Air travel set to become more expensive

New Delhi: Flying is set to become dearer as the state enterprise Airports Authority of India (AAI) is finalising a proposal to levy development fee on departing passengers from 10 major non-metro airports across the country, a top official has said. The proposal is likely to be fast-tracked as the company faces shortage of funds to undertake the upgrade of key non-metro airports.
For the modernisation work currently under way at the Chennai and Kolkata airports, the authority would levy development fee, similar to the fee charged at the Delhi and Mumbai airports, to meet the estimated capital expenditure shortfall of Rs 1,300 crore.
“AAI has engaged a third party consultant to undertake an independent study to estimate the fund shortage and recommend the development fee to be charged from passengers flying out from each of these airports,” the official told The Indian Express. Earlier, four private airport developers were allowed to charge airport fee from departing passengers at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
Once the authority firms up the actual charges, the proposal will be vetted by the civil aviation ministry before a cabinet note is prepared for the consideration of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). AAI is likely to finalise the proposal in a month’s time, the official said.
28/07/09 Smita Aggarwal/Indian Express

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Categories: Airports Jul 2009, Indian Aviation- In General Jul 2009