Private domestic carriers thrown out of six airport terminals

Kolkata: In a bid to reduce congestion and overcrowding at airport terminals, the government has decided not to allow private domestic carriers to undertake handling of baggage at six airports from next year.
The six major airports identified under the
Airports Authority of India are Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, official sources said. Private carriers would not be allowed to carry out the task from January 1, 2009.
As per the prevailing system, many domestic carriers outsource jobs like baggage handling and managing passenger coaches to smaller contractors.
The civil aviation ministry has now decided that for these six airports, a global tender will be floated and the contract will be given to one company for all the six airports. Tenders will be invited from companies with Rs 300 crore annual turnover and an experience of five years.
According to sources, no Indian company has been able to meet the criterion and thus a foreign company is likely to be invited soon. Private airline carriers are thus apprehensive that the costs might go up once a foreign company comes in.
At present, around 3,000 handling agents work at the Kolkata airport for various private domestic carriers.
27/08/08 Kolkata Newsline

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Categories: Airports Aug 2008