IndiGo, SpiceJet say no to Bangalore aerobridges

Delhi/Bangalore/Hyderabad: After cutting down on capacity and manpower, airlines are now trying to save on airport charges. This they are doing by sparingly using airport infrastructure on which additional charges are levied and using their own equipment at the airport.
For instance, low-cost carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet are not using the aerobridges at the new Bangalore greenfield airport, because the airport authorities levy an extra charge for using the aerobridges. Also, carriers like Air India do not use the aerobridges for smaller aircraft like ATRs.
Airline executives said the aerobridge charges at the Bangalore airport could range anywhere between Rs 4,500 and 8,000, depending on flight duration and aircraft type. The new airport has a total of 8 aerobridges. The old HAL airport, which had two aerobridges, did not levy any charge on usage of aerobridges.
"We do not use the aerobridges at the Bangalore airport, which is the only one in the country to currently levy any charge for aerobridge. As a cost-cutting measure, we prefer to use our own buses for ferrying the passengers to and from the aircraft," said a SpiceJet executive.
Agreed Bruce Ashby, CEO of Delhi based budget carrier IndiGo, which currently does all its groundhandling on its own, which includes ferrying passengers to the aircraft on their own vehicles.
Currently, the full-service carriers Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher and other LCCs JetLite and Simplifly Deccan use aerobridges, but an executive of one of the carriers said because of the extra charges, it is definitely costlier to use an aerobridge at the Bangalore airport.
19/07/08 Business Standard

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Categories: Airports Jul 2008, Indigo Jul 2008, SpiceJet Jul 2008