Airports In India Research Articles

A DEA Approach to Efficiency Analysis of Major Indian Airports

Airports’ technical effectiveness contributes to the expansion of the aviation industry. Airports offer enormous potential for any economy. There is a recent initiative by the government to privatize airport operations in India. Private airports need to be technically and operationally efficient in order to be profitable. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a frontier technique used to assess the technical efficiency of airports. This study uses DEA to evaluate the technical efficiency of 20 major airports in India. It considers the average spending of the airport, the size, the number of parking bays and the runways as the input variables, and average passenger, average revenue, average aircraft movements and freight as output variables. The result observed reflects an increasing return to scale in 10 airports, a decreasing return in 2 airports and a constant return to scale in 8 airports. Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) applied to measure the productivity index of airports. This index is further broken down into three components: Technical change, efficiency effects and scale effects. DEA implies the highest operational efficiency for Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi and Mumbai airports with greater than unity value. By benchmarking airports for target setting and operation mechanisms, this study will support airport management with better decision-making tools.

Work Practices Mediated By Motivation Enhancing Productivity and Performance of Airports Post-Privatization – An Empirical Evidence

Purpose: Airport privatisation is rapidly gaining ground, leading to a significant increase in research interest. Amid rapid airport privatisation, Indian airports offer a unique lens to study the impact of work practices on productivity and performance mediated by motivation. Theoretical Framework: The study draws upon relevant theories including high-performance work systems (HPWS) and motivation theories impacting productivity and performance. Method: This study investigates the detailed thematic analysis and self-administered surveys (Likert scale) collected from 50 professionals in 9 major Public-Private Partnership (PPP or 3Ps) airports in India on various aspects of work practices which includes work design, digitisation, and flexibility, with motivation mediating productivity and performance including effectiveness, efficiency, and quality outcomes. Their reliability and validity were analysed using Cronbach's alpha, Pearson correlation, and Mediating analysis using Process 4.2. Purposive sampling is employed in this study. Result: The study finds a positive impact of work practices on employee productivity and performance through motivation. Importantly, it reveals motivation as a key mediator, offering valuable insights for aviation professionals. The analysis confirms model accuracy by representing strong prediction and regression value alignment.

The Evolution and spurt in Greenfield Airports in India and their implications

The construction and creation process of Airports can be classified as i. Greenfield Airports: These are the aviation facilities developed from scratch on vacant and/or developable land. ii. Brownfield Airports: These have Aviation infrastructure facilities available for `landing and taking off`` of aircraft; however, the facilities for passenger operations and/ or cargo handling are in- adequate to meet the current as well as future demands. These airports need substantial investments for improvements and modifications. Given the huge investments involved, the Government has been contemplating private participation in the aviation sector. Towards this, several policy changes were initiated. One of the important policy decisions has been the initiative to encourage Private participation in the construction, operation, and management of Greenfield Airports.The First Greenfield Airport in the true sense of the Public-Private-Participation (PPP) model was The Cochin International Airport which was operationalized during the year 1997. The impetus for this initiative came from the presence of a large number of immigrant populations in the tiny state of Kerala who spearheaded the movement for the establishment of a Greenfield Airport.

Work Practices Mediated by Motivation Enhancing Productivity and Performance of Airports Post-Privatization – An Empirical Evidence

Purpose: Airport privatisation is rapidly gaining ground, leading to a significant increase in research interest. Amid rapid airport privatisation, Indian airports offer a unique lens to study the impact of work practices on productivity and performance mediated by motivation. Theoretical Framework: The study draws upon relevant theories including high-performance work systems (HPWS) and motivation theories impacting productivity and performance. Method: This study investigates the detailed thematic analysis and self-administered surveys (Likert scale) collected from 50 professionals in 9 major Public-Private Partnership (PPP or 3Ps) airports in India on various aspects of work practices which includes work design, digitisation, and flexibility, with motivation mediating productivity and performance including effectiveness, efficiency, and quality outcomes. Their reliability and validity were analysed using Cronbach's alpha, Pearson correlation, and Mediating analysis using Process 4.2. Purposive sampling is employed in this study. Result: The study finds a positive impact of work practices on employee productivity and performance through motivation. Importantly, it reveals motivation as a key mediator, offering valuable insights for aviation professionals. The analysis confirms model accuracy by representing strong prediction and regression value alignment.

Unlocking the Economic Viability and Potential of North Eastern Airports: An Analytic Study with Opportunity and Challenges

Purpose: This research study aims to analyze the economic viability and potential of North Eastern airports in India by conducting a qualitative secondary data analysis. The study explores the opportunity and challenges in aviation industry in North East.
 
 Theoretical Framework: The study focuses on the economic potential and challenges of North Eastern airports. It uses various theoretical frameworks, including airport economics, regional development, transportation demand, and sustainability. It also considers policy alignment, stakeholder engagement, and impact on tourism. The goal is to analyze opportunities and barriers, helping to harness the economic viability of these airports in the region.
 
 Design/Methodology/Approach: Employing a qualitative research approach, this study conducts a thematic analysis of existing secondary data and reports. By examining government documents, airport statistics, tourism data, and academic research, the study seeks to uncover patterns, themes, and trends related to the economic impact of North Eastern airports.
 
 Research, Practical & Social Implication: The findings have practical implications for policymakers, airport authorities, and stakeholders seeking to harness the economic potential of the region. The core implication of this study is to promotion of North Eastern Airway development and tackle the challenges.
 
 Findings: The thematic analysis of secondary data reveals a positive correlation between increased airport infrastructure and economic indicators. Enhanced air connectivity has led to economic diversification, but there are numerous challenges too.
 
 Originality/Value: This study explores the challenges and opportunities in North Eastern airports and its effect on economic viability. The study also acknowledges the potential challenges, including government support, environmental considerations, community involvement, and regulatory compliance. By employing an analytical approach, the study seeks to provide insights into how strategic airport development can serve as a catalyst for economic growth while addressing potential obstacles.

Enhanced Model for Terminal Airspace Capacity Estimation

Terminal Airspace comprises the area around an airport in which various aircraft in its vicinity are in ascending or descending phases. This paper describes an enhanced model for estimation of Ultimate Capacity of Terminal Airspace, given its geometric layout, traffic data, and the separation minima maintained. This model can be used to determine the number of aircraft in the Terminal airspace of an airport that can be safely handled by the Air Traffic Controllers. An existing probabilistic model for Terminal Capacity assessment was enhanced to include operations on intersecting and parallel runways. An important out-come of this methodology is the minimum time gap between successive operation at the runway, which is utilized to draw a time space diagram of runway operation, and thus obtain an estimate of Delay under various operational scenarios. The model was first utilized to estimate the Terminal airspace capacity of the two most busy airports in India, viz., Mumbai and Delhi, and later for other main Airports viz., Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmadabad, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. A critical analysis of the results lead to suggestions like slot distribution, rescheduling of aircraft, restructuring of spacio-geometrical conditions of airspace and airfield etc. that may be considered to increase capacity and reduce delays at Indian Airports.

Evaluating public–private partnership role on the sustainability of airports in India

AbstractA public–private partnership (PPP) upgrades airport services, infrastructures, space, and ground handling systems. The participation of private entities could provide significant sustainability‐related issues since they typically have a profit‐making mindset. Private entities mainly focus on maximising their profits, but public entities are more concerned about attaining social objectives. The differences in their approaches lead to sustainability issues in a PPP airport project. However, studies on the impact of PPP on sustainability are very scarce and limited to other infrastructure sectors like health, education, and so forth. To examine the impact of PPP on Mumbai and Delhi International Airport's sustainability, this study used partial least squares structural equation modelling. The direct impact of private ownership, investment distribution, risk sharing, regulatory intervention, stakeholder engagement, and reputation and credibility on environmental, economic, and social sustainability was examined. The study revealed that PPP improved Mumbai and Delhi's airports' economic sustainability but have a smaller impact on social and environmental sustainability. Existing airports lag in social and environmental sustainability. To achieve social, environmental, and economic sustainability, the government must directly formulate and implement programmes. Regulators regulate JV activities and encourage social and environmental sustainability. Policymakers are likely to benefit most from building a favourable legal framework, commercial viability, and solid economic policies for effective private participation in PPP airports. The study focuses on institutional aspects. It will also help understand the mechanism's impact and how constructions and indicators are managed in PPP airport development.

Early warning of low visibility using the ensembling of machine learning approaches for aviation services at Jay Prakash Narayan International (JPNI) Airport Patna

Extremely low visibility affects aviation services. Aviation services need accurate fog and low-visibility predictions for airport operations. Fog and low-visibility forecasting are difficult even with modern numerical weather prediction models and guiding systems. Limitations in comprehending the micro-scale processes that lead to fog formation, intensification, onset, and dissipation complicate fog prediction. This article predicts low visibility for Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport (JPNI), Patna, India, using a historical synoptic dataset. The proposed machine learning (ML) approaches optimize three meta-algorithm approaches: boosting (which reduces variances), bagging (which reduces bias), and stacking (which improves predictive forces). The ML approaches optimize the best prediction algorithms (at level 0) for fog (surface visibility ≤ 1000 m) and dense fog (surface visibility ≤ 200 m), and the suggested ensemble models at level 1 (an ensemble of level 0 ML approaches) deliver the highest performance and stability in prediction output. All time series perform well with the specified model (6-h to 1-h lead time for any combination of observed historical datasets). Airport management, planning, and decision-making rely on high reliability. Because it works well and is reliable, the proposed approaches can be used at other airports in India's Indo-Gangetic Plain.

Privatization of Commercial Airports in India: Carry over legacy, A nightmare Managing the People agenda

Privatization of Commercial Airports in India: Carry over legacy, A nightmare Managing the People agenda

Algorithmic mechanism design for egalitarian and congestion-aware airport slot allocation

We propose a game-theoretic model and a mechanism design solution to allocate slots fairly at congested airports. This mechanism: (a) ensures that the slots are allocated according to the true valuations of airlines, (b) provides fair opportunities for flights connecting remote cities to large airports, and (c) controls the number of flights in each slot to minimize congestion. Drawing inspiration from economic theory, this mechanism allocates the slots based on an affine maximizer allocation rule and charges payments to the airlines to incentivize them to participate in the allocation process and reveal their actual valuations. The allocation also optimizes the occupancy of each slot to keep them as uncongested as possible. The formulation solves an optimal integral solution in strongly polynomial time. We conduct experiments on the data collected from two primary airports in India. We also compare our results with existing allocations and an allocation based on the International Air Transport Association (IATA) guidelines. The computational results show that our mechanism is more egalitarian and generates 20%−30% higher social utility than the IATA based state-of-the-art approach and current allocations.

Using Hadoop, Analyze Airport Authority

A modern airport has access to a vast quantity of information, including the number of flights, arrival and departure times, flight routes, the number of airports that operate in each nation, a list of the current active airlines in each nation, etc. DBMS has so far been utilized to store and analyze the airport database. An airport database management system uses SQL to apply queries to all of the records. B-tree or distributed hash tables are used by My SQL to analyze the database. It is unable to analyze a large volume of data. Data is stored in a parallel database. This system's disadvantage is that it can't handle an increase in massive amounts of data to a significant degree. Therefore, the Hadoop database file system is employed to solve this issue. Hadoop uses HDFS and the Map-Reduce processing architecture to store vast amounts of data and provide the data in parallel. We made an effort to examine in-depth research of airline data sets, such as a list of airports in India, a list of airlines with no stops, a list of codeshare airlines by country with the most airports, and a list of active airlines in the United States. Here, we concentrated on processing large data sets in a distributed setting utilizing the hive component of the Hadoop ecosystem. The developers and business analysts will be helped by this effort when it comes to obtaining and handling their user requests

DigiYatra – a digital experience for air travelers

Learning outcomes Students will learn technology strategies specific to airports. Students will understand the reason for the success of Bengaluru International Airport. Students will learn to apply management models in airport settings. Students will improve their understanding of airport business, airport-related technologies, specifically in the Indian settings. Case overview/Synopsis DigiYatra is a revolutionary initiative by the Government of India to digitalize all the airports in India, making your face your boarding pass. Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) is at the forefront of this initiative. As one of the early public–private partnership airports, BIAL has seen many challenges over time but could succeed in all its endeavour. The case discusses the journey of DigiYatra, which BIAL has taken through the eyes of the Chairman, Hari Marar. The case goes through several layers like initial planning, creating the team, implementation challenges, technology strategy adopted and how they tackled Covid lockdown challenges to complete the project's initial phase. Complexity academic level Post graduate students. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy.

Customer Loyalty: A Case Study Involving the Three Indian Airlines Indigo, SpiceJet, and AirIndia

India’s aviation industry is largely untapped with huge growth opportunities. The three largest domestic airlines by market share in India are IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Air India.Some travellers have grown disillusioned with traditional loyalty programs, citing a focus on high-value business travellers with no attention to the less-frequent, leisure flyer. So, this research aims at how airlines should be rethinking customer loyalty. The objective of this research isto explore the nature of consumer loyalty and its major determinants for the three airlines in India-Indigo. SpiceJet, and Air India, and To identify the differences concerning attitude, habit, satisfaction, loyalty, and augmented service (Service, safety, comfort, luggage allowance and bonus) amongst the three airlines. The primary data was collected through a structuredquestionnaire from 600 travellers at leading airports in India. The findings of the research showed that the age andoccupation of the respondents suggest a significant variance among the three airlines. The augmented service factors (attitude, habit, loyalty, safety and bonus) of the respondents suggest a significant variance among the three airlines. Conclusion, implications of the study,and suggestions for future researchers are also included in the research.

Assessment of the Receptivity of Dengue Vector Breeding through Pre- and Post-Monsoon Vector Surveillance at Some International Airports in India

As per the International Health Regulations (2005), all the International airports and seaports are to be kept free from the risk of infection through any pathogen transmitted by vectors, thereby resulting in public health hazard. Therefore, all the international airports and seaports premises are to be kept free from any vector breeding along with the 400 perimeter areas surrounding the airports and seaports. To assess the receptivity of Vector breeding i.e. Aedesaegypti (Vector for Dengue, Yellow fever, Zika and Chikunguniya), the entomological teams from the Centre for Medical Entomology and Vector Control, NCDC have been undertaking vector surveillance activities (Pre & Post Monsoon) at POE’s of some International Airports & Seaports. The vector surveillance is being done on regular basis and the findings are being shared with the respective authorities for undertaking immediate control measures. From the years 2015 to 2020, Dengue vector surveillance activities were carried out at 10 international airports including 400 meters peripheral areas during pre- and post-monsoon periods. An attempt has been made to describe the receptivity of the airports with the key findings with entomological indices with regard to the prevention and control of dengue vector and for proper planning to undertaking timely control measures to regulate the International Health Regulations in the respective international airports. Such studies on the assessment of receptivity would help the local airport health authorities in understanding the breeding potential habitats of Aedes vector and planning the appropriate vector control strategy in the respective areas.

Critical success factors for development of public-private-partnership airports in India

Examining the interrelationships between critical success factors (CSFs) is of importance for the successful development of PPP airports. Many studies are available for the identification of CSFs for infrastructure projects, but very limited research have been conducted so far on investigating the interrelationships between the CSFs of PPP airports. The study is based on the institutional theory, which considers the exploration of the relationships between different institutional factors. The results show that Process Characteristics have comparatively more impact on Public Characteristics and, similarly, Cooperative Environment has more impact on Process Characteristics. However, Process Characteristics have a less significant impact on Private Characteristics. The study also revealed that to achieve high-quality services and the protection of public interest under a PPP mechanism, proper government supervision is required. Moreover, customers’ satisfaction and their opinion are also responsible for the achievement of high-quality services and better value for money.

Early detection of suspected cases of COVID-19: role of thermal screening at international airports in India

Background: On January 30, 2020 WHO declared the COVID-19 as a PHEIC. In response to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, Government of India started thermal screening of passengers at all PoEs. Present study was conducted to understand the screening activity done at international airports in India, to measure the prevalence of fever in passengers screened and to study the role of thermal screening in early detection of suspected COVID-19 cases.Methods: Descriptive study design was used in current study and secondary analysis of data collected from CSMI airport Mumbai, IGI airport New Delhi, Cochin international airport Kochi and NSCBI airport Kolkata was done by using universal sample size and purposive sampling technique. Results were presented in the form of rates and ratios appropriately. Chi square test was used to examine the usefulness of the screening activity and p≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: At selected international airports, in January, February and March 2020, 5.49%, 19.57% and 79.54% of all arrived passengers were screened. Under Vande Bharat mission 100% of the international passengers arrived were screened and fever detection rate was 95 per million passengers screened. Outcome of the thermal screening at representative airports of North, South, East and West regions of India was significantly different.Conclusions: Thermal screening of passengers at international airports has limited role in early detection of suspected cases of infectious diseases like COVID-19 and has minimum impact on the course of pandemic.

Accident of a civil passenger aircraft at a military airfield: The Casevac experience

Introduction: There are many civil airports in India wherein the airfield and flying operations are controlled by the military whereas, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) controls the civil terminal. Accident of a civil aircraft on such a base poses unique challenges. This paper discusses the medical contingency plan of a Naval Air Station to deal with civil aircraft crashes based on a civil aircraft incident. Case Details: In the early morning of late Dec in 2016, a Mumbai bound civil flight (Boeing 737) took off from an Indian Navy controlled airfield. While initiating the take-off roll from RW, it veered off the runway towards right and came to halt along the perimeter road 230 m north of the runway edge, on hard rocky ground. There were 154 passengers and 7 crew members who were evacuated from the aircraft, through emergency chutes. Few passengers escaped through the over wing hatches. Twenty passengers sustained injuries, mostly involving the lower limbs. This was primarily due to jumping on hard rocky ground and falling and tripping on rocks while moving away from the aircraft. An analysis was done to understand the limitations on the existing medical contingency plan. Discussion: The ICAO Airport Services Manual Part 7 on Airport Emergency Planning (Doc 9137-AN/898 Part 7) is the guiding reference for all airports on Airport Disaster and Planning. The Medical Services portion delineates clearly the role of the Medical Aid Providers. In the instant case, the medical department had successfully handled the casualty evacuation and their medical management. SOP and the existing medical contingencies were effectively used. A post-accident analysis in the instant case revealed that 17 out of 25 checklist points were satisfied. The lessons learned from the incident have been discussed in the paper.

An integrated performance evaluation approach for the Indian international airports

This paper deals with the applications of best worst method (BWM) and multi-attributive border approximation area comparison (MABAC) method to assess the performance of 32 major Indian international airports based on eight evaluation criteria. The BWM is applied to derive the criteria weights based on the opinions of four decision makers, while MABAC method is employed to rank the considered airports from the best to the worst along with the identification of their relative strengths and weaknesses. The advantages of these methodologies are also enumerated. It is observed that annual revenue is the most important evaluation criterion, followed by the total number of passengers. Based on this integrated analysis, Indira Gandhi International Airport and Surat International Airport respectively emerge out as the best and the worst performing international airports in India.

Design and Analysis of Circular Runway for some Existing Airports in India

Design and Analysis of Circular Runway for some Existing Airports in India

Model-based retrospective estimates for COVID-19 or coronavirus in India: continued efforts required to contain the virus spread

India reported having 498 cases COVID-19 (including 40 foreign tourists) as of 23 March 2020 (ref. 1) and out of which 32 cases were recovered and 9 deaths occurred. The number of COVID-19 cases worldwide as of 23 March 2020, was 378,000 with 16,500 deaths 2 . Overall more than 1.5 million passengers were screened at airports in India, 17,237 people were clinically tested for COVID-19 as of 22 March 2020 (ref. 1). Although the first case of COVID-19 was reported in India on 30 January 2020, for a student who has returned from Wuhan, China 3 , the confirmed cases started arising from the beginning of March. The government of India was quick to launch various levels of travel advisories beginning from 26 February 2020, with restrictions on travel to China and non-essential travel restrictions to Singapore, South Korea, Iran and Italy 3 .