New Delhi is first airport terminal globally to register at UN as ‘Clean Development Mechanism’ project

By BA Staff
Terminal 3 (T3) of Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), New Delhi, has become the first terminal in the world to have successfully registered with United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project for its emission reduction initiatives.

The 'Mudras' wall at Terminal 3, New Delhi IGI airport. Photo copyright Devesh Agarwal. Used with permission.

T3 has adopted various energy efficient measures thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions of 16,413 tons of CO2 annually into the atmosphere. These measures include energy efficient initiatives for Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC), improved roof insulation, radar sensor based escalators, and travelators and a tempered cooling system.

The project made use of the approved CDM methodology AMS II.E (Energy efficiency and fuel switching measures for buildings) for calculating the emission reduction potential. CDM is one of the flexibility mechanisms defined under Kyoto Protocol, which provides market based measures to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions.

UNFCCC is an international environmental treaty that was announced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) (informally known as the Earth Summit) in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992.

‘Energy Efficiency’ is one of the core objectives of the ‘National Action Plan on Climate Change’ of India and which T3 of IGIA has successfully addressed. The CDM project results in reduction of total energy consumption and saving in the use of fossil fuels and its associated greenhouse gas emissions.

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Opinion: The Rahul Gandhi "close shave" - Sensationalism rules at Indian media

by Devesh Agarwal

It appears that exaggeration driven sensationalism still rules the Indian media world, especially at the leading newspapers.

On Tuesday, a private Cessna Citation business jet carrying the ruling family scion Rahul Gandhi had to do a "go-around" when landing at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (coincidentally named after his grandmother). An Indian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 transporter took some extra time to clear the runway ahead of Gandhi's jet which precipitated this action. There is confusion on whether the Il-76 Gajraj was taking off or landing.

Screams The Times of India

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi narrowly escaped a disaster........

Not to be left behind The Hindustan Times blared

Close shave for Rahul at Delhi's IGI airport

Even the normally sober Firstpost joined the sensationalist bandwagon saying

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi reportedly had a close shave while landing at the Delhi airport

One of the only news organisations to take a sober and factual approach to this incident was NDTV whose headline ran

Rahul Gandhi's aircraft aborted landing to avoid collision, probe ordered

While separation between aircraft of 45 seconds is common at the ultra-busy airports around the world, in India, even New Delhi, there is a still a five nautical mile separation rule. In the case of Gandhi's bizjet, the separation was maintain at eight nautical miles (about 15 kilometres) due to "wake turbulence" caused by the Il-76.

Across the world, at the busy airports like New York, London, etc., air traffic controllers are under pressure, especially during peak hours, to maximise the utilisation of the runway. Aviation safety rules say that no two aircraft can occupy the runway at the same time, and ever so-often an aircraft takes some extra time and is not able to clear the runway in time. Thus a landing aircraft will be ordered to perform a "go-around". Sometimes due to cross winds or turbulence, the pilot is not comfortable in the approach and will chose to go-around rather than risk an unsafe landing. Whatever be the reason, the go-around is a fairly routine action, and pilots train for it.

See this video involving a Finnair MD-11 flight 5 being ordered to "go-around" at New York's JFK airport. Around 2m45s in to the video, you can head the tower controller ordering American Airlines flight 116 or 160 (one sixteen or one sixty) to taxi quickly and vacate the runway. When the American flight does not do so, at about 3m10s, when the Finnair is almost over the top of the runway threshold the controller orders it to "go-around". Everything in the cockpit is calm and plane goes around and lands. Its a routine matter.



In this video Qatar Airways flight QR1 goes around at the last minute on the choice of its pilots. Keep in mind, the Airbus A340-600 is not known for its power and climb capabilities. The whole incident is routine.



In this video from Japan's Narita airport, the massive 747-400, an aircraft that weighs over 350 tons at take-off, goes around while midway down the runway. It appears the approach was not stable, and pilot chooses to go-around rather than risk an unsafe landing. Again very routine.



In August 2010, we witnessed a Jet Airways Boeing 737-800 which touched down hard at Bangalore airport and as a result the aircraft was de-stabilised. The pilot did a "go-around" and landed ten minutes later. While Bangalore Aviation reported it in a routine manner, the newspapers went around with their scaremongering headlines of "close shave", "narrowly averted disaster", etc.

One has to question the motives and capabilities of the Indian media, which tries to make mountains out of grains of sand, not just molehills.

Almost every one in the aviation world knows that The Times of India is more of a tabloid than a newspaper. Is their scaremongering tactics a reflection on the hypocrisy of its readers who derive vicarious pleasure in these sensationalist headlines? It appears so, since other papers and news organisations are forced to descend to these low levels in order to compete. After all The Times of India is the most widely circulated paper in the world, not just India.

Isn't it time we took the high road?

Do share your comments and thoughts via a comment.

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Air India's latest Boeing 787 Dreamliner arrives at Delhi

by Devesh Agarwal

VT-ANN, L/N 90 C/N 36285, the latest Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner of national carrier Air India arrived in to New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport yesterday.

VT-ANN AIC164 flight track. Courtesy FlightAware. Deviations from flight plan route are normally due to weather or ATC.

The aircraft was flown 14 hours 12 minutes, non-stop from Paine Field in Washington state, USA, to Delhi, a distance of over 7,200 nautical miles (about 13,350 km) as Air India flight 164.

The green line shows the actual flight track and the blue dotted line represents the flight plan route. Deviations are normally carried out to avoid bad weather or to take advantage of good weather like tail winds, and also to try and minimise the number of countries the flight flies over. Deviations are also performed on the instructions of air traffic control, they are, after all, the masters of their airspace.

Airlines have to pay over-flight and navigation charges to each country whose air-space they fly in. It appears Air India minimised the charges by flying from the United States, through Canada, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan to India.

View the flight track and details here.

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Qatar Airways bringing its 787 Dreamliner to Bangalore and New Delhi

AirlineRoute is reporting

As per 10AUG13 GDS timetable/inventory display, QATAR Airways plans to operate Boeing 787 aircraft on flights to Bangalore and Delhi, during the month of September 2013. Planned operation as follow.

Doha – Bangalore 01SEP13 – 29SEP13 1 daily (BLR departure 02SEP13 – 30SEP13)
QR226 DOH 2020 – 0310+1 BLR 788 Daily
QR227 BLR 0440 – 0625 DOH 788 Daily

Doha – Delhi 01SEP13 – 29SEP13 QR232/233 1 daily (DEL departure 02SEP13 – 30SEP13)
QR232 DOH 2100 – 0325+1 DEL 788 Daily
QR233 DEL 0450 – 0630 DOH 788 Daily

Pity we plane spotters will not be able to photograph this bird at night.

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Emergency services at Indian airports capable of handling Asiana San Francisco type crash

by Devesh Agarwal

The recent crash of Asiana Airlines flight OZ-214 at San Francisco International airport showcased the quick and heroic efforts of both the airport's emergency fire and rescue services and the cabin crew. Praise has flowed to both of these sets of people for their actions which resulted in minimal loss of life and injuries.

Prompted by this crash, Bangalore Aviation reader Anil Arvindam, wrote in the other day

"How prepared are our airports in India? Are our fire-fighters trained to respond like this San Francisco did?"

The short answer is a resounding YES. The details though are worth exploring.

ARFF / RFFS / CFR

There are many acronyms given to this specialised fire-fighting service. In the United Kingdom it is RFFS (Rescue and Fire Fighting Services), in India and the United States it is ARFF (Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting), in some parts of the US and in the Philippines it is Crash Fire Rescue (CFR). In this article we'll follow the Indian standard of ARFF. ARFF is a very specialised category of fire-fighting that involves the response, hazard mitigation, evacuation and rescue of passengers and crew of an aircraft involved in an emergency at, or near, an airport.

Rescue and fire-fighting services at airports in member countries are governed by standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), pronounced "Eye Kay Oh". For example, ICAO Document 9137-AN/898, Airport Services Manual, Part 1 guives unform guidance in an effort to provide standardised levels of emergency services, across the world. The respective national civil aviation regulators like the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in India, or the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in turn publish and enforce the rules and requirements.

ARFF normally will respond to all aircraft emergencies within an airport's boundaries and will also respond to emergencies outside the airport boundaries, typically in a six degree cone from the end of each runway, out to about eight kilometres and there is an defined understanding with the city emergency services on the respective roles and responsibilities to an 'off-airport' incident.

ARFF will also respond to non-aircraft emergencies within airport boundaries, but ARFF will not respond to non-aircraft emergencies outside the airport as this will leave the airport without adequate protection.

All the major airports in India are compliant with ICAO and DGCA norms for emergency services and are audited regularly. By rules if an airport has inadequate or no ARFF cover, it has to close its runways to passenger paying aircraft unless in an emergency, and even then, use of the airport is at the discretion of the commander of the aircraft.

The trend to modern ARFFs was initiated by the private airports of Bangalore, Hyderabad, New Delhi and Mumbai. Soon after, even the Airports Authority of India (AAI) run airports like Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, etc., migrated from their vintage Tata-Leyland trucks to modern ARFF stations and equipment.

Airport Category and ARFF capacity

The size of the ARFF facility at an is determined by the airport's category rating. The number of fire-stations at the airport are determined by the response time requirement which is detailed in the next section.

The category of the airport is based on the size of the largest aircraft that lands at the airport and is also tied in to the number of runways. The table below shows how category is determined, and then for each category what is the requirement of fire tenders, water, chemicals, foams, etc.

The British system is from Category 1 to 10. This system is also followed in India. The US FAA mandates a category system from A to E, and is also tied in to the number of daily departures of the largest size aircraft. FAR Part 139, Sec. 139.315, and FAR Part 139, Sec. 139.317 provide full details.

How an airport's fire-fighting capabilities and capacities are determined.

Bangalore's airport is single runway and is rated 'Cat-9' since it regularly handles flights up to a 747-400 i.e. Code E size. However, since 2012, the airport also regularly handles one daily flight of a Lufthansa Boeing 747-8i which is Code F size, the same as the A380, and this requires the airport to temporarily increase capability to the highest category, 'Cat-10', rating for the duration of that one flight. As airport spokesperson Anjana explains

ARFF scales up to Cat 10 for the period of operations of 747-8 by augmenting additional manpower out of the shifts during this period)

Response Times / Airfield Crash Fire Tenders

Fire is a major risk during any aircraft emergency. With wide-body aircraft now carrying over 300 passengers regularly, the potential of an emergency turning in to a mass casualty has increased in recent years. Keeping the fire risk in mind, safety regulations require an aircraft should have enough exits to be able to evacuate all passengers within 90 seconds.

Similarly, the arrival of the ARFF team(s) at the scene is of paramount importance. In air traffic control (ATC) towers around the world, there are emergency push-buttons within close reach of controllers which set off alarms blaring. The response time norms require ARFF teams to arrive at the scene within two minutes, for 'on runway' incidents, and within three minutes for 'off-runway' incidents anywhere within the airport perimeter.

This response time requirement has resulted in the development of specialised Airfield Crash Fire Tenders (ACFTs) which can only be described as "super trucks". Weighing well over 25~30 tons, twice more than a regular road truck, these tenders can accelerate to 100 kmph in under 30 seconds, thanks to special engines developing between 700 BHP to 1,000+ BHP, about the same power as a Formula 1 car. Taking a leaf from the racing cars, these trucks make extensive use of high strength, low weight, composite and fibre-glass parts.

Rosenbauer Panthers of Bangalore International Airport ARFF. The floor spray extinguishes ground fires ahead of the tender.

ACFTs are fitted with specialised suspensions that allow them to corner at high speeds like a sports car, go up slopes of over 60 degrees, or travel on a tilted embankment sloped up to 30 degrees. These trucks incorporate latest technology and automation. Forward looking infra-red (FLIR) allowing the fire-fighters to see in complete darkness, whether at night or in the black smoke of a fire, multiple spray nozzles, with individual remote controls, enabling fire-fighters to fight fires from inside the tender cabin, and much much more.

In India, due to the number of runways and its sheer size, Delhi's IGI airport has four fire stations. Bangalore airport has one station equipped with four Rosenbauer Panthers.



There are many vendors of ACFTs in the world. Rosenbauer of Austria, Iveco of Italy, and Oshkosh of the United States are major players. In India the Rs. 5 Crore Rosenbauer Panther 6x6 (6 wheels driving, 6 wheels total) is the preferred ACFT. At San Francisco Airport the ACFT of choice is the Oshkosh Striker 4500 8x8 which is a bigger and more expensive tender. Scroll down to see a video of the Striker in action at Dallas-Fort Worth International airport.

Oshkosh Striker 4500 of San Francisco International Airport ARFF.

In addition to the ACFTs, ARFFs and airports have other rescue equipment like high-lift turn-table ladders, ambulances, mobile intensive care units, power and hydraulic rescue tools, and special suits enabling fire-fighters to enter in to fires. Bangalore airport even has inflatable motor-boats just in case the emergency occurs on one the many lakes around the airport.

The airports have triage centres within the airport premises for trauma victims. Bangalore airport has special tie-ups with area hospitals like M.S. Ramaiah and emergency ambulance services to handle large scale trauma events.

Fire-fighters and Training

Human beings are a critical component of the airport's ARFF capabilities. At Bangalore Airport, with one ARFF station the team consists of 134 personnel working 24x7 in four watch shifts. Due to multiple runways, the ARFF at Delhi IGI airport has four stations and a significantly bigger team.

Continuous on-going training is a critical part of the ARFF operations. ICAO Annex 14, § 9.2.34 directs that: All rescue and fire fighting personnel shall be properly trained to perform their duties in an efficient manner and shall participate in live fire drills commensurate with the types of aircraft and type of rescue and fire fighting equipment in use at the aerodrome, including pressure-fed fuel fires.

In India, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) operates two ICAO approved training centres in New Delhi and Kolkata which trains ARFF personnel from across the country.

The fire fighters have to know by memory every aspect of the airport, and also the details for every aircraft that operates at the airport. Come an emergency, there is no time to be looking up books and charts. ARFF charts for Airbus aircraft can be downloaded here, and for Boeing aircraft here.

You can read a detailed paper on the various ARFF training methods across the world and their differences here.



In conclusion, we at Bangalore Aviation invite you to travel safely and with confidence. Air travel is the safest means of travel, and the heroes of the ARFF are on duty looking out for you.

If you would like to say thanks to them, post a comment. The PR teams at both BIAL and DIAL read Bangalore Aviation regularly and we are confident they will be happy to carry your compliments to their respective ARFF teams.

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Photos: New Delhi airport - aerial views of the ramp, Jet's A330 fleet, Blue Dart and Kenya Airways freighters

by Devesh Agarwal

Once again the kind friends at Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd. (DIAL), the company which operates the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), supported the Aviation Photographers India Foundation by giving access to the airside, after they had received permission from the DGCA.

Yours truly, got on to a Rosenbauer turn-table ladder (TTL) of the airport fire-fighting team, and took some aerial shots of the airport in the dawn's early light.

Readers compliment us on the quality of photographs. It is possible due to supporters like DIAL, their management, their air-side chief Ashutosh Kulshreshtha, their fire chief Mr. Kadam, and all their respective team members. Some dare-devilry on my part after being up for 36 hours straight shooting through the night, was the spice added to this mix.

Enjoy the three aerial views and then continue scrolling down to see a photo of me in the TTL bucket way up in the sky, thanks to Praveen Sundaram.

This photo is of the old Terminal 2, which is now used exclusively for Haj flights. The ramp is being used as a large parking lot for the Jet Airways Airbus A330 fleet, and some aircraft from the Kingfisher fleet. Five A330-200s and one new A330-300 are parked. The seventh A330 is parked on the remote ramp, visible in the second picture. Six A330-200s are almost half the Jet Airways fleet. One has to question why are they parked up in Delhi and not being used. There are rumours that Jet is going to lease them to Etihad. More Jetihad.



The remote ramp of the mega Terminal 3. This photo has two rare events in one. First is the Kenya Airways Cargo Boeing 737-300, not seen before this date. Second, is a rare daylight confluence of four Blue Dart freighters of their fleet of six aircraft. Two 757s parked, one 757 taxiing out, and the sole 737-200 near the top right of the photo, waiting to line-up and take-off.



Normally performed by an Airbus A340-300, this day Finnair flight AY021 non-stop from Helsinki, was performed by a Boeing 757-200 with winglets. Unfortunately this aircraft OH-LBT went technical and could not perform the return flight.



And here I am ....... way up there. Let me say, despite the supports on the trucks, the bucket wobbles and sways. It was scary and one has to be very gentle in their movements. Hats off to these fire-fighters.

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EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: Italian Air Force Boeing KC-767A bringing back the two marines arrives at New Delhi airport

Last Friday, the two Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fisherman off the coast of Kerala, were finally returned to India. They have been at the centre of the diplomatic showdown between the two countries, when Italy refused to let them return, dishonouring an personal undertaking given by Italy's ambassador to India, to the Supreme Court of India.

The marines were flown back in a Boeing KC-767A tanker-transporter of the Aeronautica Militare Italiana tail number MM62227. This aircraft is based at Pratica di Mare Air Base, the largest base of the Italian Air Force, located southwest of Rome.

Bangalore Aviation has obtained these exclusive images MM62227 arriving at New Delhi Indira Gandhi airport with the marines on-board.

The aircraft was promptly met by a contingent of officials from various branches of the Indian government including the police forces who immediately whisked the marines away from the airport and past the amassed media contingent outside.

Sorry for the water-marking.

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Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad airports amongst best in the world

by Devesh Agarwal

Three of India's airports have placed amongst the best airports in the world in the 2012 airport service quality (ASQ) awards of the airports council international (ACI).

The nation's largest two airports, New Delhi's GMR operated Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) and Mumbai's GVK operated Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), placed second and third respectively in the category of airport size from 25 million to 40 million passengers per annum.

In the category of 5 million to 15 million passengers per annum (mppa), Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) airport placed second.

Last year saw New Delhi and Mumbai at the same position as this year, and Hyderabad at third place in the 5~15 mppa category.

Two years ago, Hyderabad RGIA won top honours in the 5~15 million passenger size category, while Mumbai CSIA was placed second in the 15~25 million passenger category, and New Delhi IGIA was placed fourth in the 25~40 million passenger category.

As per ACI

The annual ASQ Awards recognize and reward the best airports in the world according to ACI's ASQ passenger satisfaction survey. The ASQ Awards are the only global airport rankings to be based on a measure of the passengers’ satisfaction taken while the passenger is still at the gate.

To be eligible for the annual ASQ awards, an airport must have participated in the ASQ Survey every month of the year. The survey must be carried out in strict accordance with the airport’s sample plan, developed by ACI, which guarantees a representative sample of the flights, destinations and passenger groups served by the airport. ACI regularly audits participating airports to ensure compliance and to validate the results.

This year the survey was conducted across 275 airports across the world.

For some strange reason, Bangalore's Bengaluru International Airport does not feature in the ACI list. Bangalore Aviation has been unable to obtain a clear answer as to why, but we are on the job.

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Reduced ADF at New Delhi airport commences tomorrow. No change in UDF.

Passengers flying out of New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport will receive some relief on the airport fees they pay.

Based on an order issued by the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority, the Airport Development Fee (ADF) rates at IGI Airport will be halved to Rs. 100 per embarking domestic passenger and Rs. 600 per embarking international passenger starting midnight tonight i.e. January 1, 2013.

The collection of the ADF is extended by two years and will be now collected tentatively till April 2016.

The staggered User Development Fee (UDF) will still continue to be collected, with no change, in addition to the ADF.

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Video: Plane spotting at New Delhi Airport - Songs of Runway 28

Hope you had a good holiday. Turn the volume up for this one. Another of our videos from New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, thanks to the team at Delhi International Airport Ltd.

This one focusses on the sounds heard at the runway from various aircraft and their many engines. Hope you enjoy.



As usual comments, praises, or brick-bats are always welcome.

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Video: From the ramp to the runway. On the ground at New Delhi IGI airport

As we wind down the week, and the year, we present a video showing the action on the ground. In the world of aviation, a lot needs to happen on mother earth, before the beautiful birds take to the sky.



Special thanks to the friends at Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd. who made this happen.

For our readers who subscribe by e-mail, you may need to use this link to see the video.

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Video: Plane photography at New Delhi Indira Gandhi airport

by Devesh Agarwal

Recently, with permission of the DGCA, the Aviation Photographers India Foundation visited the air-side at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) as guests of the airport operators, Delhi International Airport Ltd., for which each member of the foundation, including me, express our grateful thanks.

The famous "mudra" wall at Terminal 3. Mudras are hand gestures used in classical Indian dance forms.

The first of a series of videos, produced by Abhishek Singh in cooperation with Bangalore Aviation, entitled "The Departures" is below the fold.

It was thrilling. We shot near the runway amongst tall dry grass, classic of the Delhi flora, and we could hear snakes slithering near by. But the roar of jet engines and the love of those magnificent flying machines, supported by all the people involved in running an airport, kept us put.

Hope you enjoy this labour of love. Do change the quality to HD (720p or 1080p) to really enjoy the video. If you are reading this story in our e-mail digest, you will have to visit our website, or see the video here.

Also please visit our Youtube page for more videos. As usual comments are always welcome.

You can also embed this video on your website. Just click on the Youtube logo on the bottom right, once the video commences. On Youtube, click on the share tab and use the embed code.



We also acknowledge with thanks for the assistance provided by Nikon India Pvt. Ltd. with the equipment.

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Would you like to read posts on how to improve your plane spotting photography?

by Devesh Agarwal

A quick query to our readers. Bangalore Aviation has access to some good photographers who are also avid plane spotters and take great photographs of airplanes across the world.

Would you like us to feature articles which can help you improve your plane spotting photography? Please post a comment. Do include specific points on what aspects would you like covered in the articles.

In the mean time, last week, three photos of mine made it to the "Top of the Day" list at JetPhotos. Feel free to click on the images and see the original high resolution pictures. Comments are always welcome.

Air India Boeing 777-300ER VT-ALM.
'Himachal Pradesh' taxies out to runway 28 at New Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport bathed in the reddish-gold hue of the evening setting sun.

Japan Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner JA825J.
One of the last flights by the JAL Dreamliner from Tokyo Narita to Delhi. Two days later the airline changed the equipment to a Boeing 777-200. This photo shows the power of flexibility by shooting in RAW mode on your SLR camera. The original picture was taken well after sunset and very dark. The post-processed finished image is for you to see. The red glow of the beacon on the right engine is the only clue of the darkness, in the original image which increased the effect of the red beacon.

Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner VT-ANI economy class cabin.
At the end of flight AI505 from Bangalore to Delhi. The ultra-narrow nine-abreast seating is visible. For the full cabin walk-through video and photographs please read our earlier story.

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Night photos from Delhi Indira Gandhi international airport - the Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-400 Freighter twins

Bangalore Aviation photographer Vedant took this photograph of a pair of Boeing 747 freighters of Hong Kong based, Cathay Pacific Cargo at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi international airport. Click on the image for a high resolution view.

One of the 747s is an original 747 Freighter, while the other is a 747-400 BCF (Boeing Converted Freighter). Can you identify which one is which? Left is which one and right is which one. Answer via a comment.

Also do take the time to leave a comment on JetPhotos as encouragement.

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Night photos from Delhi Indira Gandhi international airport - the Airbus collection

Continuing our photo essay (see part two) on the night photography at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), thanks to the support of the kind friends at Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd. (DIAL) and the DGCA, today is the Airbus collection.

Unlike Bangalore where the mid-sized Airbus (since the A380 is not permitted) is the dominant aircraft type, Delhi with its higher traffic volumes, commands the larger aircraft of Boeing, the 777 and 747.

Yet, one does get to see the Airbus of mostly Indian and European airlines.

IndiGo Airbus A320-232 VT-IES. Used for international flights at night and domestic during the day.

Jet Airways Airbus A330-200 VT-JWM.

Aeroflot Airbus A330-200 VP-BLY

SWISS Airbus A330-300 (the longer brother of the -200) HB-JHI

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Airbus A330-200 PH-AOK

We request you to please encourage these photographers via a comment on the photo site.

Photos are used with permission of the photographers who retain full copyright. Pictures may not be used without their specific permission.

Hope you enjoyed this photo-essay series.

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Night photos from Delhi Indira Gandhi international airport - the Boeing 777 collection

Continuing our photo essay (see part one) on the night photography at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), thanks to the support of the kind friends at Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd. (DIAL) and the DGCA, today is the Boeing 777 collection.

The 777 is largest twin-engine airliner in the world, along with being one of the most popular, and the most profitable for its manufacturer, Boeing.

The newer 777-300ER, 777-200LR (both of which form bulk of Air India's long distance fleet), and Freighter variants feature the largest engines in aviation history, the General Electric GE90-115B or -110B1 engines. The GE90-115B, has a fan diameter of 3.25 metres or 10ft 8in. This photo offers a size comparison between the GE90 and the earlier engines used to power the venerable Boeing 747.

The GE90 has a distinct "moaning" sound when it starts. It is music to us plane spotters. Play the video to hear it. Anywhere in the world, if you are within earshot of an airport, or on-board a 777-300ER or 777-200LR flight, keep an ear out for the sound.

Air India Boeing 777-200LR (also called 77L in airline parlance) VT-ALE (equipped with the GE90-110B)

Emirates airline Boeing 777-300ER (77W) A6-ECK (equipped with GE90-115B)

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300 (773) 9V-SYF (not an ER. Equipped with Rolls Royce Trent 800 RB212 engine)

Thai Airways Boeing 777-300 HS-TKB (equipped with Rolls Royce Trent 800)

We request you to please encourage these photographers via a comment on the photo site.

Photos are used with permission of the photographers who retain full copyright. Pictures may not be used without their specific permission.

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Night photos from Delhi Indira Gandhi international airport - the Boeing collection

Thanks to the support of the kind friends at Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd. (DIAL) who operate the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), and the DGCA, some members of the Aviation Photographers India, went airside for some photography. Click here to see photographs from the entire group.

Below are some night photographs from the event taken by the Bangalore Aviation team of Devesh and Vedant. Photographing airliners at night is very challenging, very tiring, but at the end of it, most exhilarating. It is when the big boys from across the world come, the airport is relatively quiet so we can get up close to the planes, and the creativity we can exercise with the light. For example the star bursts are not generated using any filters. They are created by stopping down the aperture and increasing the time the shutter is open.

We hope you enjoy. Do take the time to leave a comment, either here, or on the photograph page itself. Considering we are hobbyists, praise always helps.

Today is the Boeing collection from the 757 to the new 747-8i. Click on the images to see the original photos in high resolution. We are excluding the 777s which will be posted in a separate collection tomorrow.

Lufthansa Boeing 747-8i D-ABYA

China Southern Airlines Boeing 757-200 B-2823

China Southern Airlines Boeing 757-200 B-2812 (another night, another plane). Compare the star bursts between the two photos. This one is created used a prime 50mm f/1.8 Nikon lens, and at around Rs. 8,000 it is a steal, compared to the 24~70mm f/2.8, used for the shot above, which costs six figures.

Kenya Airways Boeing 767-300ER 5Y-KYX

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Singapore Airlines opens new SilverKris lounge at New Delhi IGI airport T3

Singapore Airlines has opened its new Silver Kris lounge at New Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport Terminal 3, its 13th lounge worldwide.

The 80 seat capacity lounge is made with wood and marble tones. The lounge is open to First and Business Class passengers of Singapore Airlines as well as elite members of PPS Club, KrisFlyer Elite Gold and Star Alliance Gold members.

The airline’s Senior Vice President Product and Services Tan Pee Teck said

“We chose Delhi as it is one of our busiest markets in India, with two flights a day to Singapore. It is also part of our ongoing commitment to customer service, which we believe starts from the ground and continues in the air. By offering customers an inviting space to relax in comfort, we hope to enhance their travel experience even before they board their flight,”

The lounge will offer hot meals, light snacks and beverages along with Internet access terminals and complimentary wireless broadband.

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Photos and video: Air India's first Boeing 787 Dreamliner arrives in Delhi, receives water cannon salute

After years of waiting, including a few weeks of nail biting delays, Air India's first Boeing 787 Dreamliner VT-ANH arrived at IGI Airport in the nation's capital New Delhi, at the end of a 15 hour flight from the airframer's Charleston, USA, delivery centre.

Even Mother Nature, who was thundering and raining over Delhi this week, made sure the Dreamliner arrived to clear blue skies.

Thanks to Mr. Uday Krishna, a member of the Aviation Photographers India Foundation, and a Bangalore Aviation supporter, we bring you these exclusive pictures of VT-ANH arriving in Delhi and receiving the traditional water cannon salute from the airport fire-fighters.

Spot the subtle differences between the 777 livery in the background and the 787 livery

And here is a video from Abhishek Singh.

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Air India takes delivery of its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner VT-ANH

VT-ANH under a Boeing test regn. N1015B at India Aviation 2012

After much delay, national carrier Air India has taken delivery of its very first Boeing 787 Dreamliner at the airframer's facility in Charleston, South Carolina, USA.

The aircraft LN 35, registered VT-ANH, was received by Captains A.S. Soman and Amitabh Singh on behalf of the airline.

The aircraft is expected to leave Charleston on Friday September 7th, and touch down at the capital New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport around 17:00 local on Saturday 8th September. The delivery flight is expected to make a technical halt at Frankfurt.

Air India's 787s are powered by GEnx-1B engines, and are configured in a two-class configuration with 256 seats, including 18 lie flat business class seats. Detailed photographs and video of the Air India 787 cabin can be seen in this article.

This is the first of an order of 27 Dreamliners from the carrier. Four aircraft are lying ready at the Charleston facility and are expected to be rapidly delivered at the rate of one a week.

Despite being the second airline scheduled to receive the aircraft, political wrangling within various ministries and departments of the Indian government delayed Air India to the fifth airline to receive this new generation aircraft, behind launch customer All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, Ethiopian, and LAN Chile.

Air India will initially deploy their Dreamliners on domestic routes in India to help impart accelerated training to cockpit, cabin, and ground crews. The flight crews will also need to notch up the numbers of landings, facilitated by these shorter domestic routes.

Air India expects to commence non-stop services from Delhi to Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, in this Winter schedule starting on October 28, 2012. Tokyo and Paris are some of the other destinations being considered.

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