New terminal building at Pune Airport to be completed by August 2022: AAI
"To reduce congestion during peak hours at Pune Airport, AAI has undertaken the construction of the new integrated terminal building at a cost of Rs 475 crore. As much as 60 per cent of the work has been completed and construction of the new building is likely to be completed by August 2022,"...
Mumbai seems to have lost the aviation game completely
The last few days have been fast-moving in Indian aviation, with the 100-day plan by the civil aviation ministry, followed by SpiceJet doing a second commercial settlement with a lessor, and the mid-week deadline for Air India’s financial bids.To add to this, Jet Airways, now a company of the Jalan Kalrock Consortium, said that it plans to start operations in Q1 of 2022 even as it lays out plans for the first flight (New Delhi - Mumbai) and holds discussions with airports and lessors for slots, night parking and planes.
The most interesting aspect is that its new headquarters is in Gurugram, and it will continue to maintain its office in Kurla, Mumbai.
Over the last many years, the aviation industry has slowly shifted out of Mumbai. There are more reasons than one for the same. With this move by Jet Airways, Go First is the only airline which will remain headquartered in Mumbai (though its registered address is New Delhi). Mumbai once had Kingfisher Airlines, Jet Airways and Go Air, along with national carrier Air India.
As India opened up civil aviation in the early 1990s, a spate of new airlines came up. They included Jet Airways, Air Sahara, ModiLuft, NEPC and Damania. Their headquarters were split between Mumbai, then the largest airport in the country, and Delhi, the largest metropolitan region in the country.
The first phase was short-lived, with Jet Airways and Air Sahara surviving for the longer run. East West Airlines had its headquarters at Thiruvananthapuram and NEPC at Chennai.
Soon, the second phase started when Bengaluru got its first airline - Air Deccan, the country’s first low-cost carrier (LCC). It was headquartered at Bengaluru. The second phase saw Go Air (Mumbai), IndiGo (Gurugram), SpiceJet (erstwhile ModiLuft, continued with Gurugram), and Kingfisher Airlines (Mumbai) taking off.
Slowly, but surely, the shift had started taking place.
The airlines which came up later may not have survived for long, but most were based out of Delhi NCR. They include Air Mantra, Indus Air, MDLR and Zoom Air. None of them succeeded and so was the case of the airlines which sprung up across the country - be it Air Costa based out of VIjayawada, Air Pegasus in Bengaluru, Air Carnival in Coimbatore, Paramount in Chennai or Air Pegasus in Bhubaneshwar.
Ironic, as it may seem, Kingfisher Airlines went kaput in 2012. Jet Airways survived until 2019 and Air India shifted to Delhi, leaving behind the engineering division, which has many hangars at Mumbai.
Not just the airlines, traffic shifted as well
Mumbai airport was the largest in the country until the first quarter of financial year 2009 (Q1-CY09) when the crown moved to the Delhi airport. Mumbai got it back the very next quarter - only to lose it again! But since first quarter of 2011, there has been no looking back.
The difference? The award-winning Terminal 3 at the Delhi international airport was operational in July 2010, ahead of the Commonwealth Games. And that tilted the balance in favour of Delhi, as the new terminal allowed growth as it got along additional bays.
The third runway at the airport was operational in 2008, and that meant two parallel runways were available for simultaneous operations, increasing the aircraft-handling capacity of the airport.
The opening of Terminal 3 at Delhi saw Air India move its Mumbai hub to Delhi. This coincided with the induction of the B787 Dreamliners, which led to the airlines launching new flights to Europe and Australia, thereby contributing to the increase in traffic.
Four years later, Mumbai inaugurated T2 - the grand structure, which, like Terminal 3 at Delhi, was widely awarded. But it was too little, too late.
While Delhi now had three runways, with two allowing parallel operations, Mumbai had one main runway and a secondary one, which intersects the main runway, making simultaneous operations unfeasible.
Over the last two decades, Delhi NCR has grown by leaps and bounds, in terms of infrastructure. The expansion of the metro to the key hubs of Gurugram and NOIDA and the airport, the setting up of new sectors in Gurugram and the fast-paced development are some of the factors which have attracted airline HQs to Delhi NCR.
Cheaper rents, as compared to Mumbai, better infrastructure and connectivity and improved housing over Mumbai have been some of the factors which has tilted the scales in favour of Delhi NCR.
Tail note
For more reasons than one, not all the talent in the aviation industry is willing to make a move from Mumbai to Delhi or vice-versa. But with airline after airline going down in Mumbai, opportunities for desk jobs in the airline are fewer in Mumbai. With an increase in number of airlines headquartered at Gurugram, the churn and opportunities are higher.
Akasa is rumoured to be headquartered in Mumbai but time will tell which city it chooses. A headquarter and base can be different, but typically it is not. However, the constraints at Mumbai airport are so grim that Go First has more aircraft parked in Delhi than Mumbai, its home.
Mumbai seems to have lost the aviation game completely
With Jet Airways shifting its headquarters to Gurugram, Go First is the only airline to be headquartered in Mumbai. The expansion of Delhi to Gurugram and NOIDA, cheaper rents, better infrastructure and connectivity and improved housing are the winning factors for Delhi NCR.
Air India goes to Tata Group for Rs 18,000 crore
Tata will pay Rs 18,000 crore to acquire Air India from the government -- of the total money 15% would go to the government and the rest will go in clearing debt. This follows the group of ministers known as the Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism approving the bid winner.
Air India sale will affect us, says Emirates President Tim Clark
Emirates is not interested in setting up a domestic airline in India right now, Tim Clark told Moneycontrol.
After Air India, government set to sell Alliance Air under asset-disposal programme
Alliance Air was a fully-owned regional subsidiary of Air India, which was carved out from the national carrier after the government decided to divest stake in it. Alliance Air operates a fleet of 19 ATR planes that connect 48 destinations and made an operating profit of ₹65.09 crore in FY20 and...
Govt removes restrictions on domestic flight capacity from October 18
Currently, the government permits domestic carriers to operate at 85 percent of their pre-pandemic capacities.
Alliance Air is the biggest among regional players. Would be difficult for them to acquire.After Air India, government set to sell Alliance Air under asset-disposal programme
Alliance Air was a fully-owned regional subsidiary of Air India, which was carved out from the national carrier after the government decided to divest stake in it. Alliance Air operates a fleet of 19 ATR planes that connect 48 destinations and made an operating profit of ₹65.09 crore in FY20 and...economictimes.indiatimes.com
Maybe upcoming Akasa or Interglobe try their hands.
Several citizens have enquired about an update on the #NaviMumbai #International Airport #NMIA project. Apologies on the late response, but that was needed to tie up the lose ends of this much anticipated #project (thread)
The Board of Directors of CIDCO was recently appraised of the progress of the #NaviMumbai #International #Airport. The matter was also reviewed by the Hon. Chief Minister GoM, Secretary @MOCA_GoI, Hon. Chief Secretary @GoM and in the #Pragati meeting.
The #NMIA is planned with passenger capacity of 60 Million Passengers and #Cargo capacity of 1.5 million metric tonnes per annum. This, along with the #Mumbai Airport, is expected to cater to the demand of #MMR region. This shall be the first #urban dual airport system in India
Interestingly, in this project it is #CIDCO that is the entrepreneur, with the support of #GoM and #GoI. The project is being developed on a Public Private Partnership #PPP model, where CIDCO holds 26% of the equity and #MIAL 74%
The project is expected to increase the National #GDP by 1% and State GPD by 5%, generate 1 lakh direct and 2.5 lakh indirect employment. The Project Affected People #PAP shall naturally get this benefit as well, and CIDCO will be training them.
The airport shall be a Smart Airport with State of Art facilities. Aircraft operations are to be managed using the latest technologies.
Land Aquisition of the project is now complete. Land development works, recoursing of #Ulwe River, EHVT shifting are complete with some minor work left. Only 2.77 Ha land remains to be handed over to the concessionaire.
The Airport is being developed as #GREEN and Carbon Neutral, using clean energy like #Solar wherever possible, recycling of rain water, solid waste and sewage. LEED certification is mandatory for the terminal building(s).
Connectivity to the #NMIA shall be made easier by the #MTHL, the #MumbaiCoastalRoad and the connector to MTHL, the Nerul Belapur Khargar Coastal Road along with the connector, the new pathway from the Amra Marg, all of which are at various stages of progress.
The #Nerul jetty shall be complete by November end and #MMB is expected to start water transport services from January. Another jetty is proposed at the airport. The proposed CST Panvel elevated fast train, CSIA Mankhurd Metro etc are other projects in various stages of planning
CIDCO’s share of the work of the airport is now almost completed. The concessionaire, Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd. #NMIAL has started its share of the work from the 4th of August in right earnest. Larsen and Toubro #L&T have been appointed as the EPC contractor by them.
The Commercial Operation Date of the #Airport is now expected on 31st of December 2024.
The Board of Directors of CIDCO was recently appraised of the progress of the #NaviMumbai #International #Airport. The matter was also reviewed by the Hon. Chief Minister GoM, Secretary @MOCA_GoI, Hon. Chief Secretary @GoM and in the #Pragati meeting.
The #NMIA is planned with passenger capacity of 60 Million Passengers and #Cargo capacity of 1.5 million metric tonnes per annum. This, along with the #Mumbai Airport, is expected to cater to the demand of #MMR region. This shall be the first #urban dual airport system in India
Interestingly, in this project it is #CIDCO that is the entrepreneur, with the support of #GoM and #GoI. The project is being developed on a Public Private Partnership #PPP model, where CIDCO holds 26% of the equity and #MIAL 74%
The project is expected to increase the National #GDP by 1% and State GPD by 5%, generate 1 lakh direct and 2.5 lakh indirect employment. The Project Affected People #PAP shall naturally get this benefit as well, and CIDCO will be training them.
The airport shall be a Smart Airport with State of Art facilities. Aircraft operations are to be managed using the latest technologies.
Land Aquisition of the project is now complete. Land development works, recoursing of #Ulwe River, EHVT shifting are complete with some minor work left. Only 2.77 Ha land remains to be handed over to the concessionaire.
The Airport is being developed as #GREEN and Carbon Neutral, using clean energy like #Solar wherever possible, recycling of rain water, solid waste and sewage. LEED certification is mandatory for the terminal building(s).
Connectivity to the #NMIA shall be made easier by the #MTHL, the #MumbaiCoastalRoad and the connector to MTHL, the Nerul Belapur Khargar Coastal Road along with the connector, the new pathway from the Amra Marg, all of which are at various stages of progress.
The #Nerul jetty shall be complete by November end and #MMB is expected to start water transport services from January. Another jetty is proposed at the airport. The proposed CST Panvel elevated fast train, CSIA Mankhurd Metro etc are other projects in various stages of planning
CIDCO’s share of the work of the airport is now almost completed. The concessionaire, Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd. #NMIAL has started its share of the work from the 4th of August in right earnest. Larsen and Toubro #L&T have been appointed as the EPC contractor by them.
The Commercial Operation Date of the #Airport is now expected on 31st of December 2024.