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Two passengers who arrived at NSCBI Airport from Bangkok have tested positive for the <keyword id="8604864" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="novel-coronavirus">novel coronavirus</keyword>, Airports Authority of India officials said on Thursday. With this, a total of three passengers have tested positive for the novel <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> in Kolkata. A passenger called Himadri Barman tested positive on Tuesday, and Nagendra Singh tested positive on Wednesday, the Director of NSCBI Airport, Kaushik Bhattacharjee, told . Both of them were sent to Beliaghata ID Hospital, he said. "Earlier a passenger called Anita Oraon had also tested positive during thermal scanning," Bhattacharjee said. Already two airlines which had direct flights between Kolkata and China have suspended their flights. Low cost carier <keyword id="6354706" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="IndiGo">IndiGo</keyword> has temporarily suspended its flights between Kolkata and Guangzhou from February 6. "In line with the WHO guideline to contain the spread of coronavirus, IndiGo will be suspending its Kolkata- Guangzhou service from February 6, 2020 to February 25, 2020 and Guangzhou-Kolkata from February 7 till February 26," the airline had said in a statement. After IndiGo, <keyword id="266841" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="China-Eastern-Airlines">China Eastern Airlines</keyword> suspended its flights between Kolkata and Kunming in China from February 10 to February 29. Passengers of flights coming to Kolkata from Kunming and Guangzhou in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok were being screened since January 17. At present, passengers arriving from Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok are being screened as no flights are operating to and from China.

Coronavirus: Two Indian passengers from Bangkok test positive at Kolkata Airport

Even as Shiv Sena has threatened Pakistani athletes of dire consequences if they come to India, Indian government has opened new gates for Pakistani sportspersons to come and play for <keyword id="103311" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="12th-South-Asian-Games">12th South Asian Games</keyword>, to be held in Guwahati and Shillong. 
 
For the games to be held in February next year, Pakistani sportspersons would be able to enter India through Kolkata and Guwahati airports. At present, Pakistanis can either enter India by foot from Wagah-Attari border or use the air route to enter Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. However, all these are at considerable distances from Guwahati and Shillong, which is why arrangements have been done to welcome Pakistanis athletes from Kolkata and Guwahati airports. 
 
12th South Asian Games would be the first major sporting event after India hosted the 19th Commonwealth Games in 2010 which would see a good number of Pakistani athletes in India. "Since Guwahati and Kolkata airports are near to the venue of South Asian Games, they have been added to the designated check posts for Pakistani Passport holders and non-validated pass (NVP) holders during the period of South Asian Games," says an order issued by the Home Ministry. 
 
"By allowing them to enter from Kolkata and Guwahati, we intend to cause no inconvenience the Pakistani sportspersons as they can make a quick and short journey to the sports stadium," a senior government official told ET. 
 
This step was required for the safety of Pakistani contingent after their government raised concern over it. A team from Pakistan is also expected to come to India, in January, to ensure the safety measures. After 26/11 Mumbai attacks which were masterminded by some Pakistani nationals, there have been a lot of protests about Pakistanis coming to Mumbai, which is why the Indian government thinks that it would be safer for them to step foot directly in Kolkata and Guwahati. 
 
The sporting event would also see Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Afghanistan participating. 
 
<a href="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3862/14759654889_7ac0c07e29_b.jpg">Image source</a>

2 More Indian airports that will now accept Pakistani Airlines

Not all is gloomy for airport operator Airport Authority of India (<keyword id="47439" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aai">AAI</keyword>) this Christmas. The airport operator has witnessed its revenues from non-aeronautical operations surge by 52% in the past three years. 
	 
	“The non-aeronautical revenue of AAI due to the effort and utilization of various avenues had increased from Rs 819.10 crores in 2010-11 to Rs 1,241 crores in 2013-14 making a growth of about 52% in 3 years,” said Dr Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Civil Aviation in the Lok Sabha. 
	 Non-aeronautical operations of the AAI include duty-free shops, operating Express Courier terminal as well as Common User Cargo Terminal. “AAI had already introduced various new concepts to increase the non-aeronautical potential like introduction of master concessionaire in the field of food and beverages, <keyword id="1422844" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Duty-Free-Shops">Duty free shops</keyword> and advertisement, Express Courier Terminal and Common User Cargo Terminal,” added Dr Sharma. 
	 The AAI has been aiming to strategically increase its revenues from non-core businesses over the years and has also increased the area allotted for such services by over 10% every year. For instance, the airport operator increased the area allocated for non aeronautical services from 23,119 square meter (sqm) in 2010-11 to 42,996 sqm in 2013-14 at the <keyword id="63145" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="chennai-airport">Chennai airport</keyword>. 
	 “Similarly, at <keyword id="47933" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kolkata-airport">Kolkata Airport</keyword>, the area under non-aeronautical services has been increased from 49,668 sqm to 6,00,029 sqm in 2013-14. In case of Trivandrum Airport, the increase in non-aeronautical areas is from 3,217 sqm in the year 2010-11 to 4,029 sqm in the year 2013-14,” stated Dr Sharma. 
	 
	Image: Indiatimes.com

Airport
Authority Of India Records 52% Rise In Revenues

New Delhi, Jul 6 () A passenger planning to travel on a Vistara flight will soon be able to book the adjacent seat as well at a discounted rate so as to keep it vacant, said its Chief Commercial Officer Vinod Kannan on Monday. This statement came after Vistara released a survey on Monday that stated 24 per cent passengers were worried that fellow flyers would not adhere to coronavirus-related health protocols while flying. Kannan told reporters the airline has sent out a note to travel agents informing that currently, passengers can book the adjacent seat, in order to keep it vacant, at the same price. However, he added, "We are looking to provide this on the online scenario and also provide some kind of incentive by discounts. That is something that is in the works." Kannan said the occupancy rate in Vistara flights has been on an average between 50 to 60 per cent since the domestic passenger services resumed on May 25. Scheduled international passenger flights continue to remain suspended in India. A total of 65 per cent of its customers are planning to take their next flight within the next six months, said the survey released by Vistara on Monday. According to the survey, business travel emerged to be the biggest reason for them to travel, with 35 per cent of the respondents indicating so, while 25 per cent of the respondents expected to travel to visit friends and relatives. The survey found Singapore, Dubai and the UK as the top three destinations for customers wanting to take their first international flight. Around 6,000 Vistara customers participated in this survey. When it comes to concerns related to flying, 31 per cent of the customers expressed fear of exposure to coronavirus during the journey, 24 per cent were worried that fellow passengers would not adhere to health protocols and 15 per cent were concerned about high fares. India resumed its domestic passenger flights from May 25 after a gap of two months due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown. However, the Centre has permitted airlines to operate maximum 45 per cent of their pre-COVID flights. Also, it has imposed upper and lower limits on airfares. When asked by when would Vistara be able to operate 45 per cent of its capacity, Kannan said, "It is a function of when we see cases tapering, when we see different state governments relaxing some of their constraints...I think it will take some time to reach the 45 per cent (mark)." He was talking about the restrictions various state governments have put on their airports on the number of flights they can handle per day. For example, between May 25 and July 5, the Kolkata airport and the Bagdogra airport were permitted to operate 20 flights per day each. However, with the West Bengal government seeing a steep rise in COVID-19 cases, the Kolkata airport announced last Saturday that no passenger flights will operate to Kolkata from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Nagpur and Ahmedabad between July 6 and July 19. DSP KJ KJ

COVID-19: Vistara will let passenger book adjacent seat at discount to keep it vacant

Due to a communication breakdown, the Kolkata's Air Traffic Control (ATC) lost contact with 85 airborne aircrafts for 10 minutes, risking lives of thousands of passengers. 
 
Thirty five controllers scrambled for mobile phones as radars and vital VHF radio link failure continued for 1 hour 40 minutes. The screens that display positions of aircraft in Kolkata air traffic region went blank. 
 
"What happened is a controller's nightmare. Even landlines were not working. But, we managed to contact Nagpur and Varanasi ATC to relay information to pilots," a controller said. 
 
The controllers then switched to the emergency protocol and turned to the very high-frequency communication sets to contact airborne pilots. 
 
There were around 85 planes in the ATR and controllers had no control over 30. 
 
Moreover, they also lost contact with their counterparts in Dhaka and Myanmar. 
 
The incident started at 7.35 am and the BSNL-maintained link was restored at 9.15am. 
 
The incident will be probed by Directorate General of Civil Aviation and Airports Authority of India.

​Kolkata ATC lost link with 85 aircrafts for 10 minutes and we skipped a heartbeat

<ul><li>The <keyword id="75867" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bengaluru-International-Airport">Bengaluru International Airport</keyword> (BIAL), in partnership with Vision-Box, has announced that they will be introducing <keyword id="30939" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="20" keywordseo="facial-recognition">facial recognition</keyword> by Q1 2019. </li><li>The first phase of the rollout will include selected airlines, namely, Spice Jet, Air Asia and Jet Airways. </li><li>While BIAL hopes to be the first airport with <keyword id="6549368" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="paperless-boarding">paperless boarding</keyword>, they will be in competition with the Varanasi International Airport who are aiming to do the same under the government’s <keyword id="3019100" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Digiyatra">DigiYatra</keyword> scheme.</li></ul>Around the world, the concept of paperless boarding is still fairly uncommon though widely recognised as convenient. India’s own <keyword id="6354321" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bengaluru">Bengaluru</keyword> International Airport (BIAL) has announced its plans of upgrading security measures to include <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/bengaluru-airport-to-launch-facial-recognition-facility-from-2019/articleshow/65707365.cms">biometric self-boarding technology</a>, or simply put, facial recognition. In a partnership with Vision-Box, a biometrics solutions service provider, BIAL has plans of rolling out paperless boarding for select airlines starting next year. The initiative is in-line with the government’s DigiYatra scheme that aims to minimise paperwork for air travel under a digital system for airport entry and boarding flights. India’s first paperless airport Facial recognition seems to be the second most trending term in technology after artificial intelligence (AI). While a lot of airports around the world already implement paperless boarding, India is yet to take-off on this initiative. DigiYatra has already started installing their automated security system in Varanasi at the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport where the airport director, AK Rai, has speculated that the airport will be ready go live with their services by October. In addition, the DigiYatra scheme will also extend to the Visakhapatnam airport and the Kolkata airport as well. That being said, government projects run the risk of not being on time, so there’s a high possibility that BIAL might actually be India’s first paperless boarding airport. The first phase of their roll-out will include Jet Airways, Spice Jet and Air Asia in the first quarter of 2019. If done on time, BIAL could be the first airport to have a end-to-end solution of paperless air travel.

Bengaluru International Airport in a race to be India’s first airport with facial recognition

In order to insulate airlines and passengers from high user charges, the <keyword id="149609" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ministry-of-Civil-Aviation">Ministry of Civil Aviation</keyword> is reconsidering management contracts to private operators at India’s six airports. 
 
“We need to consider our learnings from the airport contracts awarded in the past,” a senior ministry official said. “One concern raised by stakeholders is the cost of turnaround of an aircraft. The turnaround cost for a jet is around $6,000 at an Indian private airport, whereas it costs $2,300 at Changi (Singapore) airport. We need to ensure privatisation does not increase the cost of the airport,” he added. 
 
The Civil Aviation Ministry will seek approval from an inter-ministerial group to give management contracts at six airports: Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Guwahati, Jaipur and Ahmedabad. 
 
The ministry is also taking stock of the views expressed by the Comptroller and Auditor General on privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports. “We are looking into these concerns. All this will be debated in the inter-ministerial group,” the official added. 
 
The United Progressive Alliance government had initiated the process to award management contracts for these airports in 2013. 
Image: Thinkstock

You Searched For "Kolkata airport" and got 7 results

Coronavirus: Two Indian passengers from Bangkok test positive at Kolkata Airport

PTI

2 More Indian airports that will now accept Pakistani Airlines

BI India Bureau

Airport Authority Of India Records 52% Rise In Revenues

Purba Das

COVID-19: Vistara will let passenger book adjacent seat at discount to keep it vacant

PTI

Kolkata ATC lost link with 85 aircrafts for 10 minutes and we skipped a heartbeat

BI India Bureau

Bengaluru International Airport in a race to be India’s first airport with facial recognition

Prabhjote Gill

Govt Reviewing Airport Privatisation To Control High User Charges

BI India Bureau

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You Searched For "Kolkata airport" and got 7 results

Coronavirus: Two Indian passengers from Bangkok test positive at Kolkata Airport

PTI

2 More Indian airports that will now accept Pakistani Airlines

BI India Bureau

Airport Authority Of India Records 52% Rise In Revenues

Purba Das

COVID-19: Vistara will let passenger book adjacent seat at discount to keep it vacant

PTI

​Kolkata ATC lost link with 85 aircrafts for 10 minutes and we skipped a heartbeat

BI India Bureau

Bengaluru International Airport in a race to be India’s first airport with facial recognition

Prabhjote Gill

Govt Reviewing Airport Privatisation To Control High User Charges

BI India Bureau

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Kolkata ATC lost link with 85 aircrafts for 10 minutes and we skipped a heartbeat