Airports Authority of India


The Airports Authority of India or AAI is a statutory body working under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining and managing civil aviation infrastructure in India. It provides Communication Navigation Surveillance / Air Traffic Management services over Indian airspace and adjoining oceanic areas. With the mission to be the foundation of an enduring Indian aviation network, providing high quality, safe and customer oriented airport & air navigation services, AAI is currently managing a total of 137 Airports, including 23 International Airports, 10 Customs Airports, 81 Domestic Airports and 23 Civil enclaves at Defense Airfields. AAI also has ground installations at all airports and 25 other locations to ensure safety of aircraft operations. AAI covers all major air-routes over Indian landmass via 29 Radar installations at 11 locations along with 700 VOR/DVOR installations co-located with Distance Measuring Equipment. 52 runways are provided with Instrument landing system installations with Night Landing Facilities at most of these airports and Automatic Message Switching System at 15 Airports.

History

The Government of India constituted the International Airports Authority of India in 1972 to manage the nation's international airports while the National Airports Authority was constituted in 1986 to look after domestic airports. The organisations were merged in April 1995 by an Act of Parliament, namely, the Airports Authority of India Act, 1994 and has been constituted as a Statutory Body and was named as Airports Authority of India. This new organisation was to be responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining and managing civil aviation infrastructure both on the ground and air space in the country.

Major Ongoing Projects

AAI's implementation of Automatic Dependence Surveillance System, at Kolkata and Chennai Air Traffic Control Centres, made India the first country to use this technology in the South East Asian region thus enabling Air Traffic Control over oceanic areas using satellite mode of communication. Performance Based Navigation procedures have already been implemented at Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad Airports. AAI is implementing the GAGAN project in technological collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation. The navigation signals thus received from the GPS will be augmented to achieve the navigational requirement of aircraft. The first phase of the technology demonstration system was completed in February 2008.

Organizational Structure

AAI having its Corporate Headquarters at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, New Delhi is operating from its Five Regional Headquarters namely-
  1. Eastern Regional Headquarter at Kolkata
  2. Western Regional Headquarter at Mumbai
  3. Northern Regional Headquarter at Delhi
  4. Southern Regional Headquarter at Chennai
  5. North-Eastern Regional Headquarter at Guwahati.
AAI has five training establishments, including three ATS training organizations viz.
  1. The Civil Aviation Training College at Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh,
  2. Hyderabad Training Centre at Hyderabad
  3. National Institute of Aviation Training and Management at Gondia, Maharashtra.
  4. Indian Aviation Academy at Delhi and
  5. Fire Training Centres at Delhi & Kolkata.
An Aerodrome Visual Simulator has been provided at CATC and non-radar procedural ATC simulator equipment is being supplied to CATC Allahabad and Hyderabad Airport. AAI has a dedicated Flight Inspection Unit with a fleet of three aircraft fitted with flight inspection system to inspect Instrument Landing Systems up to Cat-III, VORs, DMEs, NDBs, VGSI and RADAR. In addition to in-house flight calibration of its navigational aids, AAI undertakes flight calibration of navigational aids for the Indian Air Force, Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and other private airfields in the country.

Eastern Region

The Eastern Region of AAI controls 20 Airports and 4 Aeronautical Communications Stations. Eastern Regional Headquarters located in Kolkata, West Bengal, coordinates and controls the entire activities of all the Airports and Aeronautical Communication Stations listed below.
Airports / Civil EnclavesNon Operational AirportsAeronautical Communications Stations
KolkataAsansol Behrampur
BhubaneswarBehala Jamshedpur
GayaBalurghat Katihar
PatnaCooch BeharJharsuguda
Port Blair Malda
RaipurChakulia
RanchiDeoghar
Bagdogra Farbeshgunj
Jogbani
Muzafarpur
Raxaul
Bilaspur

Regional Executive Director of Airports Authority of India is the Executive Head of the Eastern Region. He is the overall in-charge of all activities of the Eastern Region of the Airports Authority of India. The Eastern Region of Airports Authority of India is presently headed by Sh. Manoj Gangal, Regional Executive Director.

Functions & Responsibilities of Eastern Regional Departments of AAI

Communication, Navigation and Surveillance

Among the FIRs in Indian Airspace, almost one third of the entire Airspace is controlled/ managed by Kolkata ACC. The responsibility of providing ANS infrastructure for this huge Airspace is undertaken by CNS, Kolkata with installations at Remote stations located in the Eastern & North- East Region and beyond. In fact, with active persuasion from CNS, Kolkata ADS-B data from COCO Islands & SITTWE in Myanmar is now integrated with Kolkata Automation system.
The ANS infrastructure and data/voice connectivity to manage this coverage is provided and maintained by CNS, Kolkata.
Facilities provided by CNS Kolkata
The Aviation Safety Directorate in the region takes care of many responsibilities which are essential for the functionality of the Airports. Like it performs safety audit of all eastern region airports including RCS airports and CNS vital installation stations and monitoring of all AVS-ER audit observations. It also conducts yearly Safety Management System training and provide assistants to all field stations to conduct safety assessment of different projects whenever required. Apart from this the Aviation Safety Directorate also conducts the quarterly Regional Safety Committee meeting, yearly aviation safety week and is responsible for vetting of safety assessment documents of all Eastern Region Airports among others.

Engineering

For any organisation Engineering Department is the backbone who plane and execute various civil and electrical works to provide the infrastructural facilities required. Here in eastern Region Engineering Department does the same for ATC/NAV-AIDS as per the requirement along with proper monitoring and control of construction and maintenance of runways / Taxiways /Apron and other buildings and offices as per the requirement.
At present work on the 51.4m-high ATC tower and 33.2-m high ground plus five-level technical block at NSCBI Airport, Kolkata is under construction. The ATS complex will be a 4-star Griha rated green building right from the construction phase. In addition to green practices like rainwater harvesting and reduction in power load from 9,200 kW to 4,800 kW, the building will also have 31,000sqft green area. While the tower height will increase from 34m to 51.4m, the floor area of the complex will go up from 75,500sqm to 2,84,000sqm. The technical block will house around 750 people, mostly controllers and engineers. Also, there will be facility to park 200 cars and 100 two-wheelers.

Fire

The Principle objective of Airport Rescue and Fire Services is to “To save lives in the event of an aircraft accident or incident” occurring at, or in the immediate vicinity of, an airport.
The Rescue and Fire Services is provided to create and maintain survivable conditions, to provide egress routes for occupants and to initiate the rescue of those occupants unable to make their escape without direct aid. This also applies to any other incident where life and property can be saved. The safety of the passengers is paramount at airports run by Airports Authority of India. AAI's highly trained Rescue and Fire Services stand ready to provide rescue and fire protection at all times.
There is an airport emergency plan to co-ordinate the efforts of mutual aid agency within the airport and its immediate vicinity. The Rescue and Fire Services is responsible for managing the Airport Emergency Plan and deal the situation accordingly at the aircraft accident or incident as well as safety of the occupants and avoidance of the fire risks in the terminal building & other vital installations at the airport.
Maintain level of Fire protection at airports, Fire prevention & Fire Protection at Terminal & Related Building and Vital Installation, Fire Service Personnel & Equipment's and monitor the performance & ensure the compliance by necessary remedial measure wherever required.

Corporate Communications Department

The Department deals with Print and Electronic Media and is responsible for Media briefing, arranging Press Conferences, Analysis of Media Reports, Managing the social media accounts, NlTs, publishing of in-house Journals of AAI and also deals with matters concerning AAl's branding. Corporate Communication Department deals with the allocation of Media for AAl's Advertisements through the empanelled Agencies while maintaining the implementation of Raj Bhasha Guidelines applicable in this regard. CC Department also deals with matters concerning Sponsorships, Exhibitions, and Seminars etc. within the preamble of CC Policy.

Human Resource Department

HRM is strategic and comprehensive approach to managing employees and the organisational culture and environment. HR plays a key role to deal with a fast changing environment and the greater demand for quality employees.
HR function in Eastern Region is more employee centred. Whole HR Team is strongly committed to the development and growth of all our employees as Individuals not just as employees. Inclusive work place and culture in which all employees are treated equally with respect and dignity.
Indeed, HR department is truly committed to make Eastern region the best work place among all.
Today, AAI-Eastern region have a dedicated team of nearly 1594 professionals who toil around the clock. Important HR functions include:
Operations include Air Traffic Services, Communication, and Navigation & Surveillance. This also includes Aviation Security Services, Fire Services at airports and Passenger Facilitation in Airport Terminals.
TRAFFIC STATISTICS OF VARIOUS ACTIVE AIRPORTS OF EASTERN REGION.
FLYING CLUBS / CASUAL OPERATORS
AIR TRAFFIC SERVICES
The Air Traffic Services comprise of the following services:-
Air Traffic Control Services: The Air Traffic Control Services i.e. Aerodrome Control, Surface Movement Control, Approach Control at terminal airports and Area Control Center are provided by skilled personnel stationed in the concerned Air Traffic Control positions of the respective airports and on designated frequencies. The terminal airports operate in coordination with the Area Control Center in Kolkata. The communication with the Aircraft is mostly through two-way VHF R/T and a supplementary cover is provided by CPDLC, H/F and AFTN network.  The Area Control center provide the Area Control Service, flight Information Service and the Alerting Service. The Area Control centers are connected to the terminal airports and adjacent Area Control Centers by Direct Speech Circuits. Area Control Center receives feed from 11 radars with a range of 250 nautical miles and 9 ADS-B Ground Stations covering the entire continental airspace and portion of Oceanic airspace under its jurisdiction. The major routes transiting through the FIR are R460, L759, A465, A791, G450, R581, R325, R344, L507, P646, M770, M773, N895, G472, L301, L510, N877, L524, M875 and P628.
Netaji Subash Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata is equipped with an ELDIS ASR/MSSR and INDRA MSSR with a range of 250 nautical miles and an automated ATC system developed by INDRA. Specially designed standard procedures like SIDS and STARS are used to complement laid down ATS routes. To cope up with the periods of very low visibility due to fog, special ILS CAT III equipment is installed at NSCBI Airport, Kolkata. The automation of ATS facilities are at Biju Patnaik Airport, Bhubaneswar, Birsa Munda Airport, Ranchi, Jai Prakash Narayan International Airport, Patna, Swami Vivekananda Airport, Raipur and Gaya airports also. Other operational active Airports in the Eastern Region are Jharsuguda, Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport, Durgapur, Pakyong, Cooch Behar, Port Blair and Bagdogra.
b. Flight Information Service: The Aircraft operating beyond the radar coverage and outside the control areas are provided with flight information service and advisory service by the Area Control centers. The Nodal center of NOTAM is also at NSCBI Airport, Kolkata.
c. Alerting Service : All the airports are established alerting posts and the specific Alerting Services are provided by the concerned Area Control centers. For this purpose close liaison is maintained with agencies like INMCC, THE INDIAN AIR FORCE and the adjacent Search and Rescue coordination centers. The distress signals picked by SARSAT and COSPAS linked to Indian Space Research Organization.
d. Aeronautical Information Services: International NOTAM Office for NOTAM information and Pre Flight Information Bulletins with contact no 033-25119429 and email id vecc.ais@aai.aero of AIS Kolkata.
ISSUANCE OF NO OBJECTION CERTIFICATE FOR HEIGHT CLEARANCE
Addressing NOC related issues. Operating “No Objection Certificate Application System for issuance of NOC. NOCAS accepts NOC applications for Height Clearance for structures such as Buildings, Masts, Chimney, and Transmission Lines etc.

Regional Executive Director (Eastern Region)

Shri Manoj Gangal took over as the New Regional Executive Director of Airports Authority of India, at the Regional Headquarters, Kolkata from 1 June 2020, succeeding Shri S.P.Yadav, who superannuated from AAI on 31 May 2020.
Shri Gangal who has vast experience of 35 years in aviation field, will be responsible for management of AAI Airports and the air space in Eastern Region as Regional Executive Director.
He is known for giving practical solution to the complex situation faced by Airports. An alumnus of University of Delhi in Economics & English Literature, Shri Gangal has also worked as General Manager at AAI Corporate Headquarters, New Delhi where he brought remarkable changes in medical facilities and issues concerning staff welfare.
Shri Gangal, an International Airport Professional from ACI/ICAO global Airport Management Professional Accreditation Programme, while spearheading SVPIA, Ahmedabad Airport in his last posting has earned International and National Award year after year.
Under his leadership the Airport has earned Best Airport Tourism Award for the year 2016, Most Improved Airport in Asia Pacific Region in the year 2017, and hat-trick of Three International Award in the year 2018 i.e. Best Environment and Ambiance, Best Customer Service and Best Infrastructure and Facilitation by size in the year 2018.
Recently after receiving appreciation from Govts. Of Canada, U.K. and Japan, he has received accolades from Govt. of United States of America for handling of Airforce-1 aircraft of US President Trump to Ahmedabad and contributing significantly to bolster the relationship between India and US.
Before joining the Ahmedabad Airport, Shri Manoj Gangal had served as director of Pune, Port Blair airports among others. Shri Gangal, a team leader firmly believes that one cannot have rainbow without a little rain in life.