Air ticket cess to fund small airport revamp

Mumbai: With the central government planning to fund the development of 35 non-metro airports through internal accruals, rather than taking the private funding route, some airline operators believe the government may consider its earlier decision of levying cess on air tickets.
The cess could be anything between Rs 50-100 per ticket. The estimated cost to fund the development of the non-metro airports is approximately Rs 4,662 crore.
Around 25.5 million domestic passengers and 22.4 million international passengers will be charged an additional cess every year if the proposal is sanctioned by the government.
Maintaining that the funds for the purpose will be raised through internal sources, a civil aviation ministry source explained that even China had imposed a cess for a temporary period for modernising it airports. “It is an international practice,” said the official.
Says GR Gopinath, managing director, Air Deccan, “I don’t espouse the government taxing air travellers for operating uneconomic airports. It’s an infrastructure-related issue and should be addressed through public-private participation.”
He added that uneconomic airports should be developed as low cost airport terminals and built along with industrial and information technology (IT) parks in the vicinity.
29/04/07 Shaheen Mansuri/Financial Express

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Categories: Airports Apr 2007, General Aviation Apr 2007