Airports Authority of India
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| Type | PSU |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aviation sector |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Headquarters | Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, Safdarjung Airport, New Delhi-110003 |
| Key people |
V.P.Agrawal, Chairman |
| Products | Airports, ATC, CNS |
| Employees | 22,000 |
| Website | www.aai.aero |
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) manages a total of 125 Airports, which include 11 International Airports, 08 Customs Airports, 81 Domestic Airports and 25 Civil Enclaves at Defence Airfields. AAI also provides Air Traffic Management Services (ATMS) over entire Indian Air Space and adjoining oceanic areas with ground installations at all Airports and 25 other locations to ensure safety of Aircraft operations.
The Airports at Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Calicut, Guwahati, Jaipur, Trivandrum, Kolkata & Chennai, which today are established as International Airports, are open to operations even by Foreign International Airlines. Besides, the International flights, National Flag Carriers operate from Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli, Varanasi, and Gaya Airports. Not only this but also the Tourist Charters now touch Agra, Coimbatore, Jaipur, Lucknow, Patna Airports etc.
AAI has entered into a Joint Venture at Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Nagpur Airports to upgrade these Airports and emulate the world standards.
All major air-routes over Indian landmass are Radar covered (29 Radar installations at 11 locations) along with VOR/DVOR coverage (89 installations) co-located with Distance Measuring Equipment (90 installations). 52 runways are provided with ILS installations with Night Landing Facilities at most of these Airports and Automatic Message Switching System at 15 Airports.
AAI's successful implementation of Automatic Dependence Surveillance System (ADSS), using indigenous technology, at Calcutta ,now Kolkata and Chennai Air Traffic Control Centres, gave India the distinction of being the first country to use this advanced technology in the South East Asian region thus enabling effective Air Traffic Control over oceanic areas using satellite mode of communication. Use of remote controlled VHF coverage, along with satellite communication links, has given added strength to our ATMS. Linking of 80 locations by V-Sat installations shall vastly enhance Air Traffic Management and in turn safety of aircraft operations besides enabling administrative and operational control over our extensive Airport network. Performance Based Navigation (PBN) procedures have already been implemented at Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad Airports and are likely to be implemented at other Airports in phased manner.
AAI has undertaken GAGAN project in technological collaboration with Indian Space and Research Organization (ISRO), where the satellite based system will be used for navigation. The navigation signals thus received from the GPS will be augmented to achieve the navigational requirement of aircraft. First Phase of technology demonstration system has already been successfully completed in February 2008. Development team has been geared up to upgrade the system in operational phase.
AAI has also planned to provide Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS) at Delhi and Mumbai Airports. This GBAS equipment will be capable of providing Category-II (curved approach) landing signals to the aircraft thus replacing the existing instrument landing system in the long run, which is required at each end of the runway.
The Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control System (ASMGCS), installed at Delhi, has upgraded operation to runway 28 from CAT-IIIA level to CAT-IIIB level. CAT-IIIA system permits landing of aircraft up to visibility of 200mtrs. However, CAT-IIIB will permit safe landing at the Airports at a visibility below 200mtrs but above 50mtrs.
AAI's endeavour, in enhanced focus on 'customer's expectations', has evinced enthusiastic response to independent agency, which has organised customer satisfaction surveys at 30 busy Airports. These surveys have enabled us to undertake improvements on aspects recommended by the Airport users. The receptacles for our 'Business Reply Letters' at Airports have gained popularity; these responses enable us to understand the changing aspirations of Airport users. During the first year of the millennium, AAI endeavours to make its operations more transparent and also make available the instantaneous information to customers by deploying state-of-art Information Technology.
The specific training, focus on improving the employee response and the professional skill up-gradation, has been manifested. AAI's four training establishments viz. Civil Aviation Training College (CATC) - Allahabad, National Institute of Aviation Management and Research (NIAMAR) - Delhi and Fire Training Centres (FTCs) at Delhi & Kolkata are expected to be busier than ever before.
AAI has also undertaken initiatives to upgrade training facilities at CATC Allahabad and Hyderabad Airport. Aerodrome Visual Simulator (AVS) has been provided at CATC recently and non-radar procedural ATC simulator equipment is being supplied to CATC Allahabad and Hyderabad Airport.
AAI is having a dedicated Flight Inspection Unit (FIU) and it has a fleet of three aircraft fitted with latest state-of-art fully automatic flight inspection system capable of inspecting.
ILS up to Cat-III VOR (CVOR/DVOR) DME NDB VGSI (PAPI, VASI) RADAR (ASR/MSSR) In addition to in house flight calibration of nav aids, AAI also undertakes flight calibration of nav aids for Air force, Navy, Coast Guard and other private Airfields in India. V.P Agrawal is the current chairman of the AAI.
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History[edit]
Airports Authority of India (AAI) was constituted by an Act of Parliament and came into being on 1 April 1995 by merging erstwhile National Airports Authority and International Airports Authority of India. The merger brought into existence a single Organization entrusted with the responsibility of creating, upgrading, maintaining and managing civil aviation infrastructure both on the ground and air space in the country.
Functions[edit]
- Design, Development, Operation and Maintenance of international and domestic airports and civil enclaves.
- Control and Management of the Indian airspace extending beyond the territorial limits of the country, as accepted by ICAO.
- Construction, Modification and Management of passenger terminals.
- Development and Management of cargo terminals at international and domestic airports.
- Provision of passenger facilities and information system at the passenger terminals at airports.
- Expansion and strengthening of operation area, viz. Runways, Aprons, Taxiway etc.
- Provision of visual aids.
- Provision of Communication and Navigation aids, viz. ILS, DVOR, DME, Radar etc.
Passenger Facilities[edit]
- construction, modification & management of passenger terminals, development & management of cargo terminals, development & maintenance of apron infrastructure including runways, parallel taxiways, apron etc.,
- Provision of Communication, Navigation and Surveillance which includes provision of DVOR / DME, ILS, ATC radars, visual aids etc., provision of air traffic services, provision of passenger facilities and related amenities at its terminals thereby ensuring safe and secure operations of aircraft, passenger and cargo in the country.
[edit]
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In tune with global approach to modernization of Air Traffic Control infrastructure for seamless navigation across state and regional boundaries, AAI has been going ahead with its plans for transition to satellite based Communication, Navigation, Surveillance and Air Traffic Management. A number of co-operation agreements and memoranda of co-operation have been signed with US Federal Aviation Administration, US Trade & Development Agency, European Union, Air Services Australia and the French Government Co-operative Projects and Studies initiated to gain from their experience. Through these activities more and more executives of AAI are being exposed to the latest technology, modern practices & procedures being adopted to improve the overall performance of Airports and Air Navigation Services. Induction of latest state-of-the-art equipment, both as replacement and old equipments and also as new facilities to improve standards of safety of airports in the air is a continuous process. Adoptions of new and improved procedure go hand in hand with induction of new equipment. Some of the major initiatives in this direction are introduction of Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM) in India air space to increase airspace capacity and reduce congestion in the air; implementation of GPS And Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) jointly with ISRO which when put to operation would be one of the four such systems in the world. AAI is a full member of the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO).
IT Implementation[edit]
Information Technology holds the key to operational and managerial efficiency, transparency and employee productivity. AAI initiated a programme to indoctrinate IT culture among its employees and this is most powerful tool to enhance efficiency in the organization. AAI website with domain name www.airportsindia.org.in or www.aai.aero is a popular website giving a host of information about the organization besides domestic and international flight schedules and such other information of interest to the public in general and passengers in particular.
HRD Training[edit]
A large pool of trained and highly skilled manpower is one of the major assets of Airports Authority of India. Development and Technological enhancements and consequent refinement of operating standards and procedures, new standards of safety and security and improvements in management techniques call for continuing training to update the knowledge and skill of officers and staff. For this purpose AAI has a number of training establishments, viz. NIAMAR in Delhi, CATC in Allahabad, Fire Training Centres at Delhi & Kolkata for in-house training of its engineers, Air Traffic Controllers, Rescue & Fire Fighting personnel etc. NIAMAR & CATC are members of ICAO TRAINER programme under which they share Standard Training Packages (STP) from a central pool for imparting training on various subjects. Both CATC & NIAMAR have also contributed a number of STPs to the Central pool under ICAO TRAINER programme. Foreign students have also been participating in the training programme being conducted by these institution
Revenue[edit]
Most of AAI's revenue is generated from landing/parking fees and fees collected by providing CNS & ATC services to aircraft over the Indian airspace.
Only 16 of the 126 airfields operated by the AAI are profitable while the other airports incur heavy losses due to under utilisation and poor management.[1]
Privatisation of Airports[edit]
The AAI was involved in a tussle with the Ministry of Civil Aviation over the issue of privatisation of its two most profitable airports, Delhi Airport and Mumbai Airport. The Government of India handed over these two airports to private companies for the purpose of modernization in 2006 under revenue sharing agreement. The privatisation for Mumbai and Bangalore has been handed to GVK Group and for Hyderabad, Delhi to the GMR Group.
The airports which have been privatised are :
- Cochin - Cochin International Airport
- Bangalore - Bengaluru International Airport
- Delhi - Indira Gandhi International Airport
- Hyderabad - Rajiv Gandhi International Airport
- Mumbai - Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport
International Projects[edit]
The AAI has been involved in various consultancy projects with Libya, Algeria, Yemen, Maldives, Nauru and Afghanistan The AAI also provides trained personnel for operation, maintenance and management of airports in these countries [1]
