The Airports Authority of India (AAI), for first time, has decided to levy the development fees from passengers at authority operated airports at Kolkata, Chennai, Goa, Ahmedabad and Thiruvananthapuram. It should be recalled that privately operated airports at Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore are already charging such fees from passengers.

GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIAL) and MAS Aerospace Engineering (MAE), a fully-owned subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, has penned down an agreement to form a 50:50 joint venture christened MAS-GMR Aerospace Engineering Company to develop a MRO facility in Hyderabad.

The facility, with an investment of Rs 400-crore, would come up on 25 acres in two phases at the GMR Aerospace Park, situated near Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.

State-run fuel retailers on Saturday slashed jet fuel or ATF rates by a further 7 per cent.

The latest cut is the eleventh reduction in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) since September 2008, helping prices slide by about 61% since August last.

It should be noted that ATF prices peaked to Rs 71,028.26 per kilolitre in Delhi in August 2008 when international crude prices touched $147 a barrel. ATF makes up nearly
40% of airlines' operating costs.

Land is required for second runway, says AAI chairman

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has sought an additional 864 hectare land from the state government for expansion of Surat airport. This was disclosed on Friday by VP Agrawal, the chairman of AAI, in Surat.

"We are committed to development of Surat airport as a world-class airport and have sought 864 hectare land from state government. This land will be required when a second runway is needed at the airport to cater to increased traffic and other future developments," Agrawal said.

Kochi, Feb 28: India will join the elite club today and will become fourth country in the world to indigenously build its own aircraft carrier of 40,000 tonne plus.

Defence Minister A. K. Antony will lay the keel for country''s first indigenous aircraft carrier or air defence ship (ADS) at the Cochin Shipyard''s construction dock in Kerala today, marking the launch of the first phase of building the 40,000 tonne aircraft carrier.

Flying out of Mumbai airport will cost more from April 1 with the Union civil aviation ministry deciding to levy an airport development fee (ADF) on the lines of the Bangalore, Hyderabad, and New Delhi airports.

"The development fee will be Rs100 per departing domestic passenger and Rs600 per departing international passenger, inclusive of all applicable taxes, purely on an ad hoc basis, for a period of 48 months with effect from April 1, 2009," a ministry statement said on Friday.

The ADF will be reviewed every six months.