AAI puts airlines on cash ‘n’ carry mode

New Delhi: With FM Pranab Mukherjee refusing Airports Authority of India (AAI) the permission to issue tax free bonds for raising Rs 5,000 crore, the PSU has decided to get tough with airlines on payment part. The authority has dues of Rs 900 crore from airlines, of which Rs 620 crore and Rs 195 crore are owed by Air India and Kingfisher, respectively.
Now the airport operator has asked airlines , which are getting cash flow with traffic reviving , to either have dues within bank guarantees or else be on cashand-carry . While it can’t touch sister public sector AI, AAI on Thursday wrote to Kingfisher to clear its dues by December 10. “Kingfisher has dues of Rs 195 crore while its bank guarantee is Rs 100 crore. We have repeatedly asked the airline to pay up. We will wait till December 10 before putting them on cash and carry.
Dues of other airlines, except AI, are within bank guarantees or only marginally higher,” said a top AAI official. The Kingfisher spokesperson did not comment on the issue.
However, other airlines complain that AAI will go after them but not touch AI whom the authority counts as its biggest debtor. “We frequently hear that comment from airlines. We have raised the issue of AI dues at several fora but to no avail,” the official said.
21/11/09 Saurabh Sinha/Economic Times

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