a quarter of work is yet to be done.The project that was to be completed in 30 months is already in its 36th month and may finally get over in 42-48 months.
The initial completion target of the under-construction integrated terminal with an annual capacity of 20 million passengers was July 2011 but was pushed back to October 2011,followed by December 2011 and March 2012.On Wednesday,Agrawal announced a revised deadline of June 2012.But if the AAI engineers engaged in the project work for only eight hours from Monday,it could push the completion deadline back by a further four-five months.
The 60 AAI engineers working on the project are among 600 officers countrywide who plan to embark upon the workto-rule agitation to force the management to address an HR issue that has been hanging fire since 1995 when international and domestic divisions were merged to form AAI.Of the 600 aggrieved employees,120 are from Kolkata.
At this crucial juncture when the tempo of work is at its peak,any agitation will adversely affect the project.We are aware of the anomaly and are trying to address it by creating 200 new posts.I hope officials will acknowledge our effort and recognize the need to join forces so that this prestigious project is completed on time, Agrawal said.
Following the disinvestment of Delhi and Mumbai airport and private green field airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad,Kolkata and Chennai are the only two metro airports in AAI fold.Of the two,the Kolkata airport project is by far the most prestigious one that AAI has undertaken in the country.
It was sustained pressure from the officers association and employees union at Kolkata airport as well as the Left in 2005-06 that prevented former civil aviation minister Praful Patel from divesting governments stake in the airport like it had done in Delhi and Mumbai.The faceoff between Patel and Left led to a stalemate for two years.
Finally,at the foundation stone laying ceremony in December 2008,Patel had remarked that unions in Bengal needed to improve work culture and display discipline to build and operate a world-class airport.By then,the project cost had escalated from an initial estimate of Rs 1,800 crore to Rs 2,300 crore.To prevent the project cost from shooting up by a further Rs 300 crore,the new air traffic control tower was dropped from the plan.
Patel words are proving prophetic with the project deadline being continually revised.Agrawal,who reviewed the project progress on Tuesday,said: civil work was nearing completion.We should be able to hand over the terminal to airlines and other agencies by Marchend, said airport director B P Sharma.

[soumalya747]

Originally Posted by Suncity

ABP reports that discussions are on with more airlines

Fedex (freight), Air Mauritius, Japan Airlines, Austrian Airlines

well I wont say Kolkata Airport will be the most Beautiful Airport in India coz Hyderbad Airport and Delhi T3 are much much better than the upcoming integrated Terminal. I'v been to there, I'v seen the architectural and interior design. It is good but not the best.

[avishar]

Lets not start a "My airport best!" debate here.Personally looks aside,airport needs to be maintained and be efficient also,but from whatever we have seen till now,Kolkata airport design is not monotonous,and unique and incorporates some local touches as well!Fingers crossed,i dont mind the delay,but finishing and workmanship should be good.

I would be happy to see some more middle eastern and a london flight.HK could be a bonus,SYD and NRT might not happen too soon.

But pay 40% more for new terminal?With our cash strapped airlines,i wonder how they will react to this.

[raj145_91]

Jet does not fly to Sydney or anywhere else in Australia,so a Calcutta-Sydney flight may be a distant dream....the flight to NRT, should be a stopover via either Bangkok or Singapore....a direct CCU-NRT flight would be a total disaster(remember Hainan???). Flydubai will be a nice low-cost alternative to Emirates and I'm sure that a bi-weekly Cathay flight would also do brisk business.
Hoping BA returns soon...even Air India can start a four or five days a week 777 flight on the CCU-LHR-JFK route, in case those snobs decide to ditch us again in the future.

[ImBoredNow]

This is a nice airport. So far the construction looks just like the renders.

[SamitB]

Helicopter Service between Behala airstrip and Haldia started

[SarafIndian]

Cool

[abhipinak]

Originally Posted by studdmanster

cc: TNN

The citys track record of delays in major projects remains unbroken.After Metro Railways and flyovers,the modernization of Kolkata airport has spun out of schedule with the project deadline long over.Airports Authority of India (AAI) will now incur further cost and time over-runs.And passengers will be forced to bear with poor services at the current terminal with AAI pleading it can do little given its space constraints.
Already delayed by eight months,Airports Authority of India (AAI) chairman VP Agrawal said the completion deadline for the integrated passenger terminal could be pushed back by another two months.But that may still prove elusive with an impending work-to-rule agitation by a section of employees set to derail the deadline by several months more.
In purely monetary terms,Rs 1,700 crore or three-fourth of the funds has been spent.That means,a quarter of work is yet to be done.The project that was to be completed in 30 months is already in its 36th month and may finally get over in 42-48 months.
The initial completion target of the under-construction integrated terminal with an annual capacity of 20 million passengers was July 2011 but was pushed back to October 2011,followed by December 2011 and March 2012.On Wednesday,Agrawal announced a revised deadline of June 2012.But if the AAI engineers engaged in the project work for only eight hours from Monday,it could push the completion deadline back by a further four-five months.
The 60 AAI engineers working on the project are among 600 officers countrywide who plan to embark upon the workto-rule agitation to force the management to address an HR issue that has been hanging fire since 1995 when international and domestic divisions were merged to form AAI.Of the 600 aggrieved employees,120 are from Kolkata.
At this crucial juncture when the tempo of work is at its peak,any agitation will adversely affect the project.We are aware of the anomaly and are trying to address it by creating 200 new posts.I hope officials will acknowledge our effort and recognize the need to join forces so that this prestigious project is completed on time, Agrawal said.
Following the disinvestment of Delhi and Mumbai airport and private green field airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad,Kolkata and Chennai are the only two metro airports in AAI fold.Of the two,the Kolkata airport project is by far the most prestigious one that AAI has undertaken in the country.
It was sustained pressure from the officers association and employees union at Kolkata airport as well as the Left in 2005-06 that prevented former civil aviation minister Praful Patel from divesting governments stake in the airport like it had done in Delhi and Mumbai.The faceoff between Patel and Left led to a stalemate for two years.
Finally,at the foundation stone laying ceremony in December 2008,Patel had remarked that unions in Bengal needed to improve work culture and display discipline to build and operate a world-class airport.By then,the project cost had escalated from an initial estimate of Rs 1,800 crore to Rs 2,300 crore.To prevent the project cost from shooting up by a further Rs 300 crore,the new air traffic control tower was dropped from the plan.
Patel words are proving prophetic with the project deadline being continually revised.Agrawal,who reviewed the project progress on Tuesday,said: civil work was nearing completion.We should be able to hand over the terminal to airlines and other agencies by Marchend, said airport director B P Sharma.

This was waiting to happen..... Hope we get this done by year end next year... its always been like this in bengal...

[abhipinak]

Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/111121...y_14885696.jsp

The dispute over whether to have an elevated Metro station at the airport or an underground one has resurfaced, putting a question mark on the plan to provide seamless connectivity to fliers.

The stalemate between the airport and Metro Railway authorities on the type of airport station on the proposed Noapara-Barasat Metro link had apparently been resolved six months ago.

“The Metro authorities had then agreed to build the airport station underground but they now want to revise the plan. They want elevated tracks around the airport,” said V.N. Agrawal, chairman, Airports Authority of India (AAI).

“We have to incur extra expenditure of around Rs 500 crore to Rs 550 crore if the station is underground. We will take the station underground only if there is no alternative,” said P.B. Murthy, general manager, Metro Railway, Calcutta.

“For the extra funds, we will have to approach the Railway Board,” he added.

Applying for funds to the Railway Board could delay the project by months. If the board declines to provide funds, the project itself might be in jeopardy.

The Metro authorities told senior AAI officials that they wanted to change the plan at a meeting in Delhi a fortnight ago.

The new integrated terminal building at the airport is set to open by June.

AAI officials said they did not have any problem with the tracks being elevated on the airport premises. “Our objection is to the elevated tracks at the entry and exit points, which is what the Metro authorities want,” said Agrawal.

“The elevated tracks are likely to be within the approach funnel of the runway, which can jeopardise flight movement,” said a senior airport official.

The approach funnel is the area in and around the airport where construction cannot be allowed for the safety of flights.

When the Rs 2,900 crore, 18km Metro link was conceived, the authorities had planned to use Eastern Railway’s existing suburban track to the airport and build a parallel track for double-line operation. It was later decided that the tracks would go underground around 2km from the airport and the station would also be underground.

“If there are no technical difficulties in the revised plan, we can allow them to build an elevated station. Whether underground or elevated, the station will be opposite the existing domestic terminal building,” said an airport official.

Airport authorities plan to install walkalators and elevators for the convenience of fliers. The proposed station will be connected with the integrated terminal’s Level 1 basement by a walkalator. If the plan translates into reality, passengers will need less than 10 minutes to reach the check-in counters from the airport station.

Another Metro link to the airport from Garia, a Rs 3,951 crore project, is being built. The tracks are supposed to be underground.

[Suncity]

Originally Posted by abhipinak

Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/111121...y_14885696.jsp

Not sure what the fuss about elevated tracks is. Kolkata airport already has existing elevated railway tracks. So are they referring to the Barasat side?

[Suncity]

Originally Posted by abhipinak

This was waiting to happen..... Hope we get this done by year end next year... its always been like this in bengal...

It's the same in most of the country.

How long did Bangalore Airport go from conception to completion?

People talk a lot about Kolkata Metro but what about Chennai MRTS? What is it's track record?

I am sure the Worli Bridge has broken Second Hooghly Bridge's record in delays.

Also the agitation is an all India issue and not Kolkata specific. Give it to the media to convert it into the usual stereotype negativity about Bengal. The media would be better served if they improved the extremely poor quality reporting.

I think that the new terminal should be up and running by Durga Puja next year.