Airports in State enjoy reduced power bills

Here is another reason to fume and rage, for all the ordinary power consumers in the State harried by the extraordinary surcharges in their power bills.

While bus stations and railway stations serving the poor and middle income groups in the State are taxed heavily under the ‘Commercial’ category of power consumption, the airports here enjoy the privilege of reduced tariff under a recently created category ‘Aviation Activity at Airports’.

The AP Central Power Distribution Company, which does not budge from charging even the Surabhi Theatre Group for the “commercial” consumption despite repeated appeals from the latter, is now forced to reduce the tariff for the aviation-related consumption of all the airports in the State by Rs.0.56 per unit.

Before the recent tariff revision, airports too were paying under the HT-II (Others) category for which the present energy charges are Rs.5.10 per unit at 132-KV supply, Rs.5.35 per unit at 33-KV supply and Rs.5.97 per unit at 11-KV supply.

However, the latest Retail Tariff Order issued by the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission saw the creation of a special category HT-III (Aviation) under which the energy charges were fixed as Rs.4.54, Rs.4.86 and Rs.5.39 respectively for the aforesaid voltages.

Accordingly, the airport activities will fall partly under the newly created category related to aviation, and partly under HT-II (Others) related to non-aviation activities. The Commission has also asked the consumers to segregate loads and install separate metering for these two activities. Till such separation is done, billing is to be done based on “notional percentages”, which range between 61 per cent and 85 per cent for aviation-related activities of different airports in the state. It effectively means that the GMR International Airport at Shamshabad is paying Rs.0.56 per unit less for the approved 61 per cent of the total consumption.

The average number of units per month consumed by the international airport, for instance, hovers around 45 to 50 lakh, of which 27.5 lakh to 30.5 lakh units are now being charged under the aviation head as per the order.

Rs. 2 cr. loss annually

Calculated at Rs.0.56 per unit, it means a revenue dent of Rs.15 lakh to Rs.17 lakh per month for the loss-making discom which is presently on a surcharge spree. Annually, the loss from this single consumer amounts to over Rs.2 crore! Further, the orders were to be implemented with retrospective effect from 2010. It means that the company will have to return the additional amount charged during the previous two years by adjusting the same in the present bills.

Thankfully, CPDCL has thought better of it and approached the Supreme Court against the order. A case is presently being heard, even while the airports enjoy the gift by APERC.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/airports-in-state-enjoy-reduced-power-bills/article4096581.ece

First Haj flight to return tomorrow

Haj pilgrims who went to Makkah under government supervision from Kerala will begin their return journey on Friday. The first return flight will land at Calicut International Airport at Karipur at 1.10 p.m. on Friday carrying 300 Hajis.

All the flights are returning from Madina. Minister for Haj Affairs P.K. Kunhalikutty, State Haj Committee chairman Kottumala T.M. Bapu Musliar, and other Haj committee members will receive the pilgrims at the airport.

Saudi Arabian Airlines will operate 30 chartered flight services to bring back 8,820 pilgrims, including 313 pilgrims of Lakshadweep and 71 of Mahe. Unlike the previous years, the pilgrims will not have to carry the holy water Zamzam along with them.

Holy water

The committee has made agreement with the Saudi Arabian Airlines to bring the Zamzam in bulk and supply it to the pilgrims on their return at Karipur airport. “Each pilgrim will be given 10 litres of Zamzam at Karipur airport. They need not have to carry the water containers along with them on their journey. But they can go home with the ‘thabarruk’ of having the holy water with them,” Mr. Bapu Musliar said.

As many as 8,830 pilgrims had gone to Makkah under government supervision via Karipur. More than 60 per cent of them were aged above 70 years. As many as 10 of them died in Saudi Arabia at different times during the pilgrimage.

Mr. Bapu Musliar said the pilgrimage was smooth and easier than the previous years. “One of the toughest and most difficult points of the pilgrimage was the stoning at Jamra. Many accidents have taken place at Jamra in the past. But the Saudi government has adopted the best measures to prevent accidents at Jamra,” he said.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/first-haj-flight-to-return-tomorrow/article4096904.ece

Coimbatore Airport to get more facilities

Installation of Flight Information Digital System (FIDS) boards, Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) and SMS facility for passengers are in the final stages at the Coimbatore Airport and are likely to be inaugurated within the next seven to 10 days, says Airport Director K. Peter Abraham.

Talking to The Hindu , Mr. Abraham says that the facilities under FIDS include provision of information through LCD display boards and video walls and the total project cost is around Rs. 1 crore. The measures are part of the exercise taken up to modernise the airport.

A total of 74 digital boards will be installed to keep the people informed on the departure and arrival status of flights. Two of the boards will be outside the airport for the visitors, while the rest will be in front of the various airlines counters and arrival and departure halls.

The digital flight information system will be functional based on the inputs fed by the airlines.

These boards will replace the 15-year-old conventional flight information board.

This comes at a time when the airport was accorded the International Airport status. “The boards are likely to be in place and functional within the next 10 days,” he adds.

In addition, passengers or their relatives/friends wanting to see them off or coming to the airport to receive them can get to know the flight status by dialling 2573100/ 2574100 to access the IVRS. For accessing flight status related information, passengers can also send in a text message i.e., SMS to 94422-64287/ 94422-64297 with the flight code. These facilities relieved the people from problems related to constantly busy telephone lines, call waiting etc.

The facilities are expected to provide information on flight status on a real time basis.

Growth

Some of the facilities are already on trial to fine-tune them before formally launching them in a couple of days, Mr. Abraham says. Coimbatore Airport has continuously been on a growth trajectory with close to 10 per cent year on year increase in passenger traffic and revenue.

As on date there are a minimum of 20 landings and take offs with an average of 3,500 to 4,000 passengers using the airport every day, of which 10 to 12 per cent of them are international passengers travelling to Sharjah or Singapore, the two international destinations for which Coimbatore Airport has flight connectivity.

Besides the two international destinations, Coimbatore has domestic flight connectivity with Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Kozhikode, Hyderabad.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/coimbatore-airport-to-get-more-facilities/article4096695.ece

Kingfisher promises May salary by today

New Delhi, Nov. 14:  

Kingfisher Airlines has assured its employees that May salaries will be paid by Thursday, an airline staff member said.

This is even as a section of the airline’s employees said they would decide on their future course of action after Saturday, in case May salaries were not credited by then.

Some employees claimed that a technical glitch in a private sector bank was the reason behind the cash-strapped airline being unable to keep its promise of paying May salaries before Diwali.

Airline officials were unavailable for comments on when the over 4,000 employees of the airline would be paid their May salaries.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-economy/kingfisher-promises-may-salary-by-today/article4095809.ece