After reading the below story in The Mint, I can only shake my head and say ..."oh no not again!!!".

Both Bengaluru International Airport (BIAL) and Air Force Station (AFS) Yelahanka are vital to Bangalore. AFS Yelahanka is the premier training facility for the Indian Air Force (IAF) transport wing, and home to the internationally renowned AeroIndia show, which brings in millions if not billions of dollars worth of aviation related business to Bangalore.

The IAF is naturally wary of AAI air traffic controllers giving preference to civilian flights and do not want to loose control of their airspace. Yet safety is important.

BIAL and IAF need to engage with each other, without resorting to the complications which will arise when ministries get involved. IAF and BIAL can do we a neutral intermediary outside government to help them thrash issues out and arrive at a consensus.

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Bial’s second runway proposal irks IAF
Tarun Shukla

The air force objects to proposed location of the runway, saying proximity to its airbase may affect operations

Bangalore’s new airport, already buffeted by a court case and controversy over closure of the city-side airport it replaced, has hit another roadblock ahead of a much-needed expansion.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has objected to the location of a proposed second runway saying it may be too close to its airbase nearby affecting operations.

A civil aviation ministry official termed IAF’s objections “unacceptable” and said it would be asked to re-examine its decision.

Among India’s top five airports by traffic, the new Bengaluru International Airport is facing public interest litigation in the Karnataka high court over alleged congestion during peak hours. The litigants, including a local citizens’ group in Bangalore, argue that a capital-intensive asset such as the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL)-run old airport, which has been closed for commercial traffic since late May, shouldn’t be allowed to close, especially given the long commute time to the new airport.

The new airport, run by Bangalore International Airport Ltd, or Bial, is some 30km north-east of Bangalore, and was predicated on the old airport not competing with it.

Over the past few months, under growing criticism, the civil aviation ministry had asked Bial to speed up the process of second phase of expansion and match the overcapacity gaps it found in a study of the new airport. This meant that Bial would need to create a temporary “express terminal” building next to the existing terminal before a new runway and terminal can come up to the south of the current runway.

Construction work for the new runway, Bial says, is expected to start in July and finish in about three-four years. Planning and design of the runway is under way.

Locating the new runway to the south of the airport campus, spread over 4,000 acres, will mean restrictions on planes using the new runway because their flight path may stray into the airspace reserved for IAF’s airbase at Yelahanka close by. The base is mostly used for helicopter training.

“...we cannot come to the south as four miles (from the existing runway) is Yelahanka airspace. What we are telling is that a runway closer to Yelahanka will mean further restrictions,” a senior air traffic control official at Airports Authority of India said, asking not to be identified.

Bangalore airspace has to be carefully managed, the official said, after three large airspace corridors have emerged in the city, short distance of each other: that of the Bial airport, the old HAL airport and the Yelahanka airbase. In addition, the city hosts an airstrip on its northern suburbs that handles private planes and hobby aviation enthusiasts.

Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation, or DGCA, had proposed that IAF shift its operations to the HAL airport, which is mostly unused except for charter, private and important aircraft movements.

But, IAF has rejected that request. “We are not shifting Yelahanka,” said vice chief of air staff air marshal P.V. Naik, adding IAF wanted the new runway, which will nearly double the capacity of the airport, to be built north of the existing one. The airport operator said it had been granted all clearances including those for the second runway as part of the original airport master plan finalized in 2004 but is currently in talks to arrive at a solution after the reservations made by IAF.

“The runways of the airbase at Yelahanka and those of our airport are absolutely parallel. Nevertheless, the air traffic management is coordinated. For this reason, (IAF) had worked out an integrated airspace management plan which was the basis for its NOC (no-objection certificate) for our project,” a Bial spokeswoman said.

Since its launch in May, the Bengaluru International Airport has had more than 2.42 million passengers pass through it and carriers such as Dragon Air, Tiger Airways, Oman Air and Air Mauritius have also started their operation recently.

The Union civil aviation ministry believes a new runway to the north of the airport is not feasible as it will require further acquisition of land. “Those (conditions) are not acceptable,” a ministry official, who did not wish to be quoted, said, adding the ministry is asking IAF to relook at its stance.

Back in June, I led a high level delegation of industries on a visit of the air cargo facilities run by Menzies Aviation Bobba Group, and Air India Singapore Airport Terminal Services at Bengaluru International Airport. (Read that article).

We observed that the Indian Customs Authority did not have a full presence at BIAL airport, despite earlier assurances to Industry in March 2008. To correct the situation, the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC), made a representation to the local Customs office as well as to the Chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Customs to correct the lacuna.

The Chamber received the following letter from Customs recently, and it is self explanatory. Thanks to the Customs as well as many members of the Chamber who put in efforts.

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS,
CENTRAL REVENUES BUILDING, QUEEN’S ROAD, BANGALORE – 560001.

TRADE FACILITY No. 47/2008
Dated: 11/09/2008

Sub: Shifting of the Operations to the Air Cargo Complex at Devenahalli. Reg

Kind attention of the Importers, Exporters, Custom House Agents and all the concerned with the trade is hereby invited to the necessity of shifting the operations (Assessment, Bonds, Audit, Service Centre, Bank, etc.) to the Air Cargo Complex at Devenahalli, which are at present carried out from the old Air Cargo Complex premises near HAL Airport.

In this Connection, the trade is hereby informed that all such operations will be transferred to the new premises in a phased manner by middle of next month. To begin with, the Service Centre operations will be gradually shifted. All the major operations from the Service Centre will be available only from the new premises from 18th of September, 2008. Only two terminals will be made available at the old premises for facilitating Query reply and amendments. Hence, all the concerned are hereby advised to gradually shift their operations including payment of duty to the new Air Cargo Complex at Devanahalli accordingly.

Assessment and all other official functions currently operated from the old premises near HAL Airport are likely to be shifted to the new Air Cargo Complex at Devanahalli by the middle of next month.

A.K. KAUSHAL
COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS

The Times of India reports that air navigation services, could soon be hived off from the Airports Authority of India (AAI). In a move that would bring India in line with much of the world, these services could be free to upgrade, evolve and create another successful world-class corporation like the ONGC. Government plans are understood to be well on their way towards slimming AAI's responsibilities.

Airport operators in most other countries don't manage air traffic, explains a former civil aviation secretary, because they are generally private parties unlike India's state-controlled AAI. A sensitive service such as navigation is generally not left in private hands, he says, adding the focus is skewed here. "The focus in India is on visible infrastructure such as airports and terminal buildings and little on the crucial navigation services which would lead to seamless air travel," he says. Air Navigation Services (ANS) are responsible for roughly 2.8 million sq nautical miles of Indian airspace. With India increasingly seen as the hub between East and West, air traffic is expected to grow.

It is thought there is a conflict of interest between private airport operators in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore and the government-owned AAI. ANS include communication, navigation, surveillance (CNS) and ATC. Civil aviation ministry sources admitted that "private operators felt AAI had undue advantage over them in levying various navigation charges."

Separating air navigation from overall airport management would not come a day too soon. This was recommended by the Naresh Chandra panel. Three years ago, the Roy Paul Committee too had recommended it. It criticized AAI's "recruitment and policies" for ATC which it described as "a unique and highly-specialised job, calling for a high degree of mental alertness." It added that AAI was "not capable of attracting high-quality manpower here and there's an urgent need for drastic changes." These may be in the offing.

The ministry asked consultancy firm KPMG to suggest the way forward. It recommended taking air navigation away from AAI.

Hive off Air Traffic Control: Create a separate ATC company that works for AAI on a contract basis. This would allow it to work for any air navigation company in the world. But this isn't feasible as this service is vital for the security of the country.

Hive off Air Navigation Services: Turn it into a government-owned corporation with AAI holding a stake and representation from the aviation sector. "It'll give them responsibility and credit for good performance and help them focus on their core function," say experts. This is the most likely scenario.

KPMG refused to comment.

An ATC source says, "We welcome this move. Though we generate 45% of the revenue for AAI, its investments are on other infrastructure. AAI should look at non-aeronautical sources of revenue such as hotels and amusement parks so that it can sustain itself without us."

Adds another ATC official, "A separate entity would give us the freedom to procure the latest radars and Instrument Landing Systems, tackle manpower shortages and enhance training facilities. Have a good management person to head it and see how it becomes a successful corporation like ONGC."

Private airport operators have welcomed the proposed autonomy for air navigation, saying such a move has worked well in other sectors, be it infotech, auto or telecom. "Anything which gives us efficient, safe air traffic services, whatever be the structure, is welcome. Old mindsets have to change. In a bureaucracy, procedures often overtake proficiency," says a source. Also, AAI should have invested the money it got from its assets on improving ATC services.

"Instead, it has behaved like a civil engineering department dealing with huge contracts," says a source. Hopefully, these air pockets may disappear soon.