Flight operations were affected after a minor fire broke out in the air traffic control room at Chennai airport in the wee hours on Tuesday. The flames were noticed by the staff at around 2.45 am, official sources said, adding five five tenders were pressed into service and the blaze was doused within 20 minutes. ...
07:20 AM, Mar 12, 2013
Chennai: A 34-year-old man has been taken into custody for questioning after he was seen taking pictures of Finance Minister P Chidambaram at the airport in Chennai, airport sources said on Wednesday. They said Amir was seen taking pictures of the Minister, who left for New Delhi on Tuesday, using his camera. Amir had confirmed first-class tickets to Delhi and from there to Dubai. Initial probe revealed that Amir was...
01:59 PM, Nov 14, 2012
Chennai: One of the few places where you can see scores of classic black-and-yellow tinted Ambassador taxis still running is the Chennai Airport. And yet, with the absolute dominance of the smaller and faster Indicabs, fares for the 500-odd registered prepaid airport taxis are hard to come by. This resentment spilled over on Sunday night and a few of the old-timers got into a verbal and physical duel with a...
04:18 PM, Sep 11, 2012
Chennai: A proposal to increase the city airports user charges hit an air pocket on Thursday with both international and Indian carriers panning the proposal. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) intends to increase the international and domestic landing charges payable by airlines at the Anna International Airport by 118 per cent and 48 per cent respectively from November 1. German carrier Lufthansa lashed out at the proposal, stating that...
05:01 PM, Aug 31, 2012
Chennai: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the private contractor handling the parking at the Chennai airport have moved the booths around to reduce the time that it takes for a vehicle to exit after the time-punched card is issued. Recently, the six-lane tollbooths that issue the parking slips into the domestic airport were shifted closer to the terminal. This means that they have lesser distance to cover to...
01:18 PM, Aug 14, 2012
Chennai: Its not wise to have bullets of any kind if youre taking a flight. For the fourth time in one year, a passenger was hauled up after bullets were found in his baggage. According to the airport police, Monish (24), was scheduled to fly back home to Hyderabad on an Indigo airlines flight on Monday afternoon, and checked his baggage in for scanning. When his large bag was put...
01:20 PM, Aug 07, 2012
Chennai: The first of August could be a very turbulent day for passengers of most domestic airlines, if theyre scheduled to fly in or out of the Chennai airport. After the Airports Authority of India (AAI) raised the sum of royalties collected for ground-handling charges from 13 per cent to 32.5 per cent for all airlines from August, every single one has objected and refused to cough up the additional...
12:37 PM, Aug 01, 2012
Chennai: Though scores of Airports Authority of India staff, immigration officials, customs officers, security guards and taxi drivers kept the brand new Anna International Terminal buzzing, the first flight that landed for the trial run kept them waiting for almost an hour. The Sri Lankan Airways flight UL 127 carrying 227 passengers arrived at 3.15 pm as opposed to the original scheduled time of 2.25 pm. However, once the plane...
12:35 PM, Jul 25, 2012
Chennai: With airlines opting out of allowing their passengers to live test the departure services at the new airport terminal, AAI authorities had to resort to using their own staff to simulate a dry departure run on Tuesday. However, thanks to a series of errors in communication and passenger display, the whole exercise was something of a flop show. Ironically, despite boasting of having state-of-the-art technology support in the Rs...
11:27 AM, Jul 04, 2012
CHENNAI: Train passengers bound for Chennai airport from the south of Tamil Nadu may soon be able to alight at the railway station diagonally opposite the aerodrome. Minister of State for Railways K H Muniyappa has ordered authorities to augment for a stop at Tirusulam Railway Station for express and mail trains, allowing passengers to proceed directly to the city airport. He was addressing the gathering on the occasion of...
08:06 AM, May 22, 2012
Chennai: A 28-year-old man jumped out of an Air India plane through the emergency exit shortly before the passengers were to disembark on landing at the international airport in Chennai on Monday. The flight from Dubai landed and passengers were waiting for the aerobridge to be opened when the man managed to open the emergency exit door and jumped out, airport sources said. He ran towards the runway and security...
12:01 PM, May 15, 2012
CHENNAI: Looks of pleasant surprise were resplendent on the faces of all the passengers who had the fortune of being the first to be ushered through the new airport terminal at the Chennai Airport. This is really great. Its almost like a super-deluxe version of what were normally accustomed to, gushed Bindhu, who arrived from Mumbai on Kingfisher Airlines flight IT 187. She was among the 137 lucky passengers who...
08:17 AM, May 01, 2012
Chennai: The Chennai airport administration has called for a partial roll-back of the 'exit-within-5-minutes-or-pay-up' rule that was introduced along with the new parking system at the airport on April 1. This relaxation of the entry-exit time to 10 minutes, especially during peak hours, has come after the AAI was flooded with complaints and requests for change. After the six computerised parking check-in bays were introduced, all vehicles had to pick...
10:36 PM, Apr 25, 2012
CHENNAI: The Chennai airport administration has called for a partial roll-back of the exit-within-5-minutes-or-pay-up rule that was introduced along with the new parking system at the airport on April 1. This relaxation of the entry-exit time to 10 minutes, especially during peak hours, has come after the AAI was flooded with complaints and requests for change. After the six computerised parking check-in bays were introduced, all vehicles had to pick...
08:28 AM, Apr 25, 2012
Chennai: A 34-year-old passenger who arrived from France, was caught at the airport possessing three kilos of gold coins worth Rs one crore without any valid documents on Monday. The passenger, who owned a hotel in France, was working as a courier bringing such valuables, police sources said. They also said customs officials caught Abdul Khader (34) of Karaikal, who arrived at Chennai airport at 3.30 am from France via...
10:20 AM, Apr 10, 2012
CHENNAI: A massive steel structure that was being welded to a portion of the new airport terminal, collapsed suddenly after the support cables snapped and crashed to the ground on Tuesday. No passengers were close enough to be harmed, when the incident occurred, a little after 1 pm. The massive clang that was heard, apparently alarmed passers by and passengers, as it was just opposite the domestic airport terminal. This...
08:11 AM, Mar 28, 2012
New Delhi: A safety assessment carried out at the Chennai Airport to explore the viability of the upcoming Metro Rail link has identified several risks. Not only did the assessment, as per Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) norms, identify substantial risks to aircraft operations but also cites grave security concerns. The assessment, done on various parameters set by DGCA, concluded that there is over 95 per cent risk in...
08:40 AM, Dec 16, 2011
CHENNAI: Just as the Sabarimala pilgrim season is gaining momentum, a group of Ayyappa devotees were taken aback at the airporthere when they were reportedly not allowed to carry their irumudis (kit with offerings for the deity) on a Kochi flight by the Jet Airways staff. Santhanam, along with eight others, was all set to depart for his yearly pilgrimage by a flight at 6.55 am on Monday when the...
09:47 AM, Nov 22, 2011
CHENNAI: There was a scare at the domestic airport here on Wednesday evening, when a woman passenger attempted to check-in with a duffel bag filled with bullets. Surya allegedly walked into the airport at 4 pm to board the 5.15 pm Spicejet flight to Madurai. According to airport sources, the woman gave her black bag for screening as she wanted to carry it on board. When CISF personnel manning the...
08:37 AM, Nov 11, 2011
CHENNAI: Metropolitan Transport Corporation on Wednesday introduced four new mini air-conditioned coaches connecting the Meenambakkam airport and different parts of the city. As per a press release, the swanky coaches are operated on two different routes from the airport. Two buses would be plying to Egmore railway station via Guindy, Anna University, Adyar, Alwarpet Flyover, Cathedral Road and the other two are operated for Anna Nagar West via Guindy, Kathipara...
08:58 AM, Nov 03, 2011
