Ombudsman to regulate airport tariff structure

New Delhi: An ombudsman will be appointed for regulating tariff structure at all airports and competition among fuel suppliers.
The decision was taken on Friday by the Cabinet, which accepted several recommendations of a parliamentary standing committee on the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India Bill, 2007. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presided over the meeting.Amendments to the Bill, pending in the Lok Sabha since last September, will be moved in the coming session, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal told journalists. Once the Bill is approved, it will be notified in three months, according to a Civil Aviation Ministry spokesperson. The committee recommended that the AERA be empowered to decide on both aeronautical and non-aeronautical service tariffs and that the fuel supply infrastructure at airports be brought under its purview.
The panel wanted the authority’s functions to cover all airports across the country, irrespective of their size or ownership. The government fully accepted four recommendations and partially accepted two, including the one on fuel infrastructure at the airports. It decided to partially accept the recommendation on inclusion of non-aeronautical revenue within AERA ambit. Charges for core services such as landing, parking, communication, navigation and air traffic control are the monopoly of the airport operator. Non-core services like office space, car parking and food denote non-aeronautical services.
30/08/08 The Hindu

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Categories: Airports Aug 2008