‘Infrastructure gaps cost airlines $80 m a year’

Mumbai: The already bleeding Indian airline industry suffers further due to the lack of infrastructure at airports.
The Executive Director of Jet Airways, Mr Saroj Datta, said, “Gaps in infrastructure lead to 5-10 per cent more flying time for aircraft which means a cost of $80 million per annum to the airlines.”
For Jet Airways alone, the cost is close to $25 million per annum, he added.
Mr Datta was speaking at a function to mark the 103rd birth anniversary of J.R.D. Tata, India’s pioneer industrialist often referred to as the father of Indian aviation.
Referring to a report from the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), Mr Datta said losses for the industry in fiscal 2007 were in the range of $500 million and the trend is likely to continue in the 2008 fiscal as well.
Among other costs burdening Indian carriers, aviation turbine fuel (ATF) has a major impact. ATF charges, comprising 35-40 per cent of the operating cost for airlines, are much higher when compared to other countries, he said.
22/09/07 Business Line

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: General Aviation Sep 2007, Jet Airways Sep 2007