It is approaching 2 weeks since the launch of the new Bengaluru International Airport and the management of BIAL has been making steady progress in solving the multitude of problems present.

Before I offer some suggestions for BIAL management for their consideration, I make an open offer to BIAL management, on behalf of the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce. We want BIAL to succeed. We are here to understand and help. In return we ask for transparency, trust, and sincere engagement from BIAL.

Now the suggestions :

Most important : HAL is now closed. Passengers may provide a "honeymoon period", but industry cannot afford to. Services have to be delivered, and NOW!!!!!

1. Airport Flow
a.
Add your own security staff to monitor and govern flow of vehicles inside BIAL airport land.
b.
Add overhead signage indicating the correct lanes for (a) parking (b) pick-up and drop-off. The over-zealous parking attendants crowd the entrance lanes trying to divert all vehicles in to the paid parking, which only adds to the chaos.
c.
Prevent service road encroachment by parked Lorries and Vans, up to and including the fuel farm. Once the cargo village gets going it will become a mess of monster proportions.
d.
Expand the service road to 4 lanes. The current 2 lanes will not cope with the multitudes of commercial vehicles already choking the road.
e.
Consider making the service road "one-way" East to West. The main access road can be used as the West to East access for all vehicles.

2. Passenger Terminal and Services
a.
While not expecting BIAL to become a picnic spot, add seating for visitors to the airport, and add public toilets outside the terminal. Visitors may not be paying to enter the terminal, but a certain level of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is good business.
b.
Add a canopy from the terminal till the bus stand. It will aid and promote the usage of the Vayu Vajra services. In these times of high inflation, helping a passenger save money is good business.
c.
Expand the terminal on a war footing. The terminal design is modular and can be rapidly expanded. 71,000 sq. mtrs., is simply unable to cope with the demand. An overflowing departure lounge only diminishes the goodwill BIAL commands, and will lessen your "honeymoon period".
d.
Do not add additional retail space in the expansion. The current over-dedication to retail can be lowered by re-distributing the shops.
e.
Increase the apron, parking stands and gates. 42 Code C stands which includes 8 contact gates for 450+ flights a day is simply not enough. At the peak of 30 flights per hour, it will get overwhelmed if there is the slightest hiccup.
f.
Increase the number of toilets inside the terminal
g.
Stick to your guns on only 2 ground handling agents only if you can ensure their performance
h.
Provide permanent, good low priced, facilities for your customers' and partners' employees. i.e. airline staff, regulatory agencies (Customs, CISF, Immigration), cargo employees, etc.
i.
Speak to CISF Commandant, make them understand the need to use all the entrances to the terminal, and all the DFMDs/X-Ray scanners.

3. Services and Cargo

Cargo is the core reason of an airport, as far as industry is concerned. With the lack of a seaport in Bangalore the criticality only increases adding to the pressure.

India ranks a lowly 39th in the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index. In all crucial benchmarks India was below rank 40, only the competence of the people in the clearing process (customs excluded) at rank 31, salvaged the overall ranking. This has to improve, and Bangalore has always led the way.

Both the warehouses (Menzies Bobba and AI-SATS) have not taken advantage of the 2 month delay, and are just not ready. Their services are not up to international standards. From reports of airlines, air cargo agents, customs house agents, the situation will stabilise only after 1~1.5 months. This is simply unacceptable. It needs to be set right in 15 days.

BIAL was brought in to deliver a "world class" airport, and this includes cargo. If any of the cargo terminal operators cannot deliver results, they should be suspended from operation till they improve.

India has established the WRDA, and BIAL management has to realise that it is ultimately responsible for delivering "Global Service Quality" levels. It needs to be the big, bad, bar bouncer, and push its people and partners, in to delivering.

a.
BIAL management needs to recognise that cargo and logistics operations are a vital part of an airport and its interaction with a much larger hinterland, when compared to the passenger catchment area.
b.
BIAL needs to make a parking for all the commercial vehicles at the airport. The service road is choked with lorries, LCVs, mini-trucks, goods auto-rickshaws, etc.
c.
Need to enforce basic GMP and GS1 standards in warehousing.
d.
Create a joint Cargo-Terminal, Airline, Cargo-Agent, Customs-Agent and Industry Chambers task force that will meet and measure, on a monthly basis the :

• Effectiveness and Efficiency of the clearing process
• Infrastructure
• Ease and affordability
• Competence of the clearance process and people
  
• Package Traceability
• Reliability and repeatability i.e. confidence level

e.
Bring in the managements of both Menzies Aviation Bobba and Air India-Singapore Airport Terminal Services and get categoric commitments on SLAs for the following :

• Import Bonding - Target 3 hours
• Import IGM filing - Target 3 hours (if airlines do not comply, ban them)
• Cargo Traceability - No more than 1 hour. GMP or GS1 standards.
  
• Exports - Target 2 hours
• Goods vehicle parking - No truck should stand on the service road
• Infrastructure
  

f.
Strongly consider adding a third cargo terminal, but ensure you get a very high quality vendor.
g.
Add specialist warehousing options, to increase the value proposition. For example Frozen (below 20 Deg C), Chilled (-4 to +4 Deg C), Cold Room (+4 to +15 Deg C) abilities.
h.
Provide public facilities and toilets for the employees.

Long term
a.
BIAL needs to engage Bangalore; its industry, its commerce, its residents. Operate in an open and transparent manner.
b.
Show Bangalore its long term plans, especially expansion. Some specific points can include :

• Status of second phase
• Permissions for the second runway
• SLAs 1 year from airport opening date (AOD)

c.
Bring in the full expertise of Unique Zurich organisation. Marry it to local competence and understanding. Instead of looking for a Civil Engineer to head the 2nd phase expansion, try and find competencies in other fields. The top person for phase 2, has to focus on efficient process and overall customer delight, not worry about how to make a building.

I hope BIAL finds these suggestions helpful. I invite readers to please add to the list by using the comments option.

Govt may not implement new ground-handling policy
BS Reporter / New Delhi June 05, 2008

The recent dispute between the Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) and Indian carriers may make the government go back on its decision to implement the new ground-handling policy next year.

According to sources in the civil aviation ministry, Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) has said that no domestic airline with a market share of below 25 per cent will be allowed to do its own ground-handling at the airport. This means that none of the Indian carriers will qualify for ground-handling. Because, even Jet Airways, the largest airline in terms of passenger numbers, commands a market share of only 21 per cent as per April 2008 figures.

BIAL has reportedly taken this stand despite the fact that the government had recently decided to allow domestic carriers to do their own ground-handling till the end of this year.

The BIAL issue was brought up today by Delhi-based low-cost carrier IndiGo, one of the airlines to be prevented by the airport authorities from ground-handling last week. According to civil aviation ministry sources, Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Kanu Gohain shot off a letter to BIAL yesterday, insisting the airport has to adhere to the government policy of allowing airlines to do ground-handling. In today's meeting with airport executives, including BIAL representatives, Chawla made it clear all airlines would have to be allowed to carry on with their own ground-handling till the end of this year.

When asked, a BIAL executive said, "BIAL has always maintained that having at least two professional ground-handlers not only makes for a competitive environment in terms of service quality and price, but also has a direct impact on the airside safety and security. However, post the meeting with the ministry today, BIAL supports the decision taken."

Industry sources said that with airlines reacting strongly to the new ground-handling policy, the government might take a second look at implementing it from next year.

"The ministry will look at whether self-handling is more economical for airlines than getting the same job done by external agencies. If yes, it might work towards letting the old policy of allowing airlines to do their own ground-handling continue," said a ministry official.

Under the new ground-handling policy to be implemented across all airports in the country from January 1, 2009, the airport operator or a joint venture company, subsidiaries of Air India or Indian Airlines, or their joint ventures, or any other ground-handling service provider selected through competitive bidding on a revenue-sharing basis will only be allowed to offer the services.

Airlines have been opposing the policy saying that outsourcing the work to an external agent will considerably increase their expenditure, pushing them further into the red.

As an interim measure to settle the problems of airport charges before the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) is set up, the civil aviation ministry today announced the constitution of a 10-member committee comprising members of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), private airports and airlines. This was announced at a meeting held between the ministry, airline and airport executives to look into issues like price hike in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) and high airport charges among others.

"The body will look at what can be done to ease the problems faced by the airlines due to high airport charges," said a ministry official.

Our Bureau

Bangalore, June 2 Low cost airlines have starting turning away from the new international airports in Hyderabad and Bangalore with SpiceJet having cancelled nearly 15 flights in the South, with most of them from these two airports.

SpiceJet chief commercial officer, Mr Samyukth Sridharan, told Business Line that the airline now runs only one flight out of Bangalore and Hyderabad while flights to Chennai from Hyderabad and from Bangalore to Kochi have been cancelled.

“We expected the demand from these two new airports to drop which is what has happened,” he said. He said since the opening of these two airports, loads have dropped between 6 per cent and 8 per cent. The airline will continue to take a closer look at each and every flight and decide which one of these are viable. “This will be continuous process. If we don’t take tough measures, our sustainability will be impacted,” he said.

Capt G.R. Gopinath, the Vice-Chairman of Deccan Aviation, which runs Simplyfly Deccan, said the airline may have to relook at some of the short haul flights.

“We knew this would happen. We had predicted that the new international airport in Bangalore would lose passengers not to other airports but to buses and trains, which is what is happening now,” he said.

Mr Sridharan said that unless the Government decides to take measures to stop the decline of the airline industry, several airlines will have to close down. “It is an emergency situation. The Government has to take a hard relook at what it is doing to the industry,” he said.

Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation chief for India, Mr Kapil Kaul, said that he fears that some airlines might in fact close down if aviation turbine fuel is not reduced. He said the average sales tax, which ranges between 4 per cent and 36 per cent from State-to-State, needs to be lowered.

“There must be a uniform tax of 4 per cent on ATF to start with and several more measures need to be taken to revive the industry,” he said.

Mr Kaul said that the Government would be undoing the good work that has happened so far by being passive about the rising oil prices which has started affecting the ATF. He said the airlines are no longer able to absorb the loss arising out of increase in ATF prices. “They have no other option but to pass them on to the passengers,” he said.

© Copyright 2000 - 2008 The Hindu Business Line

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) launched a new era in air travel as it bid farewell to the paper ticket on the eve of the industry’s conversion to 100% electronic ticketing.

The history of tickets

Paper tickets date back to the 1920s. Each airline used a different form with varying rules. Airlines soon recognised the need for standardisation of traffic documents, regulations and procedures to support the growth of an industry that spanned the world. In 1930, the IATA Traffic Committee developed the first standard hand-written ticket for multiple trips. These same standards served the industry into the early 1970s.

The first ticketing revolution occurred in 1972 with automation. The IATA Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) for travel agents began in Tokyo that year. This led to the birth of the IATA neutral paper ticket. For the first time the IATA logo appeared on the cover of tickets that could be used by any travel agent to ticket journeys on almost any airline in the world.

The next revolution took place in 1983, when the system was further automated with a magnetic stripe on the ticket back. This allowed all of the ticket information to be stored electronically on the ticket itself and it could be used as the boarding pass as well.

At its peak, 285 million of IATA neutral paper tickets (both versions) were printed in 2005.

The first e-ticket was issued in 1994. By 1997, IATA had adopted global standards for e-ticketing. But the evolution was slow and by May-04, only 19% of global tickets were electronic.

Simplifying the Business

At the 2004 Annual General Meeting in Singapore, the successive crises of war, terrorism and SARS were still being felt, the price of oil was approaching USD40 per barrel and the imperative for cost efficiencies was critical. IATA presented a plan for Simplifying the Business, the highlight of which was to achieve 100% e-ticketing.

Over four years, IATA deployed a global team of 150 people to work with airlines and system providers around the world to facilitate implementation.

A paper ticket costs an average of USD10 to process versus USD1 for an electronic ticket. With over 400 million tickets issued through IATA’s settlement systems annually, the industry will save over USD3 billion each year.

Consumer benefits

Consumers can look forward to easier travel in an electronic world. 100% ET eliminates lost tickets. ETs can easily be changed and reissued without necessitating a trip to a travel agency or airline ticket office. And they enable a wide array of self-service options such as online and mobile check in.

© Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c_online.php?leftnm=10&bKeyFlag=IN&autono=38892

BS Reporter / New Delhi June 2, 2008, 17:47 IST

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa today said that he was committed to negotiating with the Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) over keeping the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) airport open following high court directions. "I will be complying with the high courts direction that we renegotiate with BIAL, in order to reopen HAL," he said in his first press interaction in Delhi after winning assembly polls in Karnataka. The HAL airport was closed on May 28 as per a contract with BIAL, that as soon as the new airport was functional, HAL would be closed. The court directions came after a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed asking that the HAL airport also be open. Earlier negotiations have not been successful and Yeddyurappa said that he would be taking the Centre's help on the matter

Yeddyurappa also created a stir saying that he would be following the "Gujarat model" of development for his state going so far as to say that he would be sending a delegation headed by a minister to study development projects in Gujarat. When asked whether this was the "Modi model" Yeddyurappa said that it was the "Atal Behari Vajpayee model of development."

Pointing out that BJP had won an unprecedented 17 out of the 28 assembly seats in Bangalore city, he said that a special thrust would be given for the capital of Karnataka. "It will be developed into a global city in the true sense with the infrastructural facilities of global standards," he said, adding that his government would come out with a special agenda for Bangalore infrastructure development very soon.

Significantly he said that one of his top priorities would be to take up corruption cases of the previous governments. "Immediately I will take up the issue of corruption. I will give top priority (to it). I am not going to tolerate corruption," Yeddyurappa, said.

At the same time, Yeddyurappa said his government believed in following the path of cooperation instead of confrontation. He lashed out at JD(S), led by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, for the "unethical political activities" denying him the opportunity to hold chief ministership for 20 months under a power sharing agreement.

It is now the 10th day of operations for Bengaluru International Airport (BIAL). The graph below shows the slow and steady improvement of flight performance operations.

The situation, however, is far from satisfactory. Average delays are still hovering at 40 minutes, which is bordering on "highly delayed", and only 70% of flights leave within 15 minutes of their scheduled time of departure (STD).

Cargo operations still remain, in very poor condition, and support infrastructure for non-passengers, like food, toilets, and transport, is still very poor.

BIAL was brought in as a "world class" organisation, and I having met Mr. Brunner and his team, I know they are. The trend is positive, but time is of the essence. Bangalore economy is loosing way too much, and BIAL is loosing goodwill.

Readers must get the impression that I am anti-BIAL. Sorry, nothing can be further from the truth. As a lifelong believer in Bangalore's desperate need for more and better infrastructure, I have always welcomed BIAL from the day it was conceived.

I do hold, BIAL to a significantly higher standard of delivery. From day one, in justification of the over Rs. 10,000 Cr., worth of expenditure, concessions, grants, waivers, etc., by the Government, Bangalore was promised a "world class" airport, delivered by a "world class" organisation.

I strongly believe, that Unique Zurich Airport, are an expert organisation, and in my heart, I know they are capable of delivering. We should not accept anything less than a true world class airport. We have to compare BIAL against world leading airports. Bangalore, deserves to get what it was promised -- a "world class airport". The best airport in India, or comparisons to other existing airports in India, are not acceptable benchmarks.

An airport is much more than a passenger terminal building. It is a major economic driver not just of the city, but also of the region. An airport directly employs about 1,000 persons for every 1 million passengers. Everyday about Rs. 150 Cr. worth of cargo transits through BIAL. The total annual economic impact (direct, indirect, and induced), of BIAL as an airport, on Bangalore, and the South Karnataka, South West Andhra, North West Tamil Nadu region, is currently is about $2.5~$3 billion (Rs. 10750 Cr). This will grow at about 25% per year.

Incomplete facilities in the secondary areas, like cargo, airline crew and staff buildings, employee canteens, flight kitchens, in-adequate staffing or training by ground handlers, lack of public seating or toilets, cramped departure lounges or excess dedication to retail shops, are not marks of a well planned airport, and detrimentally impact the economy.

The average traveller, not having a full appreciation of the this impact, judges an airport by its terminal and other passenger facilities. Hopefully, I have raised your awareness and you will better appreciate these short-comings have on our life.

Given the poor working conditions for employees at the airport, I request all fellow passengers to kindly empathise with their plight and miserable working conditions. Let us be more tolerant and understanding of them and their needs. If they are not comfortable, how can we expect them to keep us comfortable and safe.

I do not know the reason(s) why BIAL was pushed in to service in such an incomplete condition.

As an individual, and as the Chairman of the Infrastructure Committee of the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce, I offer any help BIAL management needs to resolve this crisis and put BIAL in to a smooth running mode.