Airports Authority of India (AAI) plans to apply to the Civil Aviation Ministry to be appointed as a Regulated Agent (RA) at the Chennai airport, as was indicated by its chairman at the recent Air Cargo Logistics Promotion Board meeting held in Delhi, according to sources.

An RA handles security controls, including screening of cargo. . Also, an RA could be an air carrier, agent, freight forwarder, terminal operator or other entity. Chennai airport does not have an RA at present. Instead, three agencies handle the cargo — AAI, airline and Bhadra International, the ground handling agent.

At the meeting, which was chaired by Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Lavasa, it was suggested that airport operators should apply for RA3 guideline procedures to meet security standards validations for compliance with European Union regulations.

RA-3 status Chennai airport was not ready for RA3 compliance so far. According to the AAI Chairman, AAI will apply for the RA-3 statusand all formalities will be completed at the earliest. Lavasa told AAI to update on the progress after 15 days, sources said.

Interestingly, the Chennai airport authorities have been asking the ministry to grant Bhadra International the RA status. This will speed up investment in equipment such as scanners, said HS Suresh, Chennai Airport Director. “We have been asking for RA status to Bhadra for the last two years and taken up this issue in every forum,” he told Business Line .

Suresh pointed out that the private terminal operators in Delhi and Bangalore have been given the RA status. It also means that there will be a single agency to handle all work. At present with three agencies involved in cargo handling there is a lot of delay, he said.

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