AAI says no to low-cost airports

New Delhi: After private sector, the state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) has also rejected the idea of developing low cost airports in India. A team of senior AAI officials recently went to Singapore and Malaysia to visit low-cost terminals there and has found that this concept won't work in India except for Delhi, which will have multiple terminal by next year.
However, the authority has embarked on a "value engineering" project that is being used to cut costs at upcoming airports being 30% more cost effective than its private sector competitors. As a beginning, the project cost for a new integrated terminal at Goa has been reduced from Rs 400 crore to Rs 330 crore by reducing its size, amid reduced number of flyers.
"In low cost airports we saw abroad, visitors are denied certain facilities like air conditioning, escalators and aerobridges. The processing time also increases as public movers like travellators are not provided. Moreover, we currently charge Rs 70 as facilitation charge for services at airport and even if this is reduced by half, it won't make too much difference in a Rs 5,000-ticket," said a senior official.
But most importantly, the AAI has found that non-metro airports have a handful of daily flights of which a certain percentage is of low cost carriers. Now having low cost airports there would mean maintaining two airports low cost and full service that will hike the overall cost in such cities.
14/03/09 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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

Categories: Airports Mar 2009