AAI takes pvt way, to levy user fee at Chennai, Kolkata

The state-run airports operator has finalised a plan to levy a user fee at the Chennai and Kolkata airports to meet the extra cost of upgrading the airports in these two metropolitan cities, a civil aviation ministry official said. A “moderate” fee will be charged for a “short time,” the official told ET on condition of anonymity without divulging further details.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) now plans to seek approval for the levy from the civil aviation ministry and the airports regulator.
AAI, which manages 125 airports, including civil enclaves at defence airports, has not collected user fees so far but says it is compelled to do so now because cost escalation in Chennai and Kolkata is putting severe pressure on its finances.
AAI chairman V P Agarwal emphasised that the burden on passengers using the Chennai and Kolkata airports “would not be high” and that it plans to generate revenues from user fees only to the “minimum extent possible.”
According to the latest AAI estimates, the cost of revamping the Kolkata airport has risen to Rs.2,750 crore from Rs1,950 crore while for Chennai it has gone up from Rs 1,800 crore to Rs 2,000 crore.
Furthermore, AAI has targetted upgrading 35 non-metro airports at an investment of Rs 2,911 crore by the end of March 2010. If the levy of the user fee in Chennai and Kolkata proves to be a successful experiment, the toll may be extended to passengers at non-metro airports.
17/10/09 Faizan Khan & G Ganapathy Subramaniam/Economic Times

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Categories: Airports Oct 2009