Airports In India Research Articles

Analysing and modelling the relationship between air freight movement and airport characteristics in India

Air freight transportation is paramount for the expansion of trade and economic growth of any country. Recent statistics indicates that developing countries like India, are showing continuous growth trend in air freight sector; however, the modelling efforts for the air freight are scarce as compared to other freight mode. This paper analysed the relationship between air freight demand and airport characteristics using the aggregate data collected from the 42 airports around India. A set of statistical models were developed using regression analyses to estimate the air freight tonnage in an airport. The models are designed by considering their practical applications in facility planning and investment decision for airport infrastructure. Three different types of determinants were identified related city, physical, and operational characteristics of the airports. The results showed that number of industrial units in the city is a key determinant in predicting the air freight demand followed by population. On the other hand, physical and operational characteristics such as runway length, building area, passenger volume, and aircraft movement showed better correlation with freight activities. Another important finding is that the air freight demand will significantly change based on the city type in which the airport is located. Comparison of modelling results using different approaches revealed that that panel data regression models using airport’s operational characteristics gives better presentation of air-freight movement. Overall, the air freight demand models discussed in this paper may be utilized in facility planning, policy effect analysis and access road improvements of airports in India.

Understanding seasonality in passenger traffic at Indian airports

Air traffic in India has seen significant growth over the past few years. The growth story is likely to continue, and traffic is likely to grow up to 1.256 billion by the year 2040. The presence of seasonality in traffic due to holidays, religious events, etc. has been a concern for airports and airlines to manage the demand during such seasonal traffic. The paper attempts to analyse the seasonality at six major airports in India for domestic and international passenger traffic. HEGY method has been applied for monthly data of air traffic across these six airports for domestic and international air traffic, respectively. The results indicate the presence of different seasonality at these airports for domestic and international traffic.

Breakeven Passenger Traffic for Regional Indian Airports

Most of the regional airports in India are financially unsustainable because of low and fluctuating passenger traffic. Despite double digit passenger traffic growth since past four years, most regional Indian airports are yet to achieve financial sustainability due to high fixed operating costs and low non-aeronautical revenue. The Indian government is putting special emphasis on regional air connectivity through UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme. However, it is difficult to ascertain whether such schemes can ensure airport profitability. This paper attempts to find the operating breakeven point in terms of annual passenger traffic for 27 regional airports over a period of three years from 2014-15 to 2016-17. The method used is simple linear regression of operating revenue and operating cost with passenger traffic. The method as well as findings have been corroborated with relevant literature. The breakeven point changes 0.8 million passengers in 2014-15 to 0.6 million passengers in 2016-17. Most regional airports in the sample have more than 0.5 million passengers per annum and this paves way for smaller and upcoming airports looking for incentive schemes to attract airlines.

An Economic and Financial Analysis of Chennai, Kolkata and Ahmedabad Airports in India

There is vigorous growth of air traffic in India in the last decade. The passenger air traffic has increased by more than 10 per cent annually during this time. As per the report of Airbus Global Market Forecast (2016-35), domestic air traffic in India is supposed to increase by fivefold in coming decade. The air traffic movement is also increasing at rapid rate globally which is increasing at the rate of 5.7 % per annum in the last decade whereas the World GDP growth in the corresponding period was only 2.6%. The passenger transport in the last decade has increased by 1.47 billion at the global level. As per the report of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), India has experienced a double digit growth rate of 15.7 per cent in passenger traffic and 9.0 per cent growth rate in freight traffic which is much higher than GDP growth rate of India. The heavy air traffic in India is evident from the India’s revenue passenger km which is 13th in the World with 140.4 billion. This entails creation of air traffic infrastructure for smooth movement of traffic in India. The constructions of modern airports and expansion of existing airports are important addition to air traffic infrastructure. The concept of airport cities or aero city imply development of innovative business ideas within the designated area whose cost-benefits if taken into considerations are more than the cost-benefits of its counterpart in the central business district. Major airports in India such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad etc. are growth and employment drivers of Indian economy in aviation sector. There are direct, indirect and induced effects on income and output. However, the calculations are complex as it is related with backward calculation of and calculation of input-output analysis. Further all the airports do not generate the same output and employment. In some airport employment increases but output do not increase simultaneously. As a global practice, the increase in airport infrastructure requires a study of its feasibility in a cost-benefit format. This is carried out in terms of financial and economic viability study. In this study, we have carried out an economic and financial analysis of three major airports in India such as Chennai, Kolkata and Ahmedabad airports for twenty years’ time period. In the cost stream, we have considered capital expenditure and on the benefits side the increase in income, employment, outputs in terms of direct, indirect, induced and catalytic terms. An attempt has been made to measures all these benefits against the cost streams through an economic and financial analysis. The feasibility of investments in airport infrastructure has been calculated in a cost-benefit format to find out the internal rate of return. The robustness of the investment has been tested by carrying out a sensitivity analysis at an increasing cost and decreasing benefits conditions and vice-versa. The calculated IRR both economic and financial are well above the 12 per cent as per the guidelines of Asian Development Bank. This justifies the investment in the above-mentioned of airport infrastructure.

Determination of land side accessibility of Indian metro hub airports w.r.t. travel-time reliability

ABSTRACTAviation sector is one of the fastest growing industries in India where fast mobility and value of time become the key components. Therefore, reliability is the most important performance indicator of a time-dependent system. Reliability of a system has huge influence on its efficiency, capacity utilisation and economic benefits. The extent of connectivity of the network not only depends on inter-airport connections, but also the land accessibility to and from the airports. This study has been done extensively based on all the reliability parameters in accessing metro hub airports in India. In the current scenario, most of the Indian airports have unreliable access modes to airports, regardless of private and public transport options, latter being the worst due to heavily clogged highways and road system. This paper analyses the travel-time reliability of the airport link/s for six metro airports in India using different reliability indices. A critical evaluation of network reliability in six metro hub airports with respect to private mode (car) and available public transport (bus & metro/urban rail) is also carried out followed by their ranks. Reliability indices for bus and metro/urban rail are generated separately and a combined index is developed further.

BENCHMARKING FOR ACCESSIBILITY AND CONNECTIVITY OF INDIAN AIRPORTS

Purpose of the study:Since 2015, International aviation sector has witnessed an exceptional transformation of Indian air transport with a growth rate of 15-20%. It is also predicted to maintain a similar trend for not less than 4-5 years. However, transporting 400-500 million people a year with the existing facilities and infrastructure will inversely affect the sector. Thus we require an efficient and well-equipped airport network throughout the country to cater the needs of the future demand. Benchmarks are said to be the vital part of every planning standards and processes.
 Methodology:Study focuses on 109 airports of India (including upcoming airports in UDAN) and covers a critical evaluation of airport to airport connection as well as airport accessibility to and fro. This paper analyses all the benchmarking parameters, namely ‘indicators’, those influence connectivity and accessibility of these airports.
 Main Findings:Using statistical tools, it evaluates the existing air network, makes a comparative investigation and models the entire network to frame individual and overall benchmarks. Based on these benchmarks, study recommends adopting few strategies for the next 5 years to address the increasing demand.
 Implications: Study brings about a healthy competition among airports to resolve their shortcomings. It can boost up demand shift from other modes to air transport.
 Applications of this study:The methodology may be followed to set Benchmarksof any networks based on the relevant parameters.
 Novelty/Originality of this study:Airports in India are given different indices and ranks on the connectivity and accessibility parameters, so that their performance is analysed in the global network.

Aviation Human Factors Related Industry News

Aviation Human Factors Related Industry News

Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport—Integrated Terminal Building

The new Integrated Terminal Building at Mumbai’ s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport combines international and domestic operations at one of the busiest airports in India. The 410 000 m2 building, being constructed at the site of the existing terminal, will achieve a capacity of 40 million passengers per annum upon completion in 2014.The primary design feature of the building is a long-span roof covering a total of 70 000 m2 over various functional requirements, making it one of the largest roofs in the world without an expansion joint. The Headhouse Roof, supported by only 30 columns spaced at 64 m in the North–South direction and at 34 m in the East–West direction, produces a large column-free space ideal for an airport. By increasing the depth of the trusses near the columns and running trusses in both an orthogonal grid and a 45° grid, large spacing and cantilevers of 40 m along the perimeter are achieved with an overall truss depth of only 4 m. In response to site constraints and proximity of the existing operational terminal building, the mega-columns are also designed to serve as hoist mechanisms such that the entire roof can be constructed without tower cranes. The Terminal Building also includes the largest and longest cable wall system in the world. The structural studies completed include solid finite element analysis of connections to optimize material efficiency. Furthermore, the structural design prioritizes modular construction for economy and facilitation of an accelerated construction schedule.

Financial closure of Bengaluru International Airport Limited

Subject area Infrastructure finance. Study level/applicability II MBA/Executive MBA (Project Finance, Infrastructure Finance). Case overview It is generally believed that the economy of India is on the threshold of achieving significant growth in the coming years. The availability of adequate infrastructure facility will play a key role in realizing this growth potential. To accelerate the process of creating infrastructure capacity, the Government of India has opened up many infrastructure sectors for private sector investment. Creation of international standard airport facilities is an important component of such new infrastructure creation. This case study presents the initial development and financing closure of Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), the first major private sector airport in India. In retrospect, it is generally felt that BIAL was an important milestone in the privatization of airports in India. The blueprint for the greenfield PPP airport in Hyderabad was closely modelled on the BIAL project. The experience gained in the development of BIAL also played a major role in subsequent brownfield PPP airport expansion projects in Mumbai and Delhi. Expected learning outcomes The goal of this case study is to illustrate the complexities that exist in the process of infrastructure development and financing. This following are the expected learning outcomes: The importance of using an appropriate project structure. The prevalence of early returns to project sponsors as compared to lenders. The process of achieving financial closure. Analyzing project risks and returns. Supplementary materials Teaching notes.

SP6-69 A study of reported sickness pattern of air passengers at Indian airports

There are 58 million air passengers using 125 airports in India in 2009–2010. Out of which 58% are in domestic sector 42% in international sector. There is no centralised data...

A Non-Precision Instrument Approach Procedure with Vertical Guidance (IPV) for Aircraft Landing Using GPS

In the near future, Spaced-Based Augmentation Systems (such as the Wide Area Augmentation System in North America) will become operational, permitting the use of GPS as a primary system for all phases of flight. Recently the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has recommended the use of un-augmented GPS as a supplemental navigation system for all phases of flight including non-precision approaches. In this paper, the salient features of the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system in India, and the use of conventional navigational aids are described. A new landing procedure is proposed using un-augmented GPS known as ‘a non-precision instrument approach procedure with vertical guidance (IPV)’ for Hyderabad Airport, Runway 27. This procedure, if implemented, would be cost-effective and reliable for many airports in India. An algorithm has also been developed for determining the range and bearing between the departure and the arrival waypoints of an aircraft using the IPV.

Improvisation in current weather display system

ABSTRACT. Presently the current weather information at four International Airports in India is being provided to air traffic control units through a Close Circuit Television (CCTV) system. The meteorological assistant who sits in the control tower obtains the information from various panels in front of him, prepares the display card by filling values of various parameters and then displays it through CCTV system. This method of display is outdated and lacks quality. Two improved computer based display systems have been developed at Meteorological Office. Palam. These systems greatly improve the quality of display presentation. These can also be used to extend the current weather display system to distant users like, International Airlines offices. One of the system is under test at the Meteorological Office, Palam, Terminal and working satisfactorily. A remote extension of this display system is also working at international Meteorological Office at Terminal II which is 10 km away from the main office at Terminal I.

Accurate Estimation of ILS Glideslope in the Presence of Terrain Irregularities

The primary emphasis of this paper is to evolve a general analytical method for the accurate prediction of glideslope aberrations in aircraft instrument landing systems (ILS) in the presence of known terrain features. Methods of mathematical modelling for electric fields in the presence of arbitrary reflecting boundaries are critically analysed, and graded according to their applicability to the evaluation of glideslopes in ILS. Using a multiple plate model of the terrain, a series of computer programs is developed to compute glideslopes using the Uniform Theory of Diffraction (UTD) and, for the first time, Uniform Asymptotic Theory (UAT). The programs are most general in terms of handling combinations of rays of various orders. An innovative algorithm for direct determination of the point of diffraction at an edge is incorporated. Results have been generated for several airports in India and those pertaining to Madras airport are presented in this paper. The results, computed for conditions corresponding to actual flight tests, are in excellent agreement with flight measured data. This establishes the model developed here as a practical and economical method of accurately predicting site behaviour of proposed ILS glideslope equipment.