Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Airports Authority of India asks ground handler to reduce rent of tug

CHENNAI: Under pressure to open the new terminals, the Airports Authority of India has asked Bhadra International to rent out battery-operated tugs at lower rates. It has also started modifying the surface of the ramps that lead into the basement baggage handling area of the new terminals.

Tiles on a ramp have been removed to make it a coarse concrete surface while works are on to relay the second ramp at the domestic terminal. The surface ramps of the international terminal are also being readied.

The move comes after trials showed that baggage tugs slipped while driving down the tiled surface of ramps. Battery-operated tugs on Tuesday drove down and pulled four tons of load comfortably along the coarse surface of the ramp into the basement of the domestic terminal.

As only battery-operated vehicles are allowed in the basement of new green terminals, the private ground handler has reduced rates as per the AAI's instruction to encourage airlines to hire the vehicles. The airlines have been using diesel tugs which cannot be used here. Bhadra has decided to charge Rs1,271 instead of Rs1,500 per turnaround (time taken by a plane between arrival and the next departure). Once the airlines finalize the deal, AAI wants to open the terminals after conducting a safety audit.

"We have made three offers to the airlines - a full lease as a stopgap arrangement till they get their own vehicles; a wet lease where we do not supply manpower; and a charge based on every turnaround with full staff. We have asked airline officials to contact their ground support services department about the revised rates before finalizing tie-ups. Foreign airlines have started discussions to hire services of Bhadra," said Prem Bajaj, managing director of Bhadra International.

"The charges are more or less the same being levied in Bangalore, but airlines are getting a more powerful tug here with a capacity of 20,000 drawbar pull. Moreover, we will take complete responsibility of baggage handling. Bhadra will provide two employees on either end of the ramps, one staff each for six baggage conveyor belts and two supervisors," he said. "We can bring 25 such tugs though 10 are sufficient to handle operations in Chennai. Of the 10 tugs, two can be kept for charging and two others can be kept to handle breakdowns. We will still be comfortable," he added.

The height of the beam over the ramp into the basement does not allow farm tractors to drive down. AAI officials reiterated that there is nothing wrong with the incline of the ramps. "The ramps are built to international standards and only battery-operated low base tugs should be used," said airport director H S Suresh. As airlines did not purchase their own tugs, Bhadra's are the only ones available for operation at the airport.

Source:   http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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