AAI terminates licences for ground handling services at airports

Agencies

February 18, 2018

New Delhi, Feb 18: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has decided to terminate the licences for ground handling services at various aerodromes as part of implementing the new rules for such activities, according to a senior official.

Less than two months after the civil aviation ministry came out with the new ground handling services regulations, the AAI has decided to cancel the existing licenses given to such service providers and go for fresh tendering process.

Under the new norms, domestic scheduled airline operators and helicopters can carry out ground handling on their own.

Confirming the move to terminate the existing licenses for ground handling services, AAI chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra said that it has been done to "ensure a level playing field" for the ground handling agencies.

AAI manages around 125 airports, including 78 domestic aerodromes and 26 civil enclaves.

"In order to implement the Ground Handling Services Regulations 2017 in letter and spirit, the AAI has taken a policy decision to terminate all existing licenses awarded for ground handling services at its airports and for inducting ground handling agencies through fresh tenders," as per a communication.

This is one of the communications sent out by the AAI to a ground handling agency.

Ground handling services include aircraft cleaning and servicing, loading and unloading of food and beverages, besides cargo and luggage handling at the airports.

"A foreign airline may undertake self-handling in respect of passenger and baggage handling activities, excluding security functions listed out... at the airport terminals restricted to passenger check-in at pre-security hold area, at all the airports, except civil enclaves or joint user defence airfields," according to the new norms.

Among others, airports having million passengers per annum capacity or more are required to have three ground handling agencies.

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Chaos continues as IndiGo cancels more flights including 73 from Bengaluru airport

News Network

December 4,2025

Domestic carrier IndiGo has cancelled over 180 flights from three major airports — Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru — on Thursday, December 4, as the airline struggles to secure the required crew to operate its flights in the wake of new flight-duty and rest-period norms for pilots.

While the number of cancellations at Mumbai airport stands at 86 (41 arrivals and 45 departures) for the day, at Bengaluru, 73 flights have been cancelled, including 41 arrivals, according to a PTI report that quoted sources.

"IndiGo cancelled over 180 flights on Thursday at three airports-Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru," the source told the news agency.

Besides, it had cancelled as many as 33 flights at Delhi airport for Thursday, the source said, adding, "The number of cancellations is expected to be higher by the end of the day."

The Gurugram-based airline's On-Time Performance (OTP) nosedived to 19.7 per cent at six key airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — on December 3, as it struggled to get the required crew to operate its services, down from almost half of December 2, when it was 35 per cent.

"IndiGo has been facing acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of the FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) norms, leading to cancellations and huge delays in its operations across the airports," a source had told PTI on Wednesday.

Chaos continued at several major airports for the third day on Thursday because of the cancellations.

A spokesperson for the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru said that 73 IndiGo flights had been cancelled on Thursday.

At least 150 flights were cancelled and dozens of others delayed on Wednesday, airport sources said, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, according to news agency Reuters.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said it is investigating IndiGo flight disruptions and has asked the airline to submit the reasons for the current situation, as well as its plans to reduce flight cancellations and delays.

It may be mentioned here that the pilots' body, Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze".

The FIP said it has urged the safety regulator, the DGCA, not to approve airlines' seasonal flight schedules unless they have adequate staff to operate their services "safely and reliably" in accordance with the New Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.

In a letter to the DGCA late on Wednesday, the FIP urged the DGCA to consider re-evaluating and reallocating slots to other airlines, which have the capacity to operate them without disruption during the peak holiday and fog season if IndiGo continues to "fail in delivering on its commitments to passengers due to its own avoidable staffing shortages."

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