Govt may not implement new ground-handling policy

New Delhi: The recent dispute between the Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) and Indian carriers may make the government go back on its decision to implement the new ground-handling policy next year.
According to sources in the civil aviation ministry, Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) has said that no domestic airline with a market share of below 25 per cent will be allowed to do its own ground-handling at the airport. This means that none of the Indian carriers will qualify for ground-handling. Because, even Jet Airways, the largest airline in terms of passenger numbers, commands a market share of only 21 per cent as per April 2008 figures.
BIAL has reportedly taken this stand despite the fact that the government had recently decided to allow domestic carriers to do their own ground-handling till the end of this year.
The BIAL issue was brought up today by Delhi-based low-cost carrier IndiGo, one of the airlines to be prevented by the airport authorities from ground-handling last week. According to civil aviation ministry sources, Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Kanu Gohain shot off a letter to BIAL yesterday, insisting the airport has to adhere to the government policy of allowing airlines to do ground-handling. In today's meeting with airport executives, including BIAL representatives, Chawla made it clear all airlines would have to be allowed to carry on with their own ground-handling till the end of this year.
05/06/08 Business Standard

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Categories: Airports Jun 2008