Airports Authority of India
Encyclopedia
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is an organization working under the Ministry of Civil Aviation
that manages most of the airports in India. The AAI manages and operates 126 airports including 16 international airports, 89 domestic airports and 26 civil enclaves. The corporate headquarters(CHQ) are at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan
, Safdarjung Airport
, New Delhi
. V.P Agrawal is the current chairman of the AAI.
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).
Whole -Time Members
Shri S.C. Chhatwal Member (Finance)
Shri K.K. Jha, IRS Member (Human Resource)
Shri S. Raheja Member (Planning)
Shri V. Somasundaram Member (Air Navigation Services)
Shri G. K. Chaukiyal Member (Operations)
Part-Time Members
Vacant DGCA & Ex-Officio Member
Shri E.K. Bharat Bhushan, IAS Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor, Ministry of Civil Aviation (Official)
Shri Alok Sinha, IAS Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation (Official)
Shri Deepak Parekh Non-Official
Shri Arun L. Bongirwar Non-Official
Shri Sajjan Jindal Non-Official
.
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.
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 has been handed to GVK Group and for Hyderabad, Delhi to the GMR Group.
The airports which have been privatised are :
, Algeria
, Yemen
, Maldives
, Nauru
and Afghanistan
The AAI also provides trained personnel for operation, maintenance and management of airports in these countries http://www.airportsindia.org.in/aai/consultancy/Consultancy_services_main.htm
Ministry of Civil Aviation (India)
The Ministry of Civil Aviation, India is responsible for the regulation of civil aviation in India.-References:**...
that manages most of the airports in India. The AAI manages and operates 126 airports including 16 international airports, 89 domestic airports and 26 civil enclaves. The corporate headquarters(CHQ) are at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan
Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan
Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan is the corporate headquarters of Airports Authority of India . AAI which functions under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and manages most of the airports in India. The Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation is co-located in the same building...
, Safdarjung Airport
Safdarjung Airport
Safdarjung Airport also is an airport in New Delhi, India, in the neighbourhood of the same name. Established during the British Raj, as Willingdon Airfield, it started operations as an airport in 1929, when was the India's second airport and Delhi’s only airport...
, New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
. V.P Agrawal is the current chairman of the AAI.
History
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.Passenger Facilities
The main functions of AAI inter-alia include 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.Air Navigation Services
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
Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation
CANSO – The Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation – is the global voice of the companies that provide air traffic control, and represents the interests of Air Navigation Service Providers worldwide...
(CANSO).
IT Implementation
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.Board Members of AAI
Shri V.P. Agrawal ChairmanWhole -Time Members
Shri S.C. Chhatwal Member (Finance)
Shri K.K. Jha, IRS Member (Human Resource)
Shri S. Raheja Member (Planning)
Shri V. Somasundaram Member (Air Navigation Services)
Shri G. K. Chaukiyal Member (Operations)
Part-Time Members
Vacant DGCA & Ex-Officio Member
Shri E.K. Bharat Bhushan, IAS Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor, Ministry of Civil Aviation (Official)
Shri Alok Sinha, IAS Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation (Official)
Shri Deepak Parekh Non-Official
Shri Arun L. Bongirwar Non-Official
Shri Sajjan Jindal Non-Official
Functions
The functions of AAI are as follows:- 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.
HRD Training
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 institutionRevenue
Most of AAI's revenue is generated from landing/parking fees and fees collected by providing CNS & ATC services to aircraft over the Indian airspaceAirspace
Airspace means the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere....
.
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.
Privatisation of Airports
The AAI was involved in a tussle with the Ministry of Civil AviationMinistry of Civil Aviation (India)
The Ministry of Civil Aviation, India is responsible for the regulation of civil aviation in India.-References:**...
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 has been handed to GVK Group and for Hyderabad, Delhi to the GMR Group.
The airports which have been privatised are :
- Cochin - Cochin International AirportCochin International AirportCochin International Airport is an international airport located in Nedumbassery, a suburb on the outskirts of the city of Kochi about northeast of downtown Kochi, in the state of Kerala, India. It is the busiest and largest airport in the state of Kerala...
- BangaloreBangaloreBengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
- Bengaluru International Airport - DelhiDelhiDelhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
- Indira Gandhi International AirportIndira Gandhi International AirportIndira Gandhi International Airport is the primary international airport of the National Capital Region of Delhi, India, situated in West Delhi, 16 km southwest of New Delhi city centre. Named after Indira Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India, it is the busiest airport in India in... - Hyderabad - Rajiv Gandhi International Airport
- MumbaiMumbaiMumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
- Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport
International Projects
The AAI has been involved in various consultancy projects with LibyaLibya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
, Maldives
Maldives
The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...
, Nauru
Nauru
Nauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, to the east. Nauru is the world's smallest republic, covering just...
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
The AAI also provides trained personnel for operation, maintenance and management of airports in these countries http://www.airportsindia.org.in/aai/consultancy/Consultancy_services_main.htm